Let’s Talk Easter…Or Should I Say Eostre?
All right, buckle up, fellow pagans and Heathens, because it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room: Easter. You know, that holiday where Christians celebrate the resurrection of their lord and savior Jesus Christ by painting eggs, eating chocolate bunnies, and hiding baskets of treats for their kids? Yeah, that one.Now, I’m not saying that there’s anything inherently wrong with Christians celebrating their holiday in whatever way they choose. But let’s not forget where all these trappings of Easter actually came from. That’s right, folks, they’re all stolen from pagan beliefs and customs that predate Christianity by centuries, if not millennia.
Etymology of Easter
Let’s start with the name itself: Easter. You might be surprised to learn that it’s actually named after a pagan goddess, Eostre (or Ostara), who was worshipped by the Germanic peoples of Europe. She was associated with the spring equinox, fertility, and new beginnings – which makes sense, considering that spring is the time when the world wakes up from its winter slumber and everything starts to bloom and grow again.
But when Christianity came along, it wasn’t content to let the pagans have their fun. So, it appropriated the name of Eostre’s festival and turned it into its own holiday. That’s right, Christians couldn’t even come up with their own name for this holiday – they had to steal it from a pagan deity.
Easter and Passover
And let’s not forget that Easter is also tied to the Jewish holiday of Passover. Passover celebrates the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. It’s no coincidence that Jesus’s resurrection was said to have happened around the same time as Passover. The early Christians were trying to piggyback off the popularity of an already-established holiday. And it’s not just the name and holiday that was appropriated. Many of the symbols associated with Easter have pagan roots as well.
Easter Eggs
But let’s move on to some of the more tangible trappings of Easter. Eggs, for example. The egg is a potent symbol of fertility and new life in many cultures. Eggs have been used in springtime celebrations for thousands of years.
The ancient Persians used to decorate eggs for their New Year celebrations. And the ancient Egyptians and Greeks used them as offerings to their gods. This has nothing to do with Jesus rising from the dead, and everything to do with pagan fertility symbolism. Eggs have long been associated with new life and rebirth, and were often used in pagan spring rituals.
Easter Bunny
Let’s now look at the Easter bunny. This fluffy little creature has nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but everything to do with the pagan celebration of spring. In Germanic folklore, the hare was associated with the goddess Ēostre, and was seen as a symbol of fertility and new life. The tradition of the Easter bunny laying eggs (yes, you read that right) is thought to have originated in Germany, where children would make nests for the hare to lay its eggs in.
The early Christians, of course, weren’t content to let the pagans have their bunny fun – so they co-opted it as a symbol of Jesus’s resurrection. Because nothing says “He is risen” like a cute, fluffy bunny delivering candy to children.
Candy and Easter
And speaking of candy, let’s not forget about all the sweet treats that have become synonymous with Easter. Chocolate eggs, marshmallow chicks, jelly beans – these are all modern inventions, but they all have their roots in the pagan tradition of offering sweet treats to the gods as a way of ensuring a bountiful harvest. The early Christians, again, saw no problem with appropriating this tradition and turning it into a way to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection.
Timing of Easter
But it’s not just the symbols of Easter that have pagan origins – the timing of the holiday itself is suspect as well. The Christian celebration of Easter always falls on the Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. If you recall your science, the vernal equinox is when day and night are equal in length. This may sound like a purely astronomical calculation, but in fact it has its roots in pagan beliefs. The vernal equinox was a time of great importance in many pagan cultures. Pagans often associated it with the return of the sun or the god of spring.
Now, I know what some of you might be thinking. “But Tyra, isn’t it possible that some of these traditions just developed independently in different cultures?” Sure, it’s possible. But when you look at the overwhelming evidence of how Christianity has appropriated and co-opted pagan beliefs and customs over the centuries, it’s hard to ignore the pattern.
The TL;DR
So, what’s the takeaway here? Well, for one thing, it’s important to remember that the trappings of Easter – the eggs, the bunny, the candy – all have deep roots in pagan traditions. And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with Christians celebrating their holiday in this way, it’s worth acknowledging where these traditions actually come from.
So there you have it, folks. Christianity has once again appropriated our ancestral traditions and claimed it as its own. So, when you chow down on that chocolate bunny this spring, give thanks to Eostre and the gods and goddesses of Spring.
—
Did you know you can become my patron for as little as $5 a month? This entitles you to content not posted anywhere else. Plus you get to see posts like this three days before the public! Without patrons, I’d be having a very hard time keeping this blog going. Become a patron today!Become a Patron!
No sooner had I excoriated Greg Locke and his group of followers 
Looking at the topic, I can see that if I covered the history of witch hunts, that would end up being a post unto itself. (Which I may just do for GP.) Suffice to say, you’ve probably heard of at least the Salem Witch Trials, the Spanish Inquisition, and yes, the whole witch burning thing. Witch hunts still exist 
Let’s first consider this preacher’s accusations. Would a true witch really try to infiltrate a church group such as Global Vision Bible Church? (Greg Locke’s church?) This is the same church that insists people going maskless, not getting vaccinated, and held a book burning. I think that most pagans (including witches) would avoid their church just to avoid that cesspool of Covid-19 carriers. If anything, witches would probably just hex them from afar and be done with it–not sully their brains with such pedantic chatter.
Most likely, a person in their religious group is having an affair with another church member. And someone noticed another person having new-agey stuff like sage and crystals. Because they’re kind of cool. Sage is more a Native American cultural thing–not a demon thing. It certainly doesn’t have its roots in European witchcraft.
Interestingly enough, Locke claims he got the witches’ names–and one of their addresses–from demons. Uh, isn’t talking to demons something you’re not supposed to do as a Christian? Assuming he talked to them–maybe performing exorcisms or something–why the fuck would you talk with a demon? Demons can lie just like people, so how in the Hel does Locke know they said anything trustworthy? I mean, he’s taking a word of what Christians consider a fallen angel? What. The. Actual. Fuck?
If you consider witch hunts of the past, you’ll notice that it’s a way to gain power over the population. Witch hunts were often aimed at marginalized members of society, such as women, Jews, poor people, slaves, and those who simply couldn’t fight back. Occasionally, you’d see some prominent people such as the Templars be labeled witches, but in the Templars’ cases they had already fallen from grace because they had boatloads of money and the French king wanted to get his grubby hands on it.
If you’ve stuck with me, I want to thank you sincerely. You see, being sick practically all of January left me with little energy. 
It seems that a 
Book burning is, at its heart, suppression of ideas. If you’ve been on the Internet for any length of time, you know that you can find someplace that espouses just about any idea, both good and bad. Before the Internet there were books. Books that held ideas you might not agree with. That you might find stupid, silly, or even abhorrent. Books that challenged what you believed to be true. And even books that you vehemently disagreed with.
Well, it’s all well and good if you are the guys in charge. But as soon as your king gets dethroned, or if you’re in the minority, you find your own ideas suppressed. And that is the problem with censors and people willing to burn books.
Assuming Greg Locke has a permit and doesn’t burn anything in anyway that violates the law, he is within his rights to do so. That being said, I think it sets a terrible precedence for the United States, which has presumably been the land of freedom (except if you were a slave, Native American, or some other infringed upon minority, but that is an argument for another time.)
If you’ve been keeping tabs on the news, you know the Christian right is calling the United States a “Christian nation.” In fact, many of those in the religious right are installing their own brand of fundamentalist Christians in office. Instead of governing their states or representing all of their constutents (not just the Christian ones), they have shown their colors by governing according to their god’s laws.
What I’ve been talking about should alarm any and all Heathens, because the fundamentalist Christians have already plastered a bull’s eye on us as being “witches.” Don’t believe me? Just ask one of them if they understand the difference between Witches, Wiccans, and Heathens. And even if the Christians do understand, do you really want to have another pagan religion get persecuted?
Okay, okay, I bet you’re wondering where the context is, and that I am going to give you right now. He is talking about 
Now, I know lots of Christians would find the attitude this editor had about Native Americans to be appalling–or, at least, I hope they would. But honestly? Would they applaud children being taken away from their families to be indoctrinated in the Catholic (or whatever else) Church? Many apparently never living past their school years? Think about when you grew up. Do you remember kids dying and being buried behind the school? Probably not, unless you were a victim of one of these schools. 
Yeah, he feels badly for “the little tykes.” He blames the secular authority for the deaths. Never mind that the Catholic Church has HOW MUCH money? (See the $300 million dollar quote above.) Never mind the Catholic Church has more gold than Fort Knox. But dammit! They’re pagan! And we can’t have that, can we? So, it’s better to die a good Christian than live with one’s family as an awful pagan.
Please note that these aren’t the only reasons why I am a Heathen, and because a Christian asked, I want to point out the obvious folly behind their beliefs as well. Look, I swallowed the Christian Kool-Aid for years, and eventually my logic won out. I would’ve probably stayed agnostic or even gone atheist, had it not been for Tyr and Thor. More on that later. Let’s go through the last four reasons (and the bonus fifth reason).
Oiy! I’m back to bashing Christianity again. But let’s talk about the Christ myth for a moment, shall we? I’ll get back to why I follow the Heathen gods in a moment. The Christian bible goes into a vast lineage of Joseph–who was technically NOT Jesus’s father according to the myth, but probably was–all the way back from Adam and Eve.
You knew I had to get a Doctor Who reference in somehow. So, why not, since we’re talking about the past?
We know the fossil record is legitimate. We know that thousands of archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists aren’t in a gigantic conspiracy to cover the “truth” up. Shit like that just doesn’t happen. Sure,
Yahweh decides to punish humans for being ignorant fools by having their descendants inherit their parents’ sin. Then sends his son down (who is their god, himself) and sacrifices himself to get rid of the sin. Only, he doesn’t. You have to get baptized to get that cleaned up. And people still sin despite the baptism. So, Jesus dies and stays dead for what amounts to a three day weekend. To appease himself.
When I was young, I quickly figured out Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny didn’t exist. I’d say before I was five, I had it all figured out. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to believe in supernatural things. On the contrary. I’d look for fairies and Elves, and other creatures in the forest outside my home.
I remember as a kid being utterly fascinated with stories about Loki and Thor. Tyr’s story about how he sacrificed his hand. Idunn’s apples. The building of Asgard. The stories inspired me in ways the bible never could. They were great stories about gods whom I could relate to. The stories had humor, courage, confidence, honor, treachery, love, and self-sacrifice. The bible may have those things, but the stories never appealed to me, except when they spoke about angels.
This, this was what I wanted. Especially Tolkien. The story, while fiction, held some ancient truths in them. Dwarves mine and craft beautiful things. Light Elves sing and are in tune with nature. Trolls are dangerous; dragons hoard gold. Tolkien’s works were inspired by the Heathen stories. Even if he did grow up Catholic–some he and I had in common–he used his knowledge to paint an imaginative Heathen world.
Look, I know some of you are homosexual, practice polyamory, or are trans. I am not. I am heterosexual and monogamous. That is my choice. What your choice is doesn’t concern me as long as you’re not exploiting minors or harming animals. I look at you as a person, and if you happen to be an asshole, then I don’t like you. But sexuality doesn’t figure into the equation, whether you’re my friend or not, and I suspect the same is true with our gods. I doubt seriously the gods care what you do in your bedroom as long as it’s between consenting adults. It’s when you violate oaths, commit adultery, or murder someone, that’s when they take serious offense.
Many Heathen gods are nature gods. That means their powers come from nature. Just as Skadi brings the cold and snow, Thor brings the lightning and rain. Sif and Freyr bring the harvest. Our gods are part of our world and yes, it pains them when humans defile it. Humans haven’t been granted stewardship of the world; we are a part of it and must live according to its laws. It is folly when religions treat our world like we own it. Okay, we’re here and the dominant species, but by the gods, plenty of things like diseases, asteroids, and volcanoes can wiped us off the face of the Earth.
This is probably the most controversial belief, but yes, I know Tyr, Thor, Odin, Freyr, Freyja, Loki, and a host of other deities. This is pure UPG or 
To make this ridiculously long post even longer, I had to add this dig at Christians. Most Christians are assholes. Sure, there are Christians who are nice. Just like I know good and kind atheists, agnostics, Jews, Wiccans, Muslims, and peoples of other faiths. The problem I have is that many Christians tend to be egotistical and self-righteous. They “know” because they believe in Jesus that they’re going to heaven, no matter what they do. They wear their faith on their sleeve. And they wouldn’t do good works if it didn’t give them brownie points in heaven. They become passive-aggressive when you don’t agree with them, telling you they’ll pray for your soul. Guess what? I don’t need their self righteous attitude.
Yes, yes, there was most likely a 
Okay, so you’ve read the whole Norse creation myth how ice and fire collided to make a rime, and a cow licked the salt from Ymir. And how Odin and his bros slayed Ymir and created Midgard. And how Odin and his bros created Ask and Embla…
(I kind of like this), but honestly, is it for eternity? We don’t know. And oddly enough, Valhalla has plenty of adulterers, oathbreakers, and murderers, according to the sagas, so I really doubt Nastrond keeps them all there.
Although religion primarily came from the Middle East, we still have proof that Stonehenge and other monuments were erected some 5000 or more years ago–around the same time as the Sumerians were creating their own monuments. I can’t say that Heathenism sprung from these early roots of sun and moon worship, but certainly there are links to shamanistic and animistic beliefs.
When was the last time you had a Heathen knock on your door and ask you if you knew about the good news from Odin?
White House’s front lawn. What I care about is whether you decide to make Christianity the main religion of the United States.
Every year about this time, Heathens, pagans, and those who don’t celebrate the Christian holiday of Easter are quick to point out that Easter isn’t a Christian holiday; yours truly included. But I do wish to address Easter as a Christian holiday, even if it has taken its name and customs from pagan celebrations.
Now, before we go into all the pagan traditions surrounding Easter, I’m going to point out that despite my dislike of Christianity and its destruction of paganism, pagans can only superficially claim Easter because it is around the Vernal Equinox. The whole fairy tale of the “purportedly magic Jew” rising from the dead after being crucified is more or less their shtick. It happens around the time of Passover, which is based on the Book of Exodus in the Bible.
are ingrained in our psyches. But it is a Christian story. Why? Because it doesn’t quite mimic any other pagan myth out there.
Sure, Easter took on the pagan trappings of Eostre/Ostara. No bunnies were visiting Christ on the cross, as far as we know. And while eggs are purported to be the symbol of rebirth among the Jewish peoples, I haven’t done enough research into that to back that up. But you can read about my opinions, 
I intentionally used the Christian Hell, because I doubt strongly Lady Hel would treat humans this badly. 2021 is shaping up to be as awful as 2020 in a lot of respects. Sure it’s a new year, and we have the vaccine, but it’s going to take a shitload of inoculations before we can truly think this pandemic nightmare is finally over. Assuming the vaccine does what it’s supposed to do.
When it suits the gods, I sometimes hear from them. Despite my connection to them, I try very hard not to put words in their mouths. Different gods have different agendas. Even so, I do get impressions and feeling from them. And the message I get is to survive. Yes. Survive. You, me, …everyone. Use our brains to understand what is happening and listen to those who know more about it than we do. That means, listen to medical and health professionals who have more knowledge than your neighbor, your favorite politician, or your favorite conspiracy website. Even I don’t have the answers to everything, but I will tell you how I see it. Too many people are quick to go back to “normal” living when most of the population isn’t vaccinated, and we really don’t know how long the vaccine is effective.
All that being said, I’ve been horrified that our behavior as a species hasn’t changed since the last pandemic. And how we haven’t changed that much since diseases such as the plague have ravaged our populations. Different accounts have shown that people’s behavior is still pretty much the same in a crisis. Despite all the progress in science we’ve made, people are still quick to trust in their god or gods that they will be spared despite our knowledge and education. Or they go about blaming conspiracies by certain mistrusted groups. Or they make shit up and try that to protect themselves.