Did you know that Easter was originally a pagan festival dedicated to Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, whose consort was a hare, the forerunner of our Easter bunny? Of course you did. Every year the fecund muck of the internet bursts forth afresh with cheery did-you-know explanations like this, setting modern practices in a context of ancient and tragically interrupted pagan belief.
The trouble is that they are wrong. The colorful myths of Eostre and her hare companion, who in some versions is a bird transformed into an egg-laying rabbit, aren't historically pagan. They are modern fabrications, cludged together in an unresearched assumption of pagan precedence.
But it's not just Eostre. All of the following ancient deities are assoicated with spring equinox celebrations: Aphrodite, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Demeter, Hathor and Ishtar. The idea of rebirth following the winter is common among most ancient religions.
So, do you bite the ears or the tail off first?
My two bunnies arrived with a sweet little gift card. Guess which part I bit off first? Hint: they didn't have tails.
Posted by: Mary | April 08, 2012 at 11:24 AM
May I suggest you provide links when you claim that the myth of Eostre is modern? I looked it up and Wiki says it is very old.
As for the resurrection, that certainly is a very old story .. long before Jesus and Mary played their role in the Dionysisan drama.
Posted by: SJ | April 10, 2012 at 12:53 AM