Good morning and Happy Good Friday Eve readers! Last Saturday i ventured to The Raven Moon and it so happened to be the “pink” full moon or the first full moon of spring and I started to wonder what does that spell for Easter or the pagan holiday Ostara? Who came first? Let’s brew about it!
Now, Easter is the celebration of Jesus rising from his grave after being dead for three days. The first known recording of the resurrection is as far back as 325 B.C. Ostara is a little more difficult to pinpoint due to the fact that Anglo-Saxons didn’t have the ability to write and most of their rituals or celebrations were done by word of mouth. BUT some say it’s the 6th or 7th century which is crazy how far back that is. However, it could be further since again done by word of mouth plus the Christian church tried to rid their practices and forcing their beliefs onto them.
And here is where the two collide or rather the Christian church tried to convert the Anglo-Saxons to their religion by blending the two beliefs together. Ostara or Eostre are one in the same, a goddess of fertility and rebirth, Eostre is the German word for Easter. Naturally, the church used that as their spearhead to convert the Anglo-Saxons. So out goes the goddess of spring of fertility and in comes the Lord and Savior or were the two birthed around the same time?
Either way, both represent rebirth and new beginnings for the greater good of mankind. Celebrating that though winter time is dark there will always be spring to bring things back to life or the shedding of what is no longer needed so that something new and better can fill it’s place. The ways to celebrate Easter or Ostara is with decorating eggs, planting seeds and celebrating the longer days filled with warmth and light. But what do you think? Which was first the chicken or the egg or rather Easter or Ostara( Eostre) ?
As Always Keep On Brewin!