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No one knows exactly when the Easter Rock ceremony started or why, but it's said the northeast Louisiana tradition started before the Civil War.

These days, the ceremony is practiced only in Winnsboro, which partly answers a question posed by Phyllis Hall, who asked if the tradition is exclusive to Louisiana.

"I first heard about the Easter Rock a few years ago," the Coushatta resident said. "I was curious to learn more about its origins."

Though the Easter Rock doesn't enjoy the wide notoriety of other cultural traditions, it has gained some recognition through the Louisiana Folklife Festival in Natchitoches and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. Its name refers to the rocking motion of a procession that takes place on the night before Easter, which once was practiced in northeast Louisiana Black churches from Lake Providence to Ferriday.

"Today, the Easter Rock takes place only in the Original True Light Baptist Church in Winnsboro," said folklorist Susan Roach, a retired professor of English at Louisiana Tech University. "And it's not a church per se. They have it in the church, but True Light has no active congregation."

But it does have wooden floors.

Other area churches stopped hosting the procession after trading their wood-frame buildings for new structures with concrete floors.

"Wooden floors are important," Roach said. "True Light's congregation moved into another building, but the original True Light still has a wooden floor."

Roach explained that the wooden floor is essential to capturing the sound that comes from the procession. 

"They do this shuffle step on the wooden floor, and when that many people are doing that, it starts to sound like a drumbeat," she said. "If you listen to a recording of the Easter Rock, you can hear that. It's an essential part of it. It provides a beat for the music, because there are no instruments during the ceremony."

Roach has written extensively on this subject. She even helps participants prepare True Light's building (circa 1900) for the ceremony. People from throughout the state attend the ceremony.

The procession, which symbolizes the anticipation of Christ's resurrection on Easter morning, begins between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Holy Saturday. There was a time when the procession lasted until the next day's sunrise service, but now it ends well before midnight.

"The term 'rock' itself — the name for both the ritual and the movement in the ritual — has also been given various explanations," Roach wrote in an essay for the virtual book, "Delta Pieces: Northeast Louisiana Folklife" at .

"When asked about the meaning of the term 'rock,' interviewees gave us different views," Roach continued.

One of Roach's interviewees, R.B. Kelly, cited a biblical source for the rock: "Elijah rocked to the coming of the Lord."

Kelly's reference actually refers not to a Bible verse but to a traditional gospel song titled "Elijah Rock," which is said to parallel the rocky mountain where the prophet Elijah sought refuge in God in 1 Kings 19:9-18. The song is also said to be connected to another verse associated with Elijah and a "rock," Psalms 18:2, which describes God as a "rock, my fortress, and my deliverer."

"R.B. Kelly sees the rock as representing the rolling away of the rock from Christ's Tomb," Roach wrote. "Most likely, the rock reflects the side-to-side movement."

Preparation for the Easter Rock begins with rearrangement of church pews to face a long table in the center.

The table, symbolizing Christ's tomb, is covered by a white tablecloth representing purity. It's topped by a bowl of red punch symbolizing Christ's blood, 12 cakes representing Jesus' 12 disciples and 12 lanterns representing the 12 tribes of Israel.

Rounding out the table decor are Easter eggs, which are broken to symbolize the breaking of Jesus' grave.

A group of women dressed in white, symbolizing the women who discovered Christ's empty tomb on Easter morning, march in with the leader carrying a banner representing Jesus' cross.

They start out singing "When the Saints Go Marching In," then move on to "Oh, David" and finally "The Lord's Prayer," before starting over with "The Saints."

Meanwhile, the procession moves counterclockwise in a circle. Researchers speculate this coincides with the Congo sign of the four moments of the sun of dawn, noon, dusk and midnight then back to dawn, coinciding with birth, life, death and the afterlife.

With the singing comes the shuffling.   

"Ellen Addison describes how the rock step is done: 'Just get out there and move your foot from one side to another, but you ain't supposed to cross your legs ... They say you're dancing when you cross your legs. But you don't do that,'" Roach wrote. "The Winnsboro group is quick to caution that the Rock is not a dance."

Roach said the first scholarly publication about the Easter Rock was written in 1942, noting that participants remember the tradition as pre-dating the Civil War. As for its concentration among northeast Louisiana Black churches, no definitive explanation has been found.

"I do know that it's led by women, but men can participate," Roach said. "And by the end, anyone attending can participate, and they do."