Easter is like the more colorful version of Valentine’s Day, with a little more chocolate involved. Single people everywhere can enjoy the holiday without feeling a sense of loneliness, since Easter virtually involves everyone, or does it concern the death of Christ? Maybe the question you should be asking yourself is if you are actually celebrating Christ’s death or Pagan gods without realizing it? Here are a few things you should know before embracing the westernized Easter bunny with its colorfully decorated, chocolaty Easter eggs.
A friend of mine mentioned something quite hilarious at work, that while Jesus died on the cross to save our souls, Judas died to give working class people a four day holiday every year, because without him Jesus wouldn’t have been killed. So he surely didn’t die in vain. Besides the biblical story we all know and love, there is another, more twisted version to the Easter we’ve always looked forward to.
“Easter” originated from the names of several ancient Goddesses. One was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. Similarly, there was the “Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility”, whose name was derived from the ancient word for spring: “eastre”.
It has also been recorded that there have been several Gods and Demi-Gods throughout ancient history that were said to have died and resurrected similarly to Christ. Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess, had a companion, Attis, who was believed to have been born via a virgin birth. Attis was then believed to have died and been resurrected each year during the period March 22-25. Likewise, the Sumerian goddess Inanna, or Ishtar, was hung naked on a stake, and was subsequently resurrected and ascended from the underworld.
There were outbursts of conflict between those who worshiped Jesus and pagans, who argued over whose God was true. It was noted throughout this time that Christianity experienced lots of converts and eventually somewhat came to accommodate the pagan spring festival.
The rabbit is well known as a sexual symbol of fertility. In various parts of the world, religions which developed from Babel also associate the rabbit with periodicity, both human and lunar-such as those in Egypt, China, etc.
The egg was also a sacred symbol among the Babylonians. They believed a story about an egg of wondrous size which was supposed to have fallen from heaven into a river. From this marvel, the Goddess Astarte (Easter) was born. Thus how the egg came to symbolize the Goddess of Easter.
The idea of a mystic egg spread from Babylon to many parts of the world. In Rome, the mystic egg lead parades in honor of the Mother Goddess Roman. The egg was, and still is part of several celebrations throughout the world today. In Northern Europe, China and Japan the eggs are colored for their sacred festivals. And now, most children and families color or hide Easter eggs as part of the Resurrection Sunday tradition, and have no knowledge of the origin of these traditions. I remember our teacher innocently planning a chocolate Easter egg hunt, some years back when I was in primary. I headed home pretty excited, as any child would be after having collected tons of chocolate treats, unknowing of the activities I was actually taking part in.
So while you’re biting the head off the chocolate bunny goddess, decorating Easter eggs, and allowing your children to partake in what seems like harmless Easter fun, be mindful that you’re really celebrating a bizarre deception and confusion that Satan has successfully orchestrated. Happy Easter everyone!
