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+--- Thread: Happy Easter! (/showthread.php?tid=23827)
Happy Easter! - 1493541 - 04-20-2014
I wish the Christian members of the RAT community a happy Easter and a good day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ
Happy Easter! - Alanus - 04-20-2014
Thank you for the well wishes, Gallus Priscus
On this weekend honoring the ultimate martyr, I introduced the thread, "Fritigern: a Christian Prior to 376?"
I don't belong to any denomination, but respect the actions of conscionable men. :-)
Happy Easter! - Eleatic Guest - 04-21-2014
Happy Eastern to you, too.
Just came back from mass.
Happy Easter! - Timianus - 04-21-2014
I had a wonderful easter with the family that included a heated discussion about the connection between Easter and the pagan celebration of the bablyonian fertility goddess Ishtar.
Happy Easter! - Alanus - 04-21-2014
Was this Ishtar goddess depicted as holding a snake in each hand?
Happy Easter! - Michael Kerr - 04-21-2014
I was listening to a debate on the radio about this very subject last night and the group of commentators basically formed two groups. One group went for Easter originally being a spring fertility rite for the goddess Ishtar by the Babylonians and Assyrians. Image below.
[attachment=9669]Ishtar.jpg[/attachment]
The other group claimed it was named for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre, and in Germany by the name of Ostara. She is a goddess of the dawn and the spring, and her name derives from words for dawn, the shining light arising from the east. Timed for the first full moon after March or Spring Equinox. Our words for the "female hormone" estrogen derives from her name. Eostre had a hare as her companion. The hare symbolizes fertility and rebirth. Later Christians changed the symbol of the hare to the Easter bunny. Image below.
[attachment=9670]eostre.jpg[/attachment]
Not really sure on the origins of Easter eggs though.
Regards
Michael Kerr
Happy Easter! - Alanus - 04-21-2014
Interesting stuff.
Oddly enough, or not, Ishtar does appear to be holding snaky-kinda-creatures... which are exactly the same animals the Minoan fertility goddess held in her hands. Paganism died a hard death. :dizzy:
Obviously, Easter eggs are laid by Eostre's bunnies. ;-)
Happy Easter! - Michael Kerr - 04-21-2014
Actually I couldn't find a decent image of Eostra. The one I found as you can see has cute little bunnies but originally hares were her sacred animals but somehow they are not as cute as bunnies.
Ishtar's festival was for fertility and sex so a little bit too much for the early Christians.Regards
Michael Kerr
Happy Easter! - Timianus - 04-21-2014
IIRC from my religious studies courses, there was a ressurection aspect to Ishtar having something to do with her descending into the underworld and then someone else needing to die before she could return.
Happy Easter! - Alanus - 04-21-2014
Michael,
That makes sense, since bunnies (even hares) are a lot cuter than two sweaty people doing WHATEVER! :woot:
Tim,
That rings a bit like... "on the 3rd day, he arose from the dead...."
Happy Easter! - Timianus - 04-21-2014
I would not be surprised if it was a "mushing" of the two. A lot of the christian mythology was "borrowed" from other pegan religions, particularly, Greek, Egyptian and Bablyonian. At the same time, much of the germanic pegan symbology was co-opted by Christianity...e.g., easter bunnies, wreaths, christmas trees, etc., as it was being spread. A lot easier to convince people to "convert" when they can keep their current customs or just rename them.
Happy Easter! - Dan D'Silva - 04-21-2014
Pretty sure the Germanic origin of the name is the correct one, since it's mainly only in English and German that its name is anything like "Easter." Elsewhere it's mostly some name or other derived from Pesach (Passover).