While Christians have tried to either Christianize Halloween with All Soul's Day or condemn it outright by calling it a satanic ritual, and while they have hijacked the Winter Solstice and turned what was traditionally the celebration of the birth of the Sun god into the birth of their own savior, Easter has all but remained pure. The only thing that has changed was an addition of the christian prophet, Jesus.
The word "Easter" is derived from ancient origins historians have dated back to the Babylonians. While some later pagans took the celebration for their own Goddess of the Spring (the Teutonic Dawn Goddess Ostare, the Greek Aphrodite, Ashtoreth from ancient Israel, Astarte from ancient Greece, Demeter from Mycenae, Hathor from ancient Egypt, Ishtar from Assyria, Kali from India; and Ostara a Norse Goddess of fertility), she can be found at an origin of Babylon as the Moon and Fertility Goddess. Although her name changed according to various cultural influences, her representation remained the same. Even today Christians recognize the mother of Jesus, Mary, and honor her in their own Spring rites.
Easter as a word isn't the only Pagan origin of this time of year. The very story of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection was originally told in Babylon just after the biblical flood of Noah, and features the son of the Moon Goddess, Tammuz - son of Nimrod.
Nimrod's wife is seen by Christians as a whore who committed adultery against Nimrod to become pregnant with Tammuz. Semiramus held firm to her claim she was given the child by heavenly beings and that she never committed adultery. She explained that she had been told by some unseen force that this child would be the savior of the world.
Tammuz was assumed to be the reincarnation of Nimrod (the father, the son, the blessed spirit). When he died from being killed by a wild boar, he went into the underworld but was resurrected by his mother's prayers and tears back to Earth briefly, then up to heaven.
("He suffered, died, and was buried. He descended into hell and on the third day, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the father almighty..." - written about Jesus Christ from the Nicene Creed of of the Christian church, 325 AD),
Tammuz was worshiped throughout the Spring, as was his mother whom was assumed to be the Goddess of the Moon, Fertility, and the season. Since he was the savior, his father, Nimrod, was exalted to the rank of Sun God and creator of all.
The irony here is that Nimrod had a disdain for God because of the flood and destruction of his ancestors. Nimrod was the son of Noah and grandson of Ham. He rebelled against the chief god who set the flood, and declared his determination to never allow this god to murder the people again. For this reason, the Jewish texts and Christian lessons declare Nimrod "evil".
There is a correlation between Nimrod and Gilgamesh, as well, that has led scholars to dig deeper into their origins. The Epic of Gilgamesh is where most biblical writings took their inspiration, although Gilgamesh has been found to be quite a brazen and sometimes vile person.
Gilgamesh, like Nimrod, was very angry at the god who sent the flood and was determined to destroy him. He had established cities and religions just as Nimrod, and had followers who supported his desire to rebel against and destroy the "wicked" god who sent the flood, just as Nimrod. In the Epic, Gilgamesh actually did succeed in killing this god, along with his friend, a half-human/half-animal called Enkidu.
Since texts of Genesis describe actions of Gilgamesh but use the name "Nimrod," biblical and historical scholars have determined there is a very real possibility they are one-in-the-same.
What this bit of back history reveals about today's Easter, therefore, is that those who celebrate Easter in the belief if is a Christian holiday are, in fact, celebrating the Moon Goddess with a lineage connected to a man who wished to kill their god - and by some accounts, succeeded. For this reason, a swiftly growing disdain for Easter is forming among the more dedicated christian churches of the world.
Celebrating the Moon Goddess and the dates chosen each year by the church for Easter are the same. Easter is always the first Sunday after or on the first full moon after the Spring equinox in the Northern hemisphere and the Autumnal equinox in the Southern hemisphere. Which further establishes this holiday as belonging to the Moon Goddess.
EGGS AND BUNNIES: So where do eggs and bunnies come from? The Moon Goddess was thought to be born from an egg, and the symbol for her was the rabbit because the belief of the rabbit's magic was long held as one of fertility and the night and dawn.
SUNDAY: Considering that Nimrod was worshiped as the possible Sun god and the sun was widely worshiped in various ways, Easter fit perfectly with this day. The word "Sunday" derives from the Scandinavian goddess, Sunna, and from the Roman god of the sun, Sol. In 420 AD, Saint Jerome said of Sunday: "If it is called the day of the sun by the pagans, we willingly accept this name, for on this day the Light of the world arose, on this day the Sun of Justice shone forth."
And in fact, all days of the week and months of the year are derived from Scandinavian gods and goddesses, Roman gods and goddesses, and the culmination of other pagan faiths, as are the names of our planets and various other terms in astronomy.
Because I have long studied religion, world cultures, and the origins of civilizations, I readily knew all of this. I've never put it into words, though, so I found resources on the net to bundle it small enough for this Note and to have something to fall back on instead of relying upon my sometimes iffy memory. These first links are to the CHRISTIAN pages I found the most helpful. As a Pagan, I see right through the biased for the first Christian site.
Also as a Pagan, I realize there is sometimes a bias that is afraid of telling the whole story from both the Christian side and the Pagan side. I don't think you'll ever find a negative word against Gilgamesh on a Pagan site, just for example. To the contrary, I know from researching him that while he was seen as a hero to his people for rebelling against the deity that destroyed their homes and loved ones, he (as well as Nimrod) was very boorish and even had been known to stalk and possibly rape a woman of his desires.
Therefore, I looked through both Pagan and Christian sites for origin stories. Unfortunately, the most historically accurate information (with exception to the strong hate coming from the first site) came from the Christian-based websites. Don't discount the Pagan sites, however, because much of their resources were Christian, as well:
Christian Sites:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t020.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm
http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/nimrod.html
Pagan Sites:
http://www.witchology.com/contents/march/ostara.php
http://www.magickalwinds.com/info/2011/03/19/all-about-eostreostara-and-the-origins-of-easter/
http://www.goddessgift.com/pandora%27s_box/easter-history.htm
Whatever your religious belief, lack of, spiritual journey.., LEARNING is not creedist, racist, or bigoted. It's simply learning. So in ALL things, learn as much and as often as possible, then follow what feels right from within!
