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Easter myth #1:
Easter is named after Eostre, but it isn& #39;t based on an Eostre festival. The festival originated in the 2nd century Mediterranean. The name & #39;Easter& #39; is an oddity, specific to English. Most languages call it something related to & #39;Pascha& #39; (< Pesach & #39;Passover& #39;).
Easter is named after Eostre, but it isn& #39;t based on an Eostre festival. The festival originated in the 2nd century Mediterranean. The name & #39;Easter& #39; is an oddity, specific to English. Most languages call it something related to & #39;Pascha& #39; (< Pesach & #39;Passover& #39;).
Easter myth #2:
Easter doesn& #39;t have anything to do with Ishtar/Astarte. Ishtar comes from ancient Babylonia; & #39;Easter& #39; is specifically English in origin, and comes from an 8th century Northumbrian source. (And most languages don& #39;t call it that ... see myth #1 above.)
Easter doesn& #39;t have anything to do with Ishtar/Astarte. Ishtar comes from ancient Babylonia; & #39;Easter& #39; is specifically English in origin, and comes from an 8th century Northumbrian source. (And most languages don& #39;t call it that ... see myth #1 above.)
Easter myth #3:
Incidentally, & #39;Eostre& #39; may be related to a proto-Germanic goddess & #39;Ostara& #39;, but Ostara is only conjectural. The only evidence for a goddess named Ostara is Eostre. Old Germanic & #39;Ostara& #39; was simply the word for ... Easter. The Christian festival, that is.
Incidentally, & #39;Eostre& #39; may be related to a proto-Germanic goddess & #39;Ostara& #39;, but Ostara is only conjectural. The only evidence for a goddess named Ostara is Eostre. Old Germanic & #39;Ostara& #39; was simply the word for ... Easter. The Christian festival, that is.
(Note on myth #3: English and German are the only languages that name the festival in this way. It& #39;s possible this is because of the role played by English missionaries like St Boniface in the christianisation of Germany.)
Easter myth #4:
The date of Easter is affected by lunar phases, but that doesn& #39;t make it pagan. Lunar and lunisolar calendars were simply the standard way of designing calendars in antiquity. The first ever solar calendar was introduced about 75 years before Jesus& #39; execution.
The date of Easter is affected by lunar phases, but that doesn& #39;t make it pagan. Lunar and lunisolar calendars were simply the standard way of designing calendars in antiquity. The first ever solar calendar was introduced about 75 years before Jesus& #39; execution.
(Myth #4, continued.) It& #39;s also related to the equinox. That isn& #39;t especially pagan either. Equinox festivals weren& #39;t exactly a dime a dozen in ancient religions. If you& #39;re looking for the origin of equinox festivals, Easter itself is a strong candidate.
Easter myth #5:
The Easter Bunny isn& #39;t pagan. It comes from 17th century Germany. Rabbit imagery exists all over history, but there& #39;s no reason to see it as genetically related: rabbits are common. The 17th century Easter Bunny is a millennium away from anything pagan.
The Easter Bunny isn& #39;t pagan. It comes from 17th century Germany. Rabbit imagery exists all over history, but there& #39;s no reason to see it as genetically related: rabbits are common. The 17th century Easter Bunny is a millennium away from anything pagan.
(Note on myth #5: it was probably originally an Easter Critter. Different parts of Germany have had the Easter Fox and the Easter Stork, and possibly others. Rabbit-ness doesn& #39;t seem to be an integral part of the Easter Bunny.)
Easter myth #6:
Hot cross buns DEFINITELY aren& #39;t pagan. They come from 18th century England. They were always solidly commercial, not driven by the church. (Which was a Protestant church, by the way.)
Hot cross buns DEFINITELY aren& #39;t pagan. They come from 18th century England. They were always solidly commercial, not driven by the church. (Which was a Protestant church, by the way.)
(Note 1 on myth #6: sorry, St Albans, the Alban bun isn& #39;t the original. The story about a 14th century monk inventing the bun was a marketing idea made up by a London baker in or shortly before 1850. His name was G. Collier, and his bakery was at 66 Wardour St.)
(Note 2 on myth #6: there& #39;s no such thing as ancient Greek cross buns. The origin of the idea is an 1876 book that REJECTED it. The ancient Greek word is & #39;bous& #39;, not & #39;boun& #39;, and it nearly always means & #39;cow& #39;, not & #39;bun& #39;. And Roman bread was usually divided into 8 segments, not 4.)
Easter myth #7:
Easter eggs MAY POSSIBLY have pagan origins, but there& #39;s no way to reconstruct a chain of influence. It& #39;s like with the rabbits: they& #39;re common, so there& #39;s no reason to imagine a genetic relationship between imageries of different times and places.
Easter eggs MAY POSSIBLY have pagan origins, but there& #39;s no way to reconstruct a chain of influence. It& #39;s like with the rabbits: they& #39;re common, so there& #39;s no reason to imagine a genetic relationship between imageries of different times and places.
(Myth #7, continued.) The earliest association of eggs with Easter seems to lie in egg blessings at Easter, in mediaeval western Europe. The mediaevalists I& #39;ve read on the subject think the idea was that eggs were simply a special treat after the end of Lent.
(Note 1 on myth #7: yes, early Christians did like phoenix imagery, as a symbol of resurrection. But the contemporary belief about phoenixes were reborn by emerging from rotting flesh, not by hatching out of eggs.)
(Note 2 on myth #7: yes, I know Wikipedia lists a bunch of legends, and says painted eggs existed in Mesopotamia. Maybe try looking at the sources. The Mesopotamian one is 17th century: it& #39;s talking about Christians living in modern era Mesopotamia.) #Christian_traditions">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Easter_egg&oldid=948166259 #Christian_traditions">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.p...
More details with references in my pieces from 2018. Here& #39;s part 1: http://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/03/easter-and-paganism-1.html">https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/03/e...
And part 2: http://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/03/easter-and-paganism-2.html">https://kiwihellenist.blogspot.com/2018/03/e...
