Origins of Easter

Easter or Easter Day is also know as Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, or Resurrection Sunday.  In English, it is named after a prehistoric goddess of springtime.  In some languages Easter is called Pascha.  The modern English term Easter developed from the old English word Eastre or Eostre.  The name refers to Eostur-monath, a month of the Germanic calender.  The month is said to be named after the goddess Eostre of Anglo-Saxon paganism.  She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people of Northern Europe.    Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime.  Some of those were:

• Aphrodite from ancient Cyprus
• Ashtoreth from ancient Israel
• Astarte from ancient Greece
• Demeter from Mycenae
• Hathor from ancient Egypt
• Ishtar from Assyria
• Kali from India
• Ostara a Norse Goddess of fertility

Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess had a consort, Attis.  Attis is believed to have been born via a virgin birth, died and resurrected each year during the period March 22nd to March 25th.  Around 200 B.C. mystery cults began to appear in Rome just as they had in Greece.  Most notable was the Cybele cult centered on Vatican hill.  Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis (Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name).  Wherever Christian worship of Jesus and Pagan worship of Attis were active in the same geographical area, there were bitter quarrels about which of their gods was the true prototype and which was the imitation.  Many religious historians and liberal theologians believe that the death and resurrection legends were first associated with Attis many centuries before the birth of Jesus.  They believe that they were simply grafted onto stories of Jesus's life in order to make Christian beliefs more acceptable to others.  Others believe that many events in the life of Jesus were recorded in the gospels, were lifted from the life of Krishna.  Krishna was the second person of the Hindu Trinity.  Ancient Christians had an explanation that claimed Satan had created counterfeit deities in advance prior to Jesus in order to confuse humanity.

Ancient Babylonians honored the resurrection of their god, Tammuz who was brought back from the underworld by his mother/wife, Ishtar.  This is believed to have been 2000 years before Christ.  Ishtar was actually pronounced as Easter in most Semitic dialects.

According to the gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.  The chronology of Jesus's death and resurrection is variously interpreted to be between 26 and 36 AD.  Easter also marks the end of Lent.  Lent is 40 day period of fasting and prayer.  The last week of Lent is known as Holy Week which also contains Good Friday.  Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus.

Easter is a movable holiday or feast which means it is not a day fixed on the calender.  The First Council of Nicaea established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the vernal equinox.  The date of Easter varies between March 22 and April 25.  Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian Calender.  The Julian Calender's March 21 corresponds during the 21st century to April 3 in the Gregorian Calender.  Easter varies between April 4 and May 8 in the Gregorian Calender.  Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism and by its position in the calender.  In many European languages, the words of Easter and Passover are etymologically related.

Easter customs vary across the Christian world.  Decorating Easter eggs is however a common motif.  Thirteen centuries after the birth of Jesus, Christians began decorating hard-boiled hen's eggs in flowery colors for Easter.  The egg is an ancient symbol of new life.  The egg in its shell symbolized the sealed tomb of Jesus.  The yolk symbolized the Son of God.  Also in ancient times the egg symbolized the Sun.  The customs of the Easter basket , Easter egg hunt and the Easter bunny began around the 16th century.  In the 19th century, chocolate makers in Europe began making egg-shaped chocolates for Easter which began the custom of Easter candy in the baskets.  Decorating eggs yellow, green, blue and other colors has represented nature since before Christianity.

Easter traditions were deemed pagan by some areas of the Protestant Reformation.  However in other Reformation Churches such as Lutheran, Methodist, and Anglican a full observance of the Church Year was retained.  In Lutheran Churches, Holy Week, Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost were observed.  Some Christians however continue to reject the celebration of Easter because they believe it to be tainted with paganism and idolatry.  This is also the view of Jehovah's Witnesses, who instead observe a yearly commemorative service of the Last Supper.  Also observed by Jehovah's Witnesses is the death of Christ on the evening of Nisan 14.  It is referred to as The Memorial.  Members of the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers traditionally do not observe Easter believing instead that every day is the Lord's day.  They believe that elevation of one day above others suggests that it is acceptable to do un-Christian acts on other days.

It seems that Easter was and is celebrated in many different cultures and has honored different gods.  Are these gods or Gods the same, just different names, cultures, and languages.  I will not debate other people's beliefs however I do recognize many presently and in the past have strong beliefs whether they honor this holiday or not.