12 things that had been forbidden during the good friday

[Paula]

(I am translating this from newspaper article and applies to Finland) and yes, they really had been forbidden.

1. Eating
2. Breast feeding
3. Making a fire in the hearth
4. All working
5. Visiting friends and going to village
6. Dancing
7. All kind of merriment
8. Laughing so that your teeth are shown
9. Cinemas
10. Restaurants (had to keep closed)
11. Stepping on the floor with bare feet
12. Any kind of sawing, using axe and filing

Instead it was acceptable, even recommended to spank the children, just in case even if they hadn't been naughty.

So does your country/religion/ culture any strange Eastern tradition?

[Jane]

Shopping is forbidden made difficult.

Good Friday is only one of 3.5 days in the year when New Zealand shops are required to be closed.

[emma]

Shopping.... hmmm. Shops are closed here on Easter Sunday, or at least the really big ones are, corner shop size places are open, so you aren't stuck if you need a pint of milk, or forget to buy that Easter Egg! Oh, and only limited hours on Easter Monday so people can get to enjoy some of the bank holiday. It'll be hell on earth in supermarkets today, and as I do need that pint of milk and to make a quick dash to the pharmacy for some anti-histamines before hay fever season starts... wish me luck!

[Anika]

Best of luck Emma! 

Wow! Paula that was some list!  Fasting is common but not required - well of course nothing is really "required" or "forbidden" anymore.  Nearly everything is open - even have Good Friday sales - and Easter brunch is a very big deal in this area so most the restaurants are definitely open. 

However, I know you were saying traditionally.  When I was a kid, fasting was very big as was having only bread and water.  No television, many businesses were closed and we usually attended a special church service. 

[Len]

Emma, I hope it was better for you the for me. I had to buy my son's birthday pressies today and it was madness out there. >.<

No breast feeding??? Really??? How does that happen? And what if you're not Christian?

[Paula]

The restaurangs and cinemas were allowed to keep open during good friday only from 1980s, other are more older. And if you breast feeded you baby on good friday, he/she got an evil eye. If you did it on three years in row, the child grew up yo become a wizard...

[emma]

I ended up having to make three trips to Tesco... One for me, one (to the same store) to take my Dad to get stuff for Mum, then a third trip (to a different store) because the first store didn't have dried apples or peppercorns....

[Jane]

The amazing thing about Good Friday here is if you go out early in the morning (I'm a 5am starter) there is absolute silence, even though we're in the city.  Even on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday (two more of the 3.5 no-shopping-days) there is more noise than Good Friday.

I make a special point of getting outside just to enjoy the quiet.

Do you all have holidays (days off) for Good Friday and Easter Monday?

[emma]

We do over here, but our American friends have to work !!!!!

[Suzee]

Here in California, I still had to work most of the day. They let us go home about an hour early. 

On Easter, there were stores and restaurants open everywhere.

[Paula]

Well, on Sunday and Monday, pretty much everything was closed down. On monday, just small grocery shops were allowed to be open, for four hours. And the one in our neighbourhood was out of ice cream!

[emma]

shops were open here yesterday - big shops had restricted hours though. but we had ice cream anyway ;)