by Ngoldwe (copyright 1998)
The sun rises and the early morning rays find many groups of people gathered on hilltops all across the land; with smiling faces and uplifted hands worshippers greet the dawn, singing and shouting for joy; and later that morning other groups of worshippers sit in congregate, eyes uplifted as their cleric gives a sermon. Then in the afternoon as services end, a new phase of the celebration begins, some of the lady folk make preparations: the baking of round loaves of bread and placing x's on them as symbolic decoration; boiling, decorating, and hiding of eggs for small children to search and claim in fun; the decoration of a bush or small tree, the laying out of spring pennants, the purchasing of ducklings and baby rabbits as gifts for children. Some towns have parades, in others there is quiet observation and celebration within individual family homes. What is this holiday all about? These festivities and preparations are, the celebrants claim, in honor of their deity and to celebrate their claim of a executed and ressurected Jesus Christ, the supposed son of their god, the Hebrew Yahweh, whom said son, they claim, died and was raised from death back into life to wash away the sins of humanity. Yes, all this is done on this one particular day, Easter Sunday, for this particular reason. Yet, the question must be asked: Does the reason why this holiday is celebrated and the various customs associated with it truely jibe with historical reality? Where did all these customs that are in celebration of Jesus's claimed death and resurrection come from? And would the Christians, whose holiday this is, if they were to learn of how their customs for this day had originated (which they ARE about to learn), have anything more to do with the entire shabang at all?
Easter. The holiday is celebrated worldwide by millions of Christians. But because millions of people hold a thing dear, it does not necessarily follow that the thing is either correct or the belief it is constructed around has a basis in reality.
To begin with, the basis of the holiday, the figure of Jesus Christ, scholarship has cast many doubts on the historicity of Jesus as an actual person. The facts, debates, and nature of the controversy of this subject will not allow for a lenghtened discourse within this essay. For that, please refer to Chapter VII: The Jesus Myth, from The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal, written by Paul Kurtz for a full treatment of the subject. The particular part of the myth which concerns us here is the basis of the Easter holiday: Christian belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To crystallize the pertinent argument, then:
"The cornerstone of Jesus' claim to fame rests upon his crucifixion, death, and alleged resurrection...It is what happened after the crucifixion that is essential to Christianity. According to [the apostle] Paul, without the resurrection all of Christian faith is in vain...What is the evidence that this miracalous event occured?...What are the facts surrounding Jesus' death and return?...the only "evidence" we have is contained in the New Testament. No independent accounts have survived, if they ever existed, to give creedence to this world-shattering event...the biblical accounts are fragmentary and contradictory...the case for Jesus' resurrection is extremely weak.
We must now examine the claims for the resurrection, since this event is the bedrock of Christian faith. Did it occur? What is the evidence for it? Again, we have absolutely no independent supporting data in the extant literature of the period. Nor is there any circumstantial evidence. Thus we must rely solely on New Testament sources.
Mark's account (16:1-8 NEB) diverges significantly from Matthew's" [(27:62-65 NEB; 28:6-7 NEB)] "...[and] Reading Luke (23:55-56; 24:1-11 NEB) only exacerbates the confusion...[the synoptic Gospels] involve contradictory accounts...:
1. An angel outside of the tomb [or] A youth inside [or] Two men inside.
2. The rock is in front of the tomb [or] It is moved from the cave entrance in front of the women and guard [or] The rock has already been removed when they arrive.
3. The women present are the two Marys [or] Salome in addition [or] Joanna in addition, and other women.
4. The women are in awe and great joy, hurrying to tell the disciples; they meet Jesus on the way [or] The women are besides themselves with terror, saying nothing to anybody [or] The women report the story to the apostles, who do not believe them.
Now then! Having dealt with the reason for celebrating Easter, what is the origin of the word? According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Easter is derived from the Middle English word estre, which itself traces back to the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) word eastre; it is akin to the Old High German word ostarun, Easter; both are taken from the prehistoric West Germanic name of a pagan spring festival akin to Old English east. The word Easter, then, is derived from an old Teutonic cultural tradition of celebrating a pre-Christian religious festival. Who then was the deity this festival honored?
It turns out that this deity, according to the 8th Century CE Anglo-Saxon monk, Venerable Bede, is Eostre, the great mother goddess of the Saxons, an ancient and early Medieval Germanic tribe, and who, in her other names as: Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eastre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron, and Ausos, functioned as an old Germanic goddess of the dawn, spring, fertility, and new life. Although the Saxons had only two long months or seasons (Spring-Summer, Fall-Winter) in their calendar, April was later named Eostre-monath (Eostre's Month), and her cultic symbols were the hare, and the egg, both seen as representing rebirth and spring. Eostre was honored by the Saxons through their celebration of an annual Spring festival. Hare's, held sacred by the Saxons, were often sacrificed to Eostre, and during the festival, oxen were sacrificed to her as well.
One particular myth concerning Eostre is that of her having saved a bird whose wings had been frozen in a previous harsh winter. She did this by turning the bird into a magical hare which laid eggs. In fact, there was a belief among the early English that hares could actually lay eggs, the association being brought forth in the observation that a hare's 'scratch' and the nest of a lapwing appear similar in structure, and both appear in the spring. And according to another myth, it was Eostre who opened Valhalla's gates to allow the entrance of Baldur.
Fertility goddesses are quite common throughout the cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean area. Though originating in many cases from a particular area, all are very similar in function although their particular mythologies may differ in some respects; underneath they are basically serving the same functions. From Assyria we have Ishtar; from Egypt, Hathor; from Cyprus, Aphrodite; Phrygia, Cybele; mainland Greece (Mycenae), Demeter; Phoenicia, Astarte; and from the Norsemen, Ostara. Furthermore, cultural contacts and borrowings have often served to mix and match religious rites, ceremonies and mythologies.
One deity in particular which is very similar to the Jesus myth in many respects, and is pre-Christian, is that of the Phrygian god Attis, who was a god of ever reviving vegetation, and the consort of Cybele, the fertility goddess. The Phrygians said of Attis that he was born of a virgin, and he died and ressurected each year during the period of what is now called March 22 through March 25. In fact, around 200 BCE in Rome, during the period when mystery cults began to spread and flourish in the Roman Empire, the most notable cult was that of Cybele on Vatican Hill in Rome. In association with her, of course, was her consort Attis, whose festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday, lasted three days, and the third day was one of rejoicing in the resurrection of Attis.
All these cultures expressed their religious rites concerning their fertility deities at one particular part of year--Spring. The ancients, through their observations of nature, and, naturally, wanting explanations, came up with the notions of gods and goddesses controlling magically the events of Springtime. Each Spring our ancient ancestors observed fresh new life and a renewal and revival of the natural world around them. Since prehistoric times, European and Asian peoples held spring festivals, their own particular regeneration myths being reenacted through the performances of religious magical ceremonies to ensure the growth and prosperity of their crops. The underlying theme, no matter the culture, of a ceremony is very basic--life, death, resurrection and renewal; and the major day of this seasonal celebration occurred at or following the Spring Equinox.
Remember all those Easter practices that you enjoyed since childhood? Coloring eggs, baking hot-crossed buns, arranging Easter Lilies, lighting Easter Candles, having someone dress up as the Easter Bunny, or participating in an Easter Sunrise Service? Well...guess what??!!!
* The Easter Sunrise Service: This custom traces back to those cultures that venerated the sun as a god. People who worshipped a sun-god would, on the dawn of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox, greet the rising sun and sing praises, chants, or hymns to the sun. It was also a time to celebrate the return of life and reproduction.
* Easter Candles: This custom also is related to solar worship. It is a direct descendant of the practice of lighting bonfires at the Vernal Equinox to welcome the ressurection or rebirth of the sun-god.
* Easter Lilies: In ancient times these flowers were associated with male reproductive organs, and considered a holy phallic symbol, revered by pre-Christians of various lands.
* The Easter Bunny: This also predates Christianity, moonhares being sacred to the fertility goddesses in many western and eastern lands. Ostara, a Norse goddess, being one good example.
* Hot Cross Buns: Think that the cross on this baked loaf represents the cross of the Christians? THINK AGAIN! Originally, this symbol was in the shape of an ox's horns, which was a symbol of the Feast of Eostre, since oxes were sacrificed to her. This symbol was carved into the ritual bread served during the Feast of Eostre. Furthermore, the etymology of the word buns can be traced back to the Saxon word boun, the "sacred ox." It was only later that the symbol of a symmetrical cross replaced the ox horns to decorate the buns. This cross, in pre-Christian Britain, represented the moon (which was also associated with Eostre) and the four quarters of the moon phase.
* Easter Eggs: Yep! That is right! These are pre-Christian too. Worldwide in scope, eggs have always been associated in many cultures with, for obvious reasons, fertility, rebirth, and new life. And, the practice of decorating them can be found among the ancient Egyptians (who dyed and hung them in their temples, regarding them as a symbol of regeneration, emanating from the mouth of one of their gods), Babylonians (eggs formed part of the rituals of their mystery cults), and the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese (all whom, during their respective spring festivals, would present among themselves gifts of decorated eggs); One particular myth regards a sun-bird, which hatched from a world-egg. Other cultures also had a myth of the earth hatching from a cosmic egg. From very early times, eggs were eaten during the spring festival.
Now we come to how and why the Christians adopted all these pre-Christian elements in their religion to celebrate Easter.
Another name for Easter some Christians use is Pasch (pronounced "pask"). Tracing its etymology, Pasch is taken from the Middle English word Pasche "Passover, Easter," which was borrowed from the Old French, which in turn came from the Late Latin word Pascha; it in turn came from the Late Greek word for Passover, the word being found originally in Hebrew pesah. (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.)
Alas! Even the Jewish holiday of Passover, which also influenced Easter, was not without its antecedants. The Feast of Unleavened Bread has its roots in the traditional agricultural rites and practices of the Canaanites, neighbors of their Hebrew ancestors. The Canaanite festival marked the start of the barley harvest. Passover, centuries later, merged with the early Christian belief of a ressurected Jesus to form part of the early Easter observances. As has been shown, around Easter, "a climax of the Liturgical drama of Holy Week and Good Friday, folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonies and symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals brought into relation with the resurrection theme."3
"The Early Christians, many of whom were of Jewish origin, were brought up in the Hebrew Tradition and regarded Easter as a new feature of the Passover festival a commemoration of the advent of the Messiah..."4
And, furthermore, "There is no doubt that the Church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them. As the festival of Eostre was in celebration of the renewal of life in the spring it was easy to make it a celebration of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus, whose gospel they preached."5
Interestingly, disputes were to arise among adherants to two different religions whose deities were quite similar in some respects. There were active in the same general area of the Mediterranean the worshippers of Attis and the worshippers of Jesus. Not only were their gods similar, but their ressurection festivals occured on the same date. A bitter quarrel broke out over which deity was the "true" god.
Besides the argumentation between religions, there were also constant fights within Christianity itself over the proper time to keep Easter observances:
"One party held the Passover date the 14th of Nissan, irrespective of the day of the week; these were termed the Quartodecimens. The other party, and especially the Roman Church, insisted on...that Christ was crucified on Friday, the day preceeding the Jewish Sabbath, and rose again on late Sunday, on which therefore the anniversary ought to always be kept."6
Later developments of the Easter-Passover controversy:
CE 160--Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna and Anicetus agree to permit differences of practice on this point.
CE 170--Laodiceans, in opposition to other Asiatic churches, observe the Jewish Passover by eating Paschal Lamb.
CE 196--Pope Victor I tries to get the whole question of Easter settled; the Asiatic churches hold out until the council of Nicaea.
"An important historical result of the difference in reckoning the date of Easter was that the Chrisitan churches in the East, which were closer to the birthplace of the new religion and in which old traditions were strong, observed Easter according to the date of the Passover festival. The churches of the West, descendants of Greco-Roman civilization, celebrated Easter on Sunday."7
In 325 CE, Emperor Constantine I, the Great, convokes the Council of Nicaea to decide questions of controversy among the churches. Not only were the Arians voted against in favor of Athanasius, but also..."The Council unanimously ruled that the Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox; and that if the full moon should occur on a Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be commemorated on the Sunday following. Coincidence of the feasts of Easter and Passover was thus avoided."8
Well folks: there you have it. The origins and history of Easter. Now all of us know, Christians and non-Christians alike. The Christians may find themselves in quite a shock after learning the facts of their "holy day." Now they have no excuse in perpetuating this observance on the larger culture. Those of us skeptics and freethinkers, who have long since our awakening out of religion, or have been brought up in secular humanist households, know what the score is on this and other holdays of the Christians. Among us humanists, many feel that we owe no allegiance to these festivities, for they celebrate that which we feel no need to celebrate, and do not care to involve ourselves in Easter in any shape, form or fashion. We do not feel obligated to the larger religionist culture to tow their line, and we resent their efforts of making us feeling guilty for not doing so. It is their holiday, not ours. The truth about Easter must continue to be told, and the Christians should be made to realize all the facts about it, that they are actually participating in pagan symbolism and ritual dressed up in Christian clothing to celebrate a ressurection of one particular deity of many, whom has no corner on the death and resurrection theme. That particular subject is old hat. They have no excuse now, and we seculars must never let them forget that! Happy Easter? No thanks, I will pass that over.
Footnotes
1. The Trancendental Temptation, Ch. VIII, pp. 147-158, abridged.
By Paul Kurtz; copyright 1986. Prometheus Books.
2. The American Book of Days, by George William Douglas, p. 201,
copyright 1937.
3. Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, 15th ed. pp.333.
4. Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Vol. 8, p. 433.
5. The American Book of Days, by George William Douglas, p. 201, copyright 1937.
6. Encyclopedia of World Religions; by G.T. Bettany, copyright 1988.
7. Funk & Wagnall's Encyc., Vol 8, p. 434.
8. Ibid.
Other Sources of Information for this Essay: Ngoldwe is a pseudonym for an average joe and eupraxopher: amateur scholar, history and archaeology buff, fantasy enthusiast, role-playing gamer, and all around nice guy.
http://www.hrofi.demon.co.uk/angelcyn/religion.html
http://yahwe.com/pages/pu3_96/l_396pg3.shtml
http://www.paranoia.com/~wcs/easter.htm
http://axtec.lib.utk.edu/~michie/easterorig.html
http://www.nigh.net/easter/egghit.html-ssi
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