EASTER has come and gone again for another year. However, it would make far more sense to have an early spring holiday at the same time each year.

Having a variable Easter is very inconvenient, and plays havoc with holiday planning and school terms. The Local Government Association agrees, proposing a two week school holiday starting in the last week of March, even if this is after Easter.

The former Whitsun Bank Holiday provides a precedent for making such a change. Whit Monday used to be a bank holiday but has been replaced by the fixed late spring holiday.

The British Easter Act 1928 already provides for a fixed Easter: on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April.

So why do we have this ludicrous arrangement in which Easter Sunday can vary from March 22 to April 25? Because the churches bizarre formula, agreed in 525 AD, for fixing the date is based on the ancient lunar calendar, ie the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox, usually March 21.

However, this date is determined by the use of complex tables based initially on the Julian calendar reckoning and later the Gregorian reform, that have never corresponded precisely to the position of a real moon in the sky: but are based on a notional ecclesiastical moon, and a notional vernal equinox.

Therefore, the celebration of the most sacred mystery of the Christian Church is based not on historical data but imaginary celestial phenomena!

The ultimate irony is that both Easter and midwinter festivals long pre-dated Christianity, so it is entirely inappropriate for the church to be dictating the dates on which they are held: especially in a society that has largely abandoned religion.

LARRY WRIGHT

Kent Road

Swindon