| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"LisaKay" |
| Date: |
27 Mar 2005 02:58:06 PM |
| Object: |
Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday |
I thought this was an interesting and informative article for the
Christians in the group and for any atheists that don't already know
this stuff...
Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday
By David Johnson
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/easterintro1.html
Christians celebrate Easter to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Some trappings of modern Easter celebrations, however, pre-date
Christianity and have ancient pagan roots.
Ancient Fertility Goddess
Easter takes its name from Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess
of love and fertility. The Phoenicians knew her as Astarte, sister and
consort of Baal, a God worshipped in much of the Middle East and
Mediterranean. Some of the ancient Hebrews also worshipped Baal.
Astarte spread through Europe, becoming Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon goddess
of spring, fertility, and the rising sun. The Old English word for
Easter, "Eastre" refers to Ostara.
Around the second century A.D., Christian missionaries seeking to
convert the tribes of northern Europe realized that the time of the
crucifixion of Jesus roughly coincided with the Teutonic springtime
celebrations, which emphasized the triumph of life over death.
Christian Easter gradually absorbed the traditional symbols.
Eggs and Rabbits Have Long Legacies
The egg and the rabbit, two of Easter's most common symbols, also have
ancient associations with spring.
Eggs symbolize birth and fertility in many cultures. Ancient Egyptians
and the Persians colored eggs to give as gifts during their spring
festival.
The legends of ancient Egypt connect the hare, which comes out at night
to feed, with the moon. Rabbits have remained fertility symbols in
other, later cultures.
According to Anglo-Saxon myth Ostara, wanting to delight some children
one day, turned her pet bird into a rabbit. The rabbit proceeded to lay
brightly colored eggs, which Ostara gave to the children.
Easter Egg Hunts
In ancient Europe, eggs of different colors were taken from the nests
of various birds and used to make talismans. The eggs were often
ritually eaten. The search through the woods for eggs gradually evolved
into the Easter egg hunt, while painted eggs eventually replaced wild
birds' eggs. Easter baskets were probably originally intended to
resemble birds' nests.
Forbidden Eggs
In Medieval Europe, eggs were forbidden during Lent. Therefore they
were a prized Easter gift for children and servants.
Eggs were painted bright colors to resemble the sun and springtime.
Often, the colors and patterns had romantic symbolism, and lovers
exchanged eggs as they send Valentine's Day cards today.
Different Traditions
Orthodox Christians in the Middle East and in Greece, painted eggs
bright red to resemble the blood of Christ. Hollow eggs (created by
piercing the shell with a needle and blowing out the contents) were
decorated with pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other religious
figures in Armenia.
Germans gave green eggs as gifts on Holy Thursday. They also hung
hollow eggs on trees. Austrians placed tiny plants around the egg and
then boiled them. When the plants were removed, white patterns were
created.
Artistic Creations
The most elaborate Easter egg traditions appear to have emerged in
Eastern Europe. In Poland and Ukraine, eggs were often painted silver
and gold. Pysanky (to design or write) eggs were created by carefully
applying wax in patterns to an egg. The egg was then dyed, wax would be
reapplied in spots to preserve that color, and the egg was boiled again
in other shades. The result was a multi-color stripped or patterned
egg.
Cards and Chocolate
Easter cards arrived in Victorian England, when a stationer added a
greeting to a drawing of a rabbit. The cards proved popular.
The Germans probably began making chocolate bunnies and eggs.
Immigrants took the custom to Pennsylvania. As Easter celebrations
became more common after the Civil War, the custom of chocolate eggs
took hold.
Easter Parades
After their baptisms, early Christians wore white robes all through
Easter week to indicate their new lives. Those had already been
baptized wore new clothes instead to symbolize their sharing a new life
with Christ.
In Medieval Europe, churchgoers would take a walk after Easter Mass,
led by a crucifix of the Easter candle. Today these walks endure as
Easter Parades. People show off their spring finery, including lovely
bonnets decorated for spring.
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| User: "kathryn" |
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| Title: Re: Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday |
27 Mar 2005 03:37:43 PM |
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"LisaKay" <LisaKay2054@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1111935486.529676.34770@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I thought this was an interesting and informative article for the
Christians in the group and for any atheists that don't already know
this stuff...
Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday
By David Johnson
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/easterintro1.html
Christians celebrate Easter to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Some trappings of modern Easter celebrations, however, pre-date
Christianity and have ancient pagan roots.
Ancient Fertility Goddess
Easter takes its name from Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess
of love and fertility. The Phoenicians knew her as Astarte, sister and
consort of Baal, a God worshipped in much of the Middle East and
Mediterranean. Some of the ancient Hebrews also worshipped Baal.
What was really funny is that on a site I visit they have a holidays section
for easter they have a page for the easter bunny and in that the title
"alleged pre christian origin" and make a briefest mention of Eostre and
her being mentioned once by Bede.
Im debating as to whether or not I should be a pain in the ***** and make a
fuss.
Kathryn
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday |
30 Mar 2005 12:05:12 AM |
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On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 15:37:43 +0000 (UTC), "kathryn"
<bob@bobbybobbobthebobster.com> wrote:
"LisaKay" <LisaKay2054@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1111935486.529676.34770@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I thought this was an interesting and informative article for the
Christians in the group and for any atheists that don't already know
this stuff...
Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday
By David Johnson
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/easterintro1.html
Christians celebrate Easter to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Some trappings of modern Easter celebrations, however, pre-date
Christianity and have ancient pagan roots.
Ancient Fertility Goddess
Easter takes its name from Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess
of love and fertility. The Phoenicians knew her as Astarte, sister and
consort of Baal, a God worshipped in much of the Middle East and
Mediterranean. Some of the ancient Hebrews also worshipped Baal.
What was really funny is that on a site I visit they have a holidays section
for easter they have a page for the easter bunny and in that the title
"alleged pre christian origin" and make a briefest mention of Eostre and
her being mentioned once by Bede.
Im debating as to whether or not I should be a pain in the ***** and make a
fuss.
Point out their website contains inadvertant factual errors and
indicate your pleasure at lending an assist. :))))))))))))
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
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| User: "Elroy Willis" |
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| Title: Re: Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday |
27 Mar 2005 04:33:05 PM |
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LisaKay <LisaKay2054@hotmail.com> wrote in alt.atheism
I thought this was an interesting and informative article for the
Christians in the group and for any atheists that don't already know
this stuff...
I already knew quite a bit of it, but there were some interesting
things in your link that I didn't already know.
Origins of Easter : Brief History of the Spring Holiday
By David Johnson
http://www.factmonster.com/spot/easterintro1.html
Christians celebrate Easter to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Some trappings of modern Easter celebrations, however, pre-date
Christianity and have ancient pagan roots.
Ancient Fertility Goddess
Easter takes its name from Ishtar, the Babylonian and Assyrian goddess
of love and fertility. The Phoenicians knew her as Astarte, sister and
consort of Baal, a God worshipped in much of the Middle East and
Mediterranean. Some of the ancient Hebrews also worshipped Baal.
A goddess named "Ashtoreth" is found in the OT Bible, and I wonder
if it's the same goddess as Astarte?
1 Kings 11:33 (NIV)
"I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth
the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and
Molech the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in my ways, nor
done what is right in my eyes.."
Chemosh looks quite similar to Shamash, which was a Babylonian sun
god who supposedly gave Hammurabi his laws, but that was a male god,
and I think Astarte and Ashtoreth and Ishtar and Isis were female
fertility goddesses of spring, not male sun gods.
Astarte spread through Europe, becoming Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon
goddess of spring, fertility, and the rising sun. The Old English word for
Easter, "Eastre" refers to Ostara.
I've actually seen it rendered as "Eastern Star" a few times over the
years, and wonder if that rendering is the most accurate...
"O star of the East, you are so bright and shiny and you bring on the
rebirth of life or spring," blah blah blah, grovel grovel grovel,
praise praise praise...
Of course "spring" comes at a different time in different parts of the
world, so I think perhaps the Egyptian practice of worshipping Isis or
the star Sirius, which was believed to control or cause the flooding
and rebirth of the Nile, is basically the same thing, except that it
happened later in the year than what we experience here in the USA
and most parts of northern europe.
The flooding of the Nile happens in summer here in the USA, and that
time is referred to as the "Dog Days of Summer," which occurs in the
month of August here. It is the month when Sirius the "Dog Star,"
appears in the sky, and which the Egyptians worshipped as Isis,
according to quite a few articles I've read over the years.
--
Elroy Willis
www.elroysemporium.com
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