Easter Monday

Spring is a time for rain showers, but Easter Monday can be a wet day for other reasons! Long ago, people believed that water was special during Easter. Girls washed their faces in streams or in the morning dew. they believed that this would make them beautiful!

In parts of Europe, easter Monday was a day for pushing friends into the water. Because of this, in Hungary, this day was called Ducking Monday. Today in Hungary, boys sprinkle girls with perfume or perfumed water. They wish one another good luck. The girls must reward the boys who spray them. They give them coins or Easter eggs.

In England, a favorite custom on Easter Monday and Tuesday was called "lifting" or "heaving." Young men went from home to home in the village. They carried a chair decorated with flowers. When a girl or a woman sat in the chair, they lifted her into the air three times. Being lifted was supposed to bring her good luck. She thanked the young men with money and a kiss! On the Tuesday following Easter Monday, it was the women's turn to lift the men in a chair!

How did this custom start? Some people think that it started as a wish that the crops would grow tall. Others believe that the custom began as a reminder that Jesus was lifted from the grave and taken to heaven.