Many Easter customs and legends are pagan in origin having nothing to do with Christianity. The word Easter is derived from the Scandinavian Ostara and the Teutonic "Ostern" or Eastre, both Goddesses of mythology. The complete month of April was called Eostur-monath. This month was dedicated to Eostre the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring. These two goddesses signified spring and fertility with festivals celebrated in their honor on the day of the vernal equinox. It is said that Eostre is the one responsible for changing a bird into a rabbit, this then is how the rabbit became an Easter symbol. Rabbits symbolize the fertility of springtime. It should be noted that the rabbit's capacity of abundant production of young is especially great at this time of year. The rabbit is also the symbol of the Egyptian moon - and the moon is used to determine the date of Easter each year. Even today Easter is observed on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or following the spring equinox (March 21st). This is the reason that the dates for Easter can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. According to Greek mythology, Demeter and Persephone, whose Latin counterpart is Ceres and Persephone, relates that a goddess returned seasonally from the nether regions to the light of day. This was in unification with the festival of spring, known as vernal equinox. This occurred on March 21st, when nature is in resurrection after the winter months.
Another outlook states the Easter comes from the name Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, she was supposedly the queen of heaven. (It should be noted that the name Asherah is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. God's law was that they should be no other gods spoken of and it clearly states that Asherah was a false goddess, an idol, worshiped by pagans. (Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:15; 12:2-4; 16:20; Judges 6-25-30; there are many other books of the Bible in which false gods are mentioned.) The name Astarte was pronounced as Ishtar by the Niveveh people. The name as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar. The worship of Bel and Astarte was supposedly introduced into Britain at the same time as the Druids. It is said the Druidical worship was first introduced by the Phoenicians, who occupied Britian centuries before the Christian era, but this has never been proven. Even in this age there is still proof that ancient rituals of the Phoenicians are practiced in parts of the world.
It is due to the creativity of second century Christian missionaries, that the pagan festival came to be replaced by the Christian celebration. These missionaries traveled among the Teutonic tribes north of Rome spreading the word of God. As often as, possible, local pagan customs were changed to harmonize with Christian doctrine. This was a practical way of changing the pagan customs as it prevented the converts from being persecuted by pagan traditionalists. The Eastre festival coincided with the Christian observance of the resurrection of Jesus which made the transition of this holiday easily achieved by the missionaries. In 325 AD, Emperor Constantine decreed that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equilnox.
Many of the early Christians were of Jewish origin and had been brought up with Hebrew traditions. In light of this, the Christian celebration of Easter possesses a number of Jewish traditions relating to the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach, which comes from Pasch, a name used by Europeans for Easter. The Jewish Passover commemorates Israel's deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. For Christians, Easter is the feast of beginnings, of the emergence of life from darkness and death. Easter is celebrated as the religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God. It has been said that St. Augustine was the first Christian authority who associated the egg with the beginning. He compared the egg with the virtue of hope and, in particular, with the hope of eternal life; because the egg, like hope, is that which has not come to fruition. However, early Christian Chaldeans, Syrians and Greeks faithfully presented each other with crimson eggs in honor of the blood of Christ.
Easter for early Christians was observed on the same day as Passover (14-15 Nisan, a date which is governed by a lunar calendar.) It was during the 2nd century that Easter was transferred to the Sunday following the 14-15 Nisan, if that day happened to fall during the week. Also Easter was originally a combined celebration and it was not until the 4th century that Good Friday became a day devoted exclusively to the death of Christ while Easter is exclusive to the resurrection of Jesus. Easter is now celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. The Paschal Full Moon occurs any time from March 21 through April 18, inclusive. This is the reason why there is no fixed date for Easter. Also the Eastern Orthodox churches followed the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian. Consequently, their celebration usually occurred several weeks after the Western Easter. Due to these differences it was not until much later that Easter was celebrated at the same time world wide.
During the third and fourth centuries Easter was known as Pasch or the Passover and was thought not to be of Apostolic institution, even through many early Christian observed this date as the death and resurrection of Christ. It has also been shown at that time Easter was not preceded by Lent. The forty days of Lent apparently began with the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess.
We can see that many of the popular observances of today come from pagan rites, even though today they are of as Christian origin. Hot cross buns, which are normally served on Good Friday, dyed eggs or Easter eggs as they are called, even what we refer to as the Easter Bunny figured into the Chaldean rites, are of Babylonian character. What we refer to as Hot cross buns were used in the worship of the queen of heaven known as the goddess Easter, during the days of Cecrops, the founder of Athens. "Hot cross buns" as they are now called actually comes from the word "Boun" which was a sacred bread that was made and offered to the gods. It is also said that ancient Egyptians made cakes bearing a cross-like symbol which represented a pair of cow-horns and were presented to the moon goddess, Isis. Fires were lit on mountain tops and then used to bake cakes in sacrifice to Semiramis, the "Queen of Heaven." (This practice is mentioned in the several Biblical passages (1Kings 11:8; 2 Kings 17:7-16; 28:4; 23:4-14; Isaiah 17:8;. There are also other passages which refer to this rite.) Although these buns are no longer offered to the gods, people still eat them on Good Friday. So we see how "Hot cross buns" became a part of Easter celebrations.
Eggs also were highly worshipped and were known as to be a sacred emblem of the ancient Druids. Many of the spring festivals celebrated by pagans evolved around the egg, which was thought of as the beginning of life. The Romish Church adopted the mystic egg of Astarte and sanctified it as a symbol of Christ's resurrection. Pope Paul V even appointed a form of prayer which relates to the egg: (Scottish Guardian, April 1844.)
"Bless, O Lord, we beseech thee, this thy creature of eggs, that is may become a wholesome sustenance unto thy servants, eating it in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Another practice which is observed on Easter is the Sunrise Service. This is clearly contradictory to the teachings of the Bible. This was quite common during pagan practices to face the sun in the east and bow down before it in worship. This is not of Christian origin what so ever and clearly goes against God's word. (The Bible clearly states what God has to say about sunrise services. (Ezekiel 8:1-18; John 20:1)) It should be noted at this time that those observing the resurrection of Jesus that he arose before and not during sunrise.
In concluding, hopefully, we now have clearer idea of how Easter traditions which we now celebrate as Christians actually came about from pagan rituals. Easter was not celebrated by Christians until approximately 300 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. We can also establish the fact that pagan and Christian practices intermingled to form many of the symbols used by Christians during the Easter celebration. We also know that even though we observe the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus at Easter, that this was not the actual day of these events. (See (John 19: 30-31 and Matthrw 12:40) for the facts on the date Jesus was cruxified.) Jesus was sacrificed at the same time lambs were being slaughtered for Passover, was buried for three days and nights after which he arose. In order to calculate the actual date of his death, a Hebrew calendar should be used.
In all truth, it is not the actual celebration
that makes Easter important, but, it is the day and the significance of
what transpired that is important. Although we may not know the exact
date of the Resurrection of Jesus, we do know that it occurred on a Sunday.
At Easter we reflect upon the suffering that Jesus endured for our sins,
the torture before his actual death on the Cross of Calvary and finally
His Resurrection. In all this we know that Jesus died for our
sins that Jesus was a sacrifice so our sins could be forgiven. So,
we could be washed clean by the blood of the lamb. Easter is the
time we really recall just how much God loves us, how he forgave
us our sins and at that time because of the death of Christ, eternal life
is ours for the choosing. No, sacrifice is too great for God
and all he asks is for us to place our faith in him, to follow his commandments
and walk in his footsteps. So what really does Easter mean.
For me and many other the true meaning of Easter is "UNCONDITIONAL
LOVE."
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