The pagan roots of Easter

Our Pagan Heritage: Easter

                                                         Eostre and her rabbit

Where did the Feast of Easter come from? Why must we always paint eggs on Easter – can a rabbit even lay an egg? Isn’t Easter supposed to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Easter was never a Christian festival until Christianity became the dominant religion and took it over, but its importance for us to remember its true heritage.

1. The name Easter comes from the Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of dawn, spring, and fertility.
2. Eostre once rescued a dying bird and turned it into a rabbit – the bird now in rabbit form could still lay eggs.
3. The first Sunday after the vernal equinox (the first day of Spring) was sacred to Eostre. The full moon in March/April represents her “pregnant” phase.
4. Greeks to this day dye their Easter eggs red to symbolize new life and the sacrifice of Christ.
5. German immigrants brought the tradition with them to America. On Easter morning, only good children would receive colorful eggs in the “nests” they made of their bonnets.

So now you know the truth. Easter is still mostly true to it's Anglo-Saxon origins. Everyone loves the Easter Bunny. He (Or maybe she - it does lay eggs...) has hopped his way into our holiday and into our hearts.Easter is an essential part of our Celtic Pagan Heritage - enjoy it anyway......for Eostre is watching down....