Christians celebrate Easter as a day to commemorate Christ's resurrection while in certain other cultures it is a day to welcome spring. Here are some of the more unconventional ways some countries do their Easter festivities as compiled by Fox News and Atlantic.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia: In both countries, women can expect to get a whipping. As a part of the Easter tradition, men beat girls and women with decorated handmade whips. However, the whipping is not intended to be painful. It is believed that whipping on the Easter day makes women more healthy and beautiful.
Australia: Usually, all over the world it is the Easter Bunny that brings in the chocolates and hides the eggs, but in Australia it is the Easter Bilby that brings them. One reason behind this interesting change is to both create awareness on the bilby, which is an endangered species in Australia, and promotes dislike towards the bunnies which destroy the crops. On Easter, chocolate bilbies are usually made.
Poland and parts of Russia: It's traditional to have a butter lamb as the centerpiece of Easter dinner. No, this isn't some type of butter-heavy way to cook lamb, but instead a giant hunk of butter that has been sculpted into the shape of a lamb. The lamb represents the beginning of spring, and the butter represents an easy way to give you a holiday heart attack - or something like that.
Fredericksburg, Texas, USA: Lighting fires on hillsides may not sound totally safe, or even sacred, but this local ritual pays homage to the history of the small Texan town. Based on an age-old fable from early German settlers way back in 1840, legend has it that the pilgrims went to make a peace treaty with the neighbouring Comanche tribe.
In turn, the Comanche warriors lit fires on the hills of Fredericksburg to signify to fellow tribesmen that there was no hostility between the new settlers and the indigenous community. As the fires burned high the German settlers' children became worried and to calm them the wives told the children the fires were, in fact, the Easter bunny burning eggs in preparation for the festivities. Today that story is remembered via the Easter Fires of Fredericksburg Pageant, where the town gets together to celebrate the peace treaty and the significance of Easter by re-enacting their inventive story.
