Easter Origins
Posted: Sunday, March 28, 2010
by Jack H. Schick
{This article is a re-written version of one posted perviously on Searchwarp-JHS}
There’s an Easter Egg Hunt scheduled this weekend down at the county seat. Well, there’s egg hunts al over the place, but this one caught my eye because they are planning on dropping colored plastic eggs stuffed with candy onto the soccer field. I’m not sure at what altitude their going to make their strafing run, but I imagine they still will come down with substantial velocity. I think their using a helicopter, but it’s supposed to be ‘breezy’ so I see a potential for serious collateral damage. I’m sure the drop zone will be roped off, but a bad pilot or a big gust of wind and their could be massive civilian casualties.
There's been a spring celebration, like Easter, since the dawn of history. Easter is 'officially' the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox; which means, "green time of equal day and night." It has to do with the 23 1/2 degree tip of the Earth's axis and solstices. It's a complicated formula. It takes 5.7 million years for the "exact moment" of the equinox to repeat. We just say March 20th to make it easy. Early men were interested in that stuff; Stonehenge, Carnes, Medicine Wheels, Pyramids etc. It has always been about a coming back to life in spring. It was spiritual. People sensed their own souls and a higher power. They hoped for rebirth for themselves, like they saw in nature.
The ancient Britons and Irish celebrated by catching sun beams in stone rings. The Greeks had the goddess Persephone. She traveled to the Otherworld then returned in the spring. At the vernal equinox the Olmecs and Mayans celebrated the return of the Sun Serpent. The Zoroastrians had a resurrection myth by 3000 b.c. All the German fertility goddesses; Eatare/ Eostur /Eastur /Austron, were honored with a festival in the spring, when life returned to the brown Teutonic forests. The Old German word for spring is "Eastre."
The ancient Saxons had an interesting eqinox myth. The goddess of fertility, Eostre, found an injured bird in the forest. She used her powers to restore the bird to life by turning it into a hare. She was only partly successful, though. The rabbit was strange. It laid eggs. It collected the eggs each spring and decorated them as gifts for Eoestre.
The Cybele religious cult developed in the Mediterranean area and became established in Rome about 200 b.c. The local cult was centered on what was then called Vatican Hill in the city. They worshiped a god called Attis. He was the god of ever-reviving vegetation. He was born of a virgin human woman, Nana. Attis grew up and became a sacrificial victim to save Mankind. His body was eaten by his worshipers. The festival began as a day of blood on what they called Black Day and culminated after three days of rejoicing about resurrection. The Cybele's celebrated Attis' death nine months before his winter solstice birthday, at the vernal equinox.
When the early Christians began celebrating Jesus' resurrection at the same time of year, there were frequently bitter arguments and confrontations over whose "god" was the best. The Cybele's are long gone, now; nearly forgotten. Jesus had more to say about the Human Condition than Attis did. Jesus spoke of ever-reviving people, not vegetation. He offered spiritual life. The argument between the two religions was settled long ago.
But, who really cares what they were celebrating about 5,000 years ago? Who cares what time, exactly, the days and nights are equal length? Who cares if they picked the vernal equinox season for Easter for symbolic reasons or because there was already a festival at that time of year? Does it matter how they came up with the name Easter? It's about more than that. I am going up to the Meetinghouse and commune with my Higher Power on Sunday. I'm going to reflect on what Jesus said. I'm going seek then bask in the Light that shines within me while I reside on this, sometimes dark, plain of existence. I'll feel gratitude for the mystery and the promise.
But first, Saturday I'm going to go down there and watch them drop those plastic Easter Eggs out of the sky. I hate to say it, but I want to be there if they go off course and bomb the crowd. Then, I want to see the kids screaming, running around and knocking each other over with their Easter baskets. I hope nobody gets seriously hurt, but I’m sure there will be a lot of kids crying, like I used to. I just hope no fist fights break out between the moms. It’s fun to watch, but spoils the mood.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)Interesting history of the season. Shows us that Christians aren't the only ones celebrating the season, and for a multitude of reasons. Makes one wonder.Thanks for reading
Jack,Very interesting article, Thanks for all the historical information, Have a great Easter.Thanks for reading
Interesting article.Thanks for reading
Great background information Jack! I found it very interesting to see what others thought in the past! I am like you, though, I will be spending the day with Jesus! Thanks for sharing!Thanks for reading
Very interesting and well written, Jack! This is my favorite time of year so it's nice to know some more about it.Thanks, you could have just asked me
Nicely done. I liked it very much.
thanks for reading and commenting
i liked itthanks for reading
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