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Welcoming Eostre
This year will be the first year I embrace a more naturalistic faith, and with that comes recognizing the basis for many holidays. This Sunday many people will celebrate Easter, and when you ask them, they will say it is a day dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus. However, the holy day is much older, and has a much different history, and that history will tell us why many churches hold Easter Egg Hunts, and children get chocolate bunnies.
Easter originates with the Goddess Eostre, the Anglo Goddess of the Spring. She also symbolized many other things such as resurrection, rebirth, renewal, and newness with the coming of the new Season. As the Christian community continued to grow, especially in the lands of Europe many pagan holidays were wholesale included in the new faith. Eostre was therefore still celebrated, but Jesus replaced Eostre on Eostre’s day.
So today we have Easter, without Easter.
Even more, many of the ancient pagans would welcome the new season with eggs, and rabbits. For many of us we know that rabbits usually accompany the change in the season and we see them hopping happily through are yards as the seasons warm. But Eostre symbolized from death comes life, from darkness comes light. Ideals that again are used in many Christian services. One of the most striking resemblances is the worship of the return of the Sun (Son) at Sunrise services…
