Easter and Its Pagan origins

[guno]

The importance of knowing history


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 were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

The Pagan origins of Easter

 

[HenryBHough]

Ah, Easter!

The wonderful day when Jesus crawled out from under his rock......


Saw his shadow and......

The world was in for eight more weeks of winter!

 

[Coyote]

All the really fun holidays have Pagan origins

 

[Hossfly]

The importance of knowing history


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 were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

The Pagan origins of Easter

You are gonna will your brain to Science, ain'tcha Guno?

 

[Stephanie]

shoot. why do they hunt the eggs then? shouldn't be hunting the bunnies and drinking their blood?

brother

 

[Stephanie]

The importance of knowing history


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 were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

The Pagan origins of Easter

You are gonna will your brain to Science, ain'tcha Guno?

my bet they would reject it

 

[Hossfly]

The importance of knowing history


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 were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

The Pagan origins of Easter

You are gonna will your brain to Science, ain'tcha Guno?

my bet they would reject it

Probably because they couldn't find a jar big enough to hold it.

 

[guno]

The importance of knowing history


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 were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

The Pagan origins of Easter

You are gonna will your brain to Science, ain'tcha Guno?

humm... from a christer web site

The Truth On Easter

 

[September]

I am glad to see that this topic was not about another person believing that the term "Easter" came from "Ishtar"... because it did not.

However, the article mentions Ishtar being celebrated in the Spring. This is true because she was a fertility goddess... one of many, and Spring is the time to celebrate fertility. But she was also revered as a goddess of war, and was one of the most prominant deities in the Sumero-Babylonian pantheons, and thus has not only been celebrated around the Spring Equinox, but year round... with special ceremonies and rituals on other sacred days, such as the Autumnal Equinox, to celebrate her descent into the Underworld... and her subsequent resurrection.


​

 

[Stephanie]

The importance of knowing history


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 were celebrated in the springtime. Some were:

The Pagan origins of Easter

You are gonna will your brain to Science, ain'tcha Guno?

my bet they would reject it

Probably because they couldn't find a jar big enough to hold it.

 

[Moonglow]

All the really fun holidays have Pagan origins

But there is a lack of grass skirts.....

 

[Moonglow]

I am glad to see that this topic was not about another person believing that the term "Easter" came from "Ishtar"... because it did not.

However, the article mentions Ishtar being celebrated in the Spring. This is true because she was a fertility goddess... one of many, and Spring is the time to celebrate fertility. But she was also revered as a goddess of war, and was one of the most prominant deities in the Sumero-Babalonian pantheons, and thus has not only been celebrated around the Spring Equinox, but year round, with special ceremonies and rituals on other sacred days, such as the Autumnal Equinox, to celebrate her descent into the Underworld... and her subsequent resurrection.


​

Any reason is a good reason to hump....

 

[The Irish Ram]

Call it Easter, call it fruit fruits, call it what ever you want, just pick a day to remember that the proof of your salvation came the day Christ returned to earth, having died covered in your sin, raised from the dead sin free. It is your redemption day. The most important day in your eternal life.

 

[strollingbones]

you do realize most myths have the 3 day death then rise thing......jesus was hardly the first

 

[Hossfly]

Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection for the Christians. All this crap about bunny eggs, goddesses and hanky panky in the moonlight is just so much camel crap.

I picked the Wikipedia version for the explanation.

Easter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Christian and cultural festival. For other uses, see Easter (disambiguation).

Easter

Eastern Orthodox Christian icon depicting theHarrowing of Hell or Descent intoHades[1][2][3] (cf. Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art)
Type Christian, cultural
Significance Celebrates the resurrection of Jesus
Celebrations Church services, festive family meals, Easter egg hunts and gift-giving
Observances Prayer, all-night vigil, sunrise service
2014 date 20 April (Western)
20 April (Eastern)
2015 date 5 April (Western)
12 April (Eastern)
2016 date 27 March (Western)
1 May (Eastern)
Related to Passover, of which it is regarded the Christian equivalent; Septuagesima,Sexagesima, Quinquagesima,Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Clean Monday,Lent, Great Lent, Palm Sunday,Holy Week, Maundy Thursday,Good Friday, and Holy Saturdaywhich lead up to Easter; andThomas Sunday, Ascension,Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, andCorpus Christi which follow it.
Easter[nb 1] (Old English usually Ēastrun, -on, or -an; also Ēastru, -o; and Ēostre),[4] also called Pasch(derived, through Latin: Pascha and Greek Πάσχα Paskha, from Aramaic: פסחא‎, cognate to Hebrew:פֶּסַח‎ Pesaḥ),[nb 2][5][6][7][8] or Resurrection Sunday,[9][10] is a festival and holiday celebrating theResurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred three days after his crucifixion by Romans at Calvary.[11][12] It is the culmination of the Passion of Christ, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

The week before Easter is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, includingMaundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday), commemorating the Last Supper and its precedingfoot washing,[13][14] as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.[15] In western Christianity, Eastertide, the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Orthodoxy, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension.

Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon, the full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March (taken to be the date of the equinox).[16]Ecclesiastically, the equinox is thus reckoned to be on 21 March (although the astronomical equinox occurs on 20 March in most years), and the "Full Moon" is not necessarily on the astronomically correct date. The date of Easter therefore varies from 22 March to 25 April inclusive. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar, whose 21 March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian calendar, and in which therefore the celebration of Easter varies between 4 April and 8 May.

Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In many languages, the words for "Easter" and "Passover" are identical or very similar.[17]Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church,[18] and decorating Easter eggs, a symbol of the empty tomb.[19][20][21]The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection,[22][23] traditionally decorates the chancel area of churcheson this day and for the rest of Eastertide.[24] Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades.[25][26][27] There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally.


Easter - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[Moonglow]

Call it Easter, call it fruit fruits, call it what ever you want, just pick a day to remember that the proof of your salvation came the day Christ returned to earth, having died covered in your sin, raised from the dead sin free. It is your redemption day. The most important day in your eternal life.

He wasn't covered in my sin, I wasn't born yet...

 

[Coyote]

shoot. why do they hunt the eggs then? shouldn't be hunting the bunnies and drinking their blood?

brother

Na...it's the fertility aspect of the eggs

 

[Coyote]

you do realize most myths have the 3 day death then rise thing......jesus was hardly the first

Yup....birth, death, rebirth and salvation. Concepts that long predate any of our religions.

 

[Moonglow]

It has to do with the rebirth of the Earth...from the death of winter, yet those living at the equator thought differently about the seasons...

 

[Coyote]

All the really fun holidays have Pagan origins

But there is a lack of grass skirts.....

That's because we like to dance nekkid.

Or parade in cool costumes!