HAPPY ISHTAR

 ILOILO CITY — Saturday night, preparatory to the Resurrection, Pinoys perform rituals consisting of removal of signs of sorrow  inside churches — of purple cloths draping statues  including the Crucified One.

There is no mass yet as this celebration is reserved for the following day after the official time of the Resurrection comes. For the time being, the minister blesses essentials used at home like water, salt and oil and seeds  that worshippers bring —rice, corn, beans, fruit trees and what-not. 

All vehicles lined up on the street are blessed, streets to be more precise as the volume of vehicles rose every hour — either public or private carriers. (In this regard, to cut short the time spent on blessing the vehicles with engines on, the officiating priests asks his lay ministers to assist in spreading the blessings, 

Easter, our tradition tells us, ushers-in not only the Resurrected One but the whole new life itself — the seeds for abundant harvests and the vehicles for prosperous business entrepreneurship. 

In other cultures - and this already seeped down into Pinoy soul - Easter is the day elders entertain kids with the hunt for “eggs” — actually, chocolates  shaped into one — the priciest being the “Easter egg” which is not only the biggest among the chocolate-shaped eggs but with a pair, a rabbit- or bunny-shaped chocolate to boot.

The egg and the rabbit, the latter adopted by an adult magazine as its trade logo, heralds  life, fertility,  prosperity and conflicts that Ishtar, a goddess of ancient Mesopotamia (Modern day Iraq),  showers to her people.

Happy Easter! 

Better still, Happy Ishtar!