Orgins of Easter

Well it is almost Easter another holliday which today is largely attributed to Christains, but yet, like most "Christain" holidays began before Christainty with the Pagans, so here is an article on the origins of Easter

Easter celebrations were held hundreds of years before Christ was born as festivals of spring honoring Eostre, the great mother goddess of the Saxons. This name was fashioned after the ancient word for spring, Eastre. The goddess Ostara was the Norse equivalent whose symbols were the hare and the egg. From this comes our modern tradition of celebrating Easter with eggs and bunnies.

In the Mediterranean region, there was a pre-Christian spring celebration centered around the vernal equinox (March 20 or 21) that honored Cybele, the Phrygian goddess of fertility. Cybele’s consort, Attis, was considered born of a virgin and was believed to have died and been resurrected three days later. Attis derived his mythology from even earlier gods, Osiris, Dionysus, and Orpheus, who also were supposed to have been born of a virgin and suffered death and resurrection as long as 500 years before Christ was born. The death of Attis was commemorated on a Friday and the resurrection was celebrated three days later on Sunday.

There are other Easter traditions that are pagan in origin. The Easter sunrise service is derived from the ancient pagan practice of welcoming the sun on the morning of the spring equinox, marking the beginning of spring. What we now call Easter lilies were revered by the ancients as symbols of fertility and representative of the male genitalia. The ancient Babylonian religions had rituals involving dyed eggs as did the ancient Egyptians.

The Christian version of Easter is celebrated after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Modern day neo-pagans usually have their spring celebrations on the day of the equinox. Either way, these celebrations have gone on every year continuously for over 2500 years. So, next Sunday, if you go to an Easter sunrise service, hunt for colored eggs or eat marshmallow bunnies, remember you are indulging in pagan rituals that celebrate fertility and the advent of springtime!

9:57 AM - 4/10/2006 - post comment

Quote of the Week: We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another--Jonathan Swift

ShadowEyes
The Aristos
Poem Hunter
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
StopWhaling
NRDC BioGems
IFAW
Social Values Marketplace
Blogthings
Shadow Poetry
Seafood Choices Alliance
Look At Me
Stop The Seal Hunt
Holla Back
My Deviant Art
My Cafe Press Store
Bold, Beautiful, and Big
Internet Movie Database
Responsible Traveling
Ethical Traveling
Green Weddings
Eco-Friendly Sking and Snowboarding
Keep Winter Cool
Green Resorts
Beyond the Mystery
The Spiders Den
The Poetry Forum
The Literature Forum
Frederick W. Cook
Good Reads
Deconstruction of Kamikaze Kurt



Recent Entries
- Quote of the Week
- Don't Vote Red
- One Woman who won't vote Plain
- Don't Preach what you can't practice
- International Reading List ~ Update




Catagory
- Articles
- Books
- Arcane
- Movies
- Music
- Philosophy
- Poetry
- Writing
- Thoughts
- Rants
- The Silvernary
- Word of the day
- Quote of the Week
- In Praise Of
- Art
- Confessional
- Garden and Animal Journal
- Roots
- Raw
- Humur
- Photography




Friends
- JournalHome
- troutdude
- DAWNIE
- kaymbl0403
- Heather
- silvermelusine
- Fightingfemale
- LandsdownLad
- dutchboy
- pykimconant
- inamorata
- Realove
- sweetlydisturbed
- imagination999
- SilverWynd
- lobond
- DarthTsynn
- YankeeInnkeeper
- StarrSilverMoon
- shokat99
- sweet2pinkash
- LadySilverMoon
- glorydreamer386
- 5489
- TheSeraphim
- enelda
- Zachtin
- visitor
- thecolumn





Visit www.hostdrjack.com




www.hostdrjack.com




Visit www.hostdrjack.com




Visit www.hostdrjack.com









Visit www.hostdrjack.com