History of Easter
It’s all very well knowing that every year at the end of March or the beginning of April we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and kids of all ages collect chocolate Easter eggs or chocolate bunnies. The origins of Easter are worth knowing, because the pagan festival that became Easter as we know it is part of our historic culture.
In the early days of Christianity it was dangerous to practice one’s faith when the majority of the population in the Roman Empire were pagan, so early Christians piggy backed their religious festivities onto existing festivals. The Resurrection of Christ adopted the date of the festival of Eastre as its time of year.
Eastre in Saxon mythology was the Earth Goddess, but in Roman times also coincided with the goddess Aphrodite, both of whom were the goddesses of fertility. Other goddesses connected with fertility were Ishtar, Kali, Demeter, Hathor, Ashtoreth and the Norse goddess Ostara.
Of course in history of this sort there are always other viewpoints, and some experts believe the name Easter is a corruption of ancient words that simply meant sunrise, but we’ll never know for certain, though since pagan festivals fell at the same time of year it seems reasonable that our explanation would be correct.
The spring equinox is the traditional time to celebrate Eastre, and is a time of rebirth, we see this in the trees regaining their leaves, or wild flowers growing and filling mountainsides, and in the birth of young animals, the springtime lambs being the most well known.
So the next time you think of Easter and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, let your mind reflect on the time of year when everything is reborn, and remember that historically, the festival was called Eastre.
The History of Easter
Tags: chocolate, easter pictures, egg, holidays, teacher resources
Clip Art, Easter, Online Schooling | Pixabella | 
April 2, 2012 9:25 pm | 
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