Pagan Origins Of Easter

[stromboli]

http://atheism.about.com/od/easterholidayseason/p/PaganChristian.htm

Easter is the oldest Christian holiday, but how much of the most public and common celebrations of Easter today remain Christian in nature? Many people go to church — far more than go the rest of the year — but what else? Easter candy isnÂ't Christian. The Easter bunny isnÂ't Christian. Easter eggs arenÂ't Christian. Most of what people commonly associate with Easter is pagan in origin; the rest is commercial. Just as American culture secularized Christmas, itÂ's secularizing Easter.

Pagan roots of Easter lie in celebrating the spring equinox, for millennia an important holiday in many religions. Celebrating the beginning of spring may be among the oldest holidays in human culture. Occurring every year on March 20, 21, or 22, the spring equinox is the end of winter and beginning of spring. Biologically and culturally, it represents for northern climates the end of a Â"deadÂ" season and the rebirth of life, as well as the importance of fertility and reproduction.

Easter & Zoroastrianism:
The earliest reference we have to a similar holiday comes to us from Babylon, 2400 BCE. The city of Ur apparently had a celebration dedicated to the moon and the spring equinox which was held some time during our months of March or April. On the spring equinox Zoroastrians continue to celebrate Â"No Ruz,Â" the new day or New Year. This date is commemorated by
the last remaining Zoroastrians and probably constitutes the oldest celebration in the history of the world.

Easter & Judaism:
It is believed that the Jews derived their spring equinox celebrations, the Feast of Weeks and Passover, in part from this Babylonian holiday during the period when so many Jews were held captive by the Babylonian empire. It is likely that the Babylonians were the first, or at least among the first, civilizations to use the equinoxes as important turning points in the year. Today Passover is a central feature of Judaism and Jewish faith in God.

Fertility and Rebirth in the Spring:
Most cultures around the Mediterranean are believed to have had their own spring festivals: whereas in the north the vernal equinox is a time for planting, around the Mediterranean the vernal equinox is a time when the summer crops begin to sprout. This is an important sign of why it has always been a celebration of new life and a triumph of life over death.Gods Dying and Being Reborn:

A focus of spring religious festivals was a god whose own death and rebirth symbolized the death and rebirth of life during this time of the year. Many pagan religions had gods who were depicted as dying and being reborn. In some legends this god even descends into the underworld to challenge the forces there. Attis, consort of the Phrygian fertility goddess Cybele, was more popular than most. In other cultures he acquired different names, including Osiris, Orpheus, Dionysus, and Tammuz.

Cybele in Ancient Rome:
Worship of Cybele started in Rome around 200 BCE, and a cult dedicated to her was even located in Rome on what is today Vatican Hill. It appears that when such pagans and early Christians lived in close proximity, they usually celebrated their spring festivals at the same time — pagans honoring Attis and Christians honoring Jesus. Of course, both were inclined to argue that only theirs was the true God, a debate which hasnÂ't even been settled to this day.

Ostara, Eostre, and Easter:
Currently, modern Wiccans and neo-pagans celebrate Â"Ostara,Â" a lesser Saabbat on the vernal equinox. Other names for this celebration include Eostre and Oestara and they are derived from the Anglo-Saxon lunar Goddess, Eostre. Some believe that this name is ultimately a variation on the names of other prominent goddesses, like Ishtar, Astarte, and Isis, usually a consort of the gods Osiris or Dionysus, who are depicted as dying and being reborn.

Pagan Elements of Modern Easter Celebrations:
As you might be able to tell, the name Â"EasterÂ" was likely derived from Eostre, the name of the Anglo-Saxon lunar goddess, as was as the name for the female hormone estrogen. EostreÂ's feast day was held on the first full moon following the vernal equinox — a similar calculation as is used for Easter among Western Christians. On this date the goddess Eostre is believed by her followers to mate with the solar god, conceiving a child who would be born 9 months later on Yule, the winter solstice which falls on December 21st.Two of EostreÂ's most important symbols were the hare (both because of its fertility and because ancient people saw a hare in the full moon) and the egg, which symbolized the growing possibility of new life. Each of these symbols continues to play an important role in modern celebrations of Easter. Curiously, they are also symbols which Christianity has not fully incorporated into its own mythology. Other symbols from other holidays have been given new Christian meanings, but attempts to do the same here have failed.American Christians continue to generally celebrate Easter as a religious holiday, but public references to Easter almost never include any religious elements. Christians and non-Christians alike celebrate Easter in decidedly non-Christian ways: with chocolate and other forms of Easter candy, Easter eggs, Easter egg hunts, the Easter bunny, and so forth. Most cultural references to Easter include these elements, most of which are pagan in origin and all of which have become commercialized.Because these aspects of Easter are shared by both Christians and non-Christians, they constitute the common cultural recognition of Easter — the specifically religious celebrations of Christians belong to them alone and are not part of the wider culture. The shift of religious elements away from the general culture and into Christians churches has been occurring over many decades and isnÂ't quite complete.

So the name Easter comes from the Anglo Saxon moon goddess Eostre. Happy moon goddess Sunday, y'all.  Spring equinox, people. Ripped off by the xtians just like Christmas. A thieving bunch, imo.

                                     

[doorknob]

not surprised. The excuse I heard as a kid was that early Christians had to adopt pagan holidays in order to get pagans to join. Pagans apparently really like their holidays. Not that I can blame them.

[stromboli]

Reading that, apparently Wiccans get in on all the fun. Maybe I'll become a Wiccan.....

[Valigarmander]

Interestingly, the original Greek/Latin name for Easter was Pascha, derived from the Hebrew name for the festival Pesach (Passover) that is celebrated around the same time of the year. In most European languages the holiday's name comes from Pascha. It's only in English and German* that the festival's name is taken from Eostre, being that these two languages developed among peoples who originally worshiped her.

* Some west Slavic languages also have Eostre-derived names for the holiday, but these seem to be later loanwords borrowed from early English or German.

[Munch]

And then christianity came in with a bulldozer, bulldozing over ancient greek and roman myths, taking the parts they liked and leaving the husks of such civilizations behind, and when they couldn't bulldoze over the others, like pagan, they demonized them, associating them with their scapegoat, the devil.

This is why I celebrate saturnalia, since they understood the bounding found in the seasonal orgy.

[kilodelta]

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Christianity has original holidays.

[stromboli]

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Christianity has original holidays.

Wow. Totally quotable.   

[Munch]

Intresting little bit of insight on a website I found.

http://religion.8m.com/rel_ten_things.html

Ten things Christians stole from Pagans

1 - Jesus
Jesus and all the events of his life were copied from numerous Pagan stories. The timing, significance and manner of his death, resurrection and birth were taken from the gods Attis, Orpheus, Heracles, Mithra and Dionysus. Even his titles, such as “the Lamb of God” were taken from previous material. All of his miracles were common tricks of Pagans before his time as well. Attis was crucified 200 years before Jesus supposedly was.

2 - Virgin birth
Pagan sun gods and harvest gods were traditionally born of virgins, often a virgin temple priestess...

3 - Mary
Many different ancient cultures used “Mary” or a derivative of that name is the name of their goddess who bore god. This was also the ritual name of the temple harlots of the time who would have sex with those who made offerings to the temple in exchange for a symbolic union with the goddess, whom they were said to represent, just as the priest is the direct representative of God in Christian cosmology. All temple priestesses were considered to be “virgins” despite their many sex partners because the laity were not having sex with the woman, but rather with the Goddess.

4 - Christmas
No one really knows when Jesus was born, possibly because he was not, so the Catholics, in a bid to convert Pagans, set the date of his birth on the Winter Solstice, which is the day when sun gods of many pre-Christian cultures were said to have been born as it is the shortest day of the year and thus signifies light overcoming dark. The tree and mistletoe are also of Pagan origin.

5 - The Cross and the Fish
The cross, other than a symbol of torture, is a symbol of the lingam, or phallus. The Christian cross differs significantly from the Egyptian cross of life which also includes the yoni, the feminine principle. The fish, also a yoni symbol, was originally a symbol of the goddess as well.

6 - Easter
Easter was named for the Saxon Goddess Eostre. The Easter Bunny and the eggs left for good children are German Pagan myths. The image of the god buried in his tomb rising to live again on Easter is a Pagan one. This day marked spring and, therefore, rebirth.

7 - Eucharist
Wine has been used as a symbol for divine blood in many pre-Christian cultures. For instance, worshippers of Dionysus drank it in communion, but Jews, like Jesus and his followers, were strongly opposed to such rituals. Pagans also used wine to symbolize the blood of the goddess, from which all life was nourished. Followers of Osiris ate bread used to symbolize his flesh.

8 - Marriage
Early Christians scorned the Jewish tradition of marriage which they inherited for being too Pagan and based on sexual union, which they saw as the most heinous of acts. Paul even suggests that he may have suffered self-inflicted castration; when someone asked if he was circumcised, he commented that the question did not apply to him. Marriage was added later on to help convert Pagans.

9 - Valentine's Day
Originally called, Lupercalia, this was a day when each person put their name into a drawing and the person who drew their name became their sexual partner for the day. The pieces of paper have been tamed down to be notes of love. Saint Valentine himself was invented in order to give a Christian meaning to the holiday.

10 - The Trinity
Pre-Christian Pagans also had a trinity; it was the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother and Crone. It represented all stages of the life cycle. The Fates were one version of this.

So yes, Jesus was nailed to a giant dick symbol.

[stromboli]

Logical One is going to read that list and.... do nothing. It won't sink in. That is one brain that is smoother than a bowling ball.

[Draconic Aiur]

ALL HAIL ISHTAR! GODDESES OF LOVE SEX AND FERTALITY!!!!! LET US HAVE AN ORGY NOW DO IT NOW!!!!!