Eostre: Evolution of the Holiday
Today, on the first gathering together after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox, we observe the ancient Festival of the Reawakening Earth.
Dating by the moon reveals that this is a very ancient holiday. Until 1752, when the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian,* the year actually began in March.*
The common name for this holiday shares a root with estrus, both believed to stem from Eostre, Saxon goddess of spring and the dawn. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Eostre evolved from Ishtar of Babylonia.
Modern religious interpretations are only a part of folk belief which is impregnated with concepts from earlier times. Since antiquity, the Vernal Equinox has been bound up with ideas of birth and fecundity, on which all life depends.
Its many symbols bear witness to the earthy nature of the rebirth we are celebrating. Rabbits, renowned for their fecundity, share Eostre baskets with eggs, time-honored symbols of renewed life. Hot cross buns, now sanctified with a cross, not long ago shared the vendors’ baskets with sweet rolls of a different shape and were considered symbols of the lingam and the yoni. A pleasant way to ensure that the earth was fruitful was to make love in the field, preferably under a full moon.
Although society no longer spills the blood of the sacrificial king, chosen at the winter solstice as a willing victim to ensure the fertility of the fields, remnants of these customs can still be seen in modern religious beliefs.
In short, it is a joyous holiday welcoming the rebirth of the earth with symbols little changed from ancient times.
research by Sena Havasy
*In the British Empire. For other countries see:
adoption of Gregorian calendar
adoption of January 1 as new year