Easter
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Origins of the name "Easter":
The name "Easter" originated with the names of an ancient Goddess and God. The Venerable Bede,(672-735 CE), a Christian scholar, first asserted in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, the "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: "eastre." Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and werecelebrated in the springtime. Some were:
An alternative explanation has been suggested. The name given by the Frankish church toJesus' resurrection festival included the Latin word "alba" which means"white." (This was a reference to the white robes that were worn duringthe festival.) "Alba" also has a second meaning: "sunrise."When the name of the festival was translated into German, the "sunrise" meaningwas selected in error. This became "ostern"in German. Ostern has been proposed as the origin of the word "Easter".2
There are two popular beliefs about the origin of the English word "Sunday." | It is derived from the name of the Scandinavian sun Goddess Sunna (a.k.a. Sunne, Frau Sonne). 5,6 |
| It is derived from "Sol," the Roman God of the Sun." Their phrase "Dies Solis" means "day of the Sun." The Christian saint Jerome (d. 420 CE) commented:
|
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Pagan origins of Easter:
Many, perhaps most, Pagan religions in the Mediterranean area had a major seasonal dayof religious celebration at or following the Spring Equinox. Cybele, the Phrygianfertility goddess, had a consort, Attis, who was believed to have been born via a virgin birth. Attis was believed to have died and been resurrected each year duringthe period MAR-22 to MAR-25.
Gerald L. Berry, author of "Religions of the World," wrote:
"About 200 B.C. mystery cults began to appear inRome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele cult centered onVatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis (the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name). He was a god of ever-revivingvegetation. Born of a virgin, he died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a dayof blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over theresurrection." 3
Wherever Christian worship of Jesus and Pagan worship of Attis were active in the samegeographical area in ancient times, Christians:
"... used to celebrate the death andresurrection of Jesus on the same date; and pagans and Christians used to quarrel bitterlyabout which of their gods was the true prototype and which the imitation."
Many religious historians and liberal theologians believe that the death and resurrection legends were firstassociated with Attis, many centuries before the birth of Jesus. They were simply grafted onto stories of Jesus' life in order to make Christian theology more acceptable to Pagans.Others suggest that many of the events in Jesus' life that were recorded in the gospels were lifted from the life of Krishna, the second person of the Hindu Trinity, or were taken from the life of Horus, an Egyptian god. Ancient Christians had an alternative explanation; they claimed that Satan had createdcounterfeit deities in advance of the coming of Christ in order to confuse humanity. 4Modern-day Christians generally regard the Attis and Horus legends as being a Pagan myths of littlevalue with no connection to Jesus. They regard Jesus' death and resurrection account as being true, and unrelated tothe earlier tradition.
Wiccans and other modern-day Neopagans continue to celebrate the Spring Equinox as one of their 8yearly Sabbats (holy days of celebration). Near the Mediterranean, this is a time ofsprouting of the summer's crop; farther north, it is the time for seeding. Their ritualsat the Spring Equinox are related primarily to the fertility of the crops and to thebalance of the day and night times. In those places where Wiccans can safely celebrate the Sabbat out ofdoors without threat of religious persecution, they often incorporate a bonfire into theirrituals, jumping over the dying embers is believed to assure fertility of people and crops.
References used in the above essay:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Larry Boemler "Asherah and Easter," Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol.18, Number 3, 1992-May/June reprinted at: http://www.worldmissions.org/
- Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Q & A Set 15, "Why do we celebrate afestival called Easter?" at: http://www.wels.net/
- Gerald L. Berry, "Religions of the World," Barns & Noble, (1956).
- J Farrar & S. Farrar, "Eight Sabbats for Witches," Phoenix,Custer, WA, (1988).
- "Sunna," TeenWitch at:http://www.teenwitch.com
- "Dies Solis and other Latin Names for the Days of the Week," Logo Files, at: http://www.logofiles.com/
- "Sunday Observance," Latin Mass News, at: http://www.unavoceca.org/
- "Aphrodite," Wikipedia, as on 2012-MAR-26, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
Copyright 1999 to 2012 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2012-MAR-26
Author: B.A. Robinson
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