Posted
on April 20, 2014
As
I have mentioned in earlier posts, like this one, and this other one, and this third one, Easter is a Christian
holiday that celebrates the tradition that Jesus died and was
resurrected just after the Jewish holiday of the Passover. I've also
mentioned that the holiday is celebrated with spring-and-fertility
symbols such as bunnies and eggs. But I haven't yet explained the
name for the holiday, Easter.
Most
historians think that Easter got its name from Eostre or Ostara, a
Germanic pagan goddess. How did a Christian holiday get named for a
pagan goddess?
Back
in the day, the Romans conquered vast territories and managed to rule
an empire for hundreds and hundreds of years. We're talking more than
two million square miles (more than six million square kilometers) of
lands in Africa, Asia, and Europe. How did the Romans hold on to so
much land and so many people?
The Romans were pretty smart about allowing people to keep their beloved customs and beliefs. Instead of trying to foist their own gods and holidays on people, the Romans tended to absorb the gods and goddesses from every other religion into their own, and they often integrated the holidays of others' with their own celebrations. When the Roman Empire became Christian, the Roman Catholic Church continued to absorb everybody else's customs—but of course modified them with Christian characters and meanings.
In
languages other than German and English, the holiday we English
speakers call Easter (and German speakers call Ostern) is
derived from the Latin word for Easter, which is Pascha. And
that, in turn, is derived from the Hebrew word Pesach, which
means Passover. Here is the name of Easter in some other languages:
Spanish – Pascua
Italian – Pasqua
French – Paques
Dutch – Pasen
Danish – Paaske
Bulgarian – Paskha
Swedish – Pask
Icelandic – Paskar
Why
would Easter have a name unrelated to all these other names in
England and Germany? Perhaps it's because Eostre (Ostara) was already
being celebrated in those places during the time of the year of the
Christian celebration of Jesus's death and resurrection—so in the
typical Roman fashion, the pagan holiday became absorbed and
modified.
Another
thing to notice is that Easter is related to the word east
(and the German Ostern is related to the German word for east,
osten). What does the holiday, or the goddess Eostre, have to
do with the direction east?
If
you think about it, no matter where you are in the world, “east”
is defined as the direction of the dawn, of sun up. So it is the
direction of the rebirth of day, the resurrection of the sun (when
viewed with an ancient lens). It makes some sense to name a goddess
of fertility and birth with a word connected to dawn and rebirth.
According
to Jacob Grimm (yes, he was one of the Grimm Brothers), Eostre was
the goddess of “radiant dawn, of upspringing light,” and of
springtime resurrection and rebirth. In many places in the world, in
the spring, the land seems to come back to life after being dead and
bare during the winter months. Leaves give forth new leaves, flowers
bloom, grasses sprout, and in many cases new babies are born. Eggs
and bunnies are obvious tie-ins to this springtime / fertility motif.
Also
on this date:
International Dark Sky Week begins (April 20 - 26)
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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