The Easter 2024 Orphic Essay-with-Soundtrack:
"The Many Eostres / Easters: A Choice of Rebirth Hallelujahs"
Introduction to Easter: the Vernal Equinox, Spring & Eostre/Ostara
Because the Easter holiday falls around the time of the Spring Equinox, it is the Christian version of an ancient, pagan Springtime festival. The Anglo-Saxon Eostre, the goddess of dawn and springtime, and the Teutonic Ostara, goddess of the dawn and fertility (both goddesses associated with hares and eggs), are today most associated with the Spring season in Neopagan circles. The Spring in many cultures is traditionally recognized as the time of rebirth, and thus a time for great festivals.
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Easter is a "movable feast" and does not have a fixed date. However, it is always held on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Over a 500-year period (from 1600 to 2099 CE), it just so happens that Easter will have most often been celebrated on either March 31 or April 16. Around Easter time, neopagans will greet each other with "Happy Ostara" instead of "Happy Easter." They will also ritually honor the goddess of Spring as "Blessed Ostara" (or for some "Blessed Eostre").
Eostre or Eastra was an Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn. Her name comes from an Indo-European root word aus, meaning "to shine," from which also comes Eos and Aurora, the Greek and Roman names of the dawn goddess. (Her name may also derive from an earlier ausrion, meaning "morning"). Her holiday was celebrated near the Spring Equinox, as Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the full moon that follows or falls on the Spring Equinox. Thus, Eostre or Eastra is a goddess of Spring. She is especially honored by dawn rites (as is still part of the Easter tradition). The same Indo-European root aus gives us "east," the direction of the dawn, and on the Spring Equinox the Sun rises due East. In Old High German, we learn of the goddess Ôstara and her connection to dawn and the east. (Again, the word Ostr can be linked to the Latin word aurora and the Greek word eos, which both mean "dawn.")
Eostre-Ostara Spring Equinox goddesses with egg
Thematic Images for Eostre & Ostara, Goddesses of the Dawn & Spring
Eostre & Ostara derive from Proto-Indo-European goddess of dawn. They are comparable to Eos, the goddess of down in Greek mythology, and Aurora, the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology. "Ôstara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian’s God."
~ Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology
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"The Gates of Dawn" (Draper)
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"Dawn" (Frederic)
"Sunrise" (Varentsova-Rousseva)
Eostre Images
Ēostre is an Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) goddess goddess of the dawn and associated with springtime. By way of the Germanic month bearing her name (Northumbrian: Ēosturmōnaþ), Ēostre is said to be the namesake of the festival of Easter. Great feasts were held in Ēostre's honor among the pagan peoples of Northern Europe. Her holiday was celebrated near the Spring Equinox (as Easter is celebrated on the Sunday following the full moon that follows or falls on the Spring Equinox). Thus, Ēostre can be seen as a goddess of Spring. In her various forms, Ēostre is said to be a “Spring-like fertility goddess” associated with dawn and connected to numerous traditions and deities indigenous to Northern Europe. (The name Ēostre comes from Northumbrian Old English. A variation, Ēastre, comes from West Saxon Old English. Another variation is Ôstara, which comes from Old High German. Etymologically, both Ēostre and Ôstara have been, by way of linguistic reconstruction, traced back to a Proto-Germanic goddess with the name of Austrō. Ēostre and Ôstara are thus seen as basically the same goddess with different names.)
Ostara Images
Ostara is a Germanic (Teutonic) goddess associated with springtime. Her themes are fertility and rebirth and her symbols are eggs and hares. She presides over renewal, fertility and fruitfulness. She represents Spring's life force and earth’s renewal. Depicted as lovely as the season itself, in earlier writings Ostara was also the goddess of dawn, a time of new beginnings (Spring being the figurative dawn of the year). Ostara is often depicted as a youthful and vibrant goddess, embodying the essence of nature's awakening. Her name is linked to the festival of Ostara, which marks the spring equinox and celebrates the rebirth of life. Devotees of Ostara honor her during this time, expressing gratitude for the return of warmth and the emergence of new life in the natural world. She is celebrated in pagan and neopagan traditions as a symbol of the Spring season's renewal and growth.
Ostara Paintings
"Praising Ostara" (Fruhling)
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"Ostara" (Edgerly)
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"Ostara" (Tuche)
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"Ostara Rising" (Wildwood)
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"Ostara and the hare" (Strohschein)
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"Ostara a Rising Goddess of Spring" (Ignetas)
Eostre-Ostara and the Pagan Origins of Easter
Just as Christmas replaced the pagan holiday of Saturnalia, Easter replaced the pagan holiday of Ostara, a festival celebrating the pagan goddess of spring, a time of renewal, fertility, and birth. The Catholic Church strategically adopted the pagan seasonal calendar to fit its own narrative, rebranding the winter season of scarcity with a time of purification for Christians, entitling this period as “Lent.”
Easter’s pagan origins set course for Christian and later egg-centric appropriation. As a holiday, Easter predates Christianity and was originally the name for Spring Equinox celebrations. Most of the symbolism around this holiday actually comes from the pre-Christian, pagan celebrations of the Spring Equinox. From the Germanic, and cognate with the German ostern, with the same Germanic base as “east”, the word Easter is also thought to hark back to England’s pre-Christian goddess Ēostre (from the Proto-Germanic austrōn, meaning “dawn”), who was celebrated at the beginning of Spring. Even after the Christian meaning of the celebration started to be affirmed, with the month already called Eosturmonath in Old English, English Christians continued using the pagan goddess’ name. As recounted by the English monk Bede, the 7th-8th century “father of English history,” the former pagans in England called April, or the month marking Jesus’s resurrection, “Ēosturmōnaþ” — Old English for the “Month of Ēostre.” According to Bede in his De temporum ratione (“The Reckoning of Time”), the Christian holiday “was called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honor feasts were celebrated in that month.”
Eostre is a goddess of Spring and fertility who has been worshipped by the Celtic people for thousands of years. Eostre is associated with rebirth, renewal, and new beginnings. The pagan peoples used eggs as a symbol of rebirth and the beginning of new life and a hare as the symbol of the goddess and fertility. Both these symbols were adopted by Christianity and are still seen today during Easter. Her presence is felt in the awakening of the earth, as plants begin to bloom and new life emerges after the long winter months. As such, Eostre is seen as a symbol of hope and optimism, a remainder that even in the darkest times, there is always the potential for growth and new beginnings. As her name is the basis for Easter, the only movable holy time in the Christian faith, and the Anglo-Saxon calendar is a solar-lunar combination, we can figure out Eostre’s time of celebration. The first Sunday after full moon after the Spring Equinox is Easter, so Eostre’s festival was probably the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.
Eostre is also known as Ostara, the Teutonic goddess of dawn, Spring, and fertility. She is also celebrated during the Spring Equinox. Ostara's themes are fertility and rebirth. Her symbols are eggs. Ostara presides over renewal, fertility and fruitfulness. Ostara represents the Spring’s life force and earth's renewal. Depicted as lovely as the season itself, in earlier writings She was also the Goddess of dawn, a time of new beginnings.
Today, in Neopagan and Witchcraft traditions, Ostara is one of the key points in the Wheel of the Year. Not only does it mark the change of seasons from Winter to Spring (traditionally, in the Northern Hemisphere) but also the beginning of the astrological year as Moon enters Aries, the first of the 12 zodiac signs. A holiday named for the goddess is part of the neopagan Wiccan Wheel of the Year — “Ostara,” March 21. Ostara is a name for the Spring Equinox in some modern pagan traditions. (The term is derived from a reconstruction produced by linguist Jacob Grimm of an Old High German form of the Old English Ēostre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess for whom, according to Bede, feasts were held in her eponymous month, which he equated to April in the Julian calendar.) Known as Alban Eilir in strands of neo-Druidry, this holiday is the second of three Spring celebrations (the midpoint between Imbolc and Beltane), during which light and darkness are again in balance, with light on the rise. It is a time of new beginnings and of life emerging further from the grips of winter.
The paintings above are two versions of "Ostara" or "Ēostre." The one on the left is by Johannes Gehrts (1901), which has been colorized.The goddess Ēostre/Ostara flies through the heavens surrounded by Roman-inspired putti, beams of light, and animals. Germanic peoples look up at the goddess from the realm below. The one on the right is a contemporary version of the original painting, done by Carrie Joy Byrnes.
"Reading About Eostra" (Doyle)
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Thematic Images of Eostre as Moon Goddess
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According to the Neopagan Wheel of the Year, the Spring Equinox marks the beginning of the astrological year as Moon enters Aries, the first of the 12 zodiac signs.
Easter is actually dictated by the Moon, which goes back to the pagan Spring Equinox festivals. The reason the Easter holiday shifts around the (Gregorian) calendar is that Easter is tied to the beginning of Spring and a full moon – specifically the first Sunday following the first full Moon following the Spring Equinox. Thus the date is calculated based upon a lunar calendar tied to the cycles of the Moon.
The Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) Goddess for whom the month of April is named, Eostre, has her linguistic roots in the word East. (The most holy direction for Indo-European people, this is where the stars, moon, and the Sun rises. All things in the Northern Heavens turn from the East to the South and around to the West.)
Eostre is associated with the Moon, which is another important symbol in Neopagan traditions. The Moon is said to represent the feminine energy and is often associated with intuition, emotions, and the subconscious mind. .
Eostre, a Moon goddess of fertility, is also closely associated with the Hare, a primary animal of fertility.
In the Neopagan/Celtic belief alone it is a symbol of rebirth, growth, abundance, new beginnings, good fortune, and has strong link with the Moon, these links with the Moon also make it a symbol of fertility and immortality. A popular symbol within the realms of the Hare and Neopaganism is the ‘Moon Gazing Hare’. The Hare also has links to various goddesses. These goddesses are also all referred to at some point as Moon Goddesses – another link of the Moon and the Hare. The most famous goddess linked with the Hare is Eostre (also known as Ostara), the namesake of the seasonal Christian holiday of Easter. In legend, there are a few different versions of the links between the Hare and Eostre. A major one states that on a full moon Eostre takes the from of a Hare – this is either her whole form or just her head depending on where you’re reading.
Thematic Images of Eostre-Ostara's Hares and Eggs
Some scholars believe that Easter gets its name from Ēostre or Ôstara, a Germanic/Anglo-Saxon pagan goddess. However, in neopagan terms, Ēostre's festival falls on the March Vernal Equinox because this marks beginning of Spring in the northern hemisphere. Some neopagans, such as Wiccans, now call this first day of Spring, on the Vernal Equinox, Ôstara (or "Lady Day"). This Goddess of Easter represents the dawn sunrise and fertility; the renewal of life. The ancient Spring festivals of Ôstara and Ēostre celebrated the rebirth of nature, the return of the land to fertility, and the birth of young animals. Eggs, rabbits, hares, and other young animals are thought to represent the rebirth and return to the fertility of nature in the Spring. Ēostre's two symbols were the Cosmic Egg and the March Hare. The Egg is the most basic symbol of rebirth, renewal, and new growth. The Hare, as the symbol of Ēostre, also represents fertility and fecundity, and as such is also a symbol of rebirth. This sacred Egg and Hare, once powerful symbols of the renewing energies of nature, with the coming of Christianity, morphed into Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny.
Ostara's egg of rebirth
Ostara's egg of rebirth
Ostara serenading hares
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"The Moon Hare," or "The Fabled Hare," was sacred to the Goddess in both eastern and western nations. Relying on the myths of Hathor-Astarte, who laid the Golden Egg of the sun, Germans used to say the hare would lay eggs for good children on Easter Eve. Thus, in German folklore, the goddess Ôstara, the Spring Equinox festival goddess, was always accompanied by a fabled hare.
Thematic Images for the Neopagan "Ostara"
In Neopagan and Witchcraft traditions, "Ostara" is the name for the Spring Equinox, one of the key points in the Wheel of the Year. Not only does it mark the change of seasons from Winter to Spring (traditionally, in the Northern Hemisphere) but also the beginning of the astrological year as Moon enters Aries, the first of the 12 zodiac signs. A holiday named for the goddess is part of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year — “Ostara,” March 21. (The term is derived from a reconstruction produced by linguist Jacob Grimm of an Old High German form of the Old English Ēostre, a proposed Anglo-Saxon goddess for whom, according to Bede, feasts were held in her eponymous month, which he equated to April in the Julian calendar.) Known as Alban Eilir in strands of neo-Druidry, this holiday is the second of three Spring celebrations (the midpoint between Imbolc and Beltane), during which light and darkness are again in balance, with light on the rise. It is a time of new beginnings and of life emerging further from the grips of winter.
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Spring Equinox sunrise at Stonehenge
Thematic Images of Pre-Christian Goddesss & Gods Behind Easter
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
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Thematic Images for Spring Resurrection
Spring Rebirth Goddesses
The Spring Equinox, and the Return of Ostara
The Greek goddess Persephone or Kore ("The Maiden," daughter of the earth-mother, Demeter) was the first deity to resurrect from Hades' underworld realm of the dead. She came back to the world of the living, thus engendering the renewal of the earth at Spring. Ostara’s counterpart, in Greek mythology, is Persephone, the Maiden. Persephone is restored to her mother, Demeter, after spending the Winter in the underworld, with her abductor and lord, Hades. When she returns, Demeter lifts the long, grieving winter that has punished Earth during her daughter’s absence, and Spring bursts forth.
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"Return of Persephone" (Leighton 1891)
"Persephone Rising"
Thematic Images for Christ's Easter Sunday Resurrection
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Christ Appearing To His Disciples (Blake)
Mary Magdalene as "Sacred Prostitute"
Mary Magdalene was the first disciple to see the resurrected Jesus.
According to the Gnostic Gospels (Elaine Pagels), Mary Magdalene was favored with visions and insight that surpassed that of Peter. In the The Dialogue of the Savior, she is praised as a visionary, the apostle who excels all the rest. Mary Magdalene is the "woman who knew the All." In the Gospel of Philip, she is described as Jesus' most intimate companion, whom he loved and "used to kiss her often on her mouth." Jesus addressed Mary Magdalene as "Dearly Beloved" and was given secret teachings. Mary Magdalene is described in the Gnostic Gospels as the "symbol of divine Wisdom."
In medieval, heretical traditions concerning the Magdalene (meaning, "she of the temple tower"), she is called "Mary Lucifer," "Mary the Light-giver." She is also equated with the sea-mother goddess Mari, "Mari-Anna-Ishtar," with her cult centered at Marseilles, France. This view developed into seeing Mary Magdalene as the "Sacred Prostitute." (Pope Julius II by a papal bull established a "sacred" brothel, which flourished under his successors and the proceeds supported the Holy Sisters of the Order of St. Mary Magdalene. Pope Innocent III also favored Rome's collegia of prostitutes, called virgines, "unmarried women." From Robert Briffault, The Mothers) This medieval view of Mary Magdalene as the "Sacred Prostitute" has been picked up in our time and made popular (by way of the writings of Baigent, Leigh, and Lincoln, Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code) by certain goddess-worshipping sects, both pagan and Christian.
Easter Sunday Paintings & Dawn Photograph
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Easter Morning (Casper David Friedrich, 1828-35)
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Easter Morning (Bywaters)
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Easter Orb (Moline)
Finding Easter (Blackhall)
Easter Sunday dawn in Santa Cruz mountains (taken by Gypsy Scholar)
From the GS's Introduction to the musical essay, "The Many Easters/Eostres: A Choice of Rebirth Hallelujahs," here's a paragraph on the problem Easter presents for Christians.
… there are probably an increasing number of Christian families today who spend more time doing the Easter Egg and Bunny celebration for the kids than they do in church. Or, to put it another way, people who identify as “Christians” and mark the holy day on Easter may go through the motions of honoring the event of the Resurrected Christ, but have a limited understanding of the significance and meaning of the event and thus a harder time seeing how it connects with their secular lives. Indeed, statistics show that a growing number of Christians have a hard time believing in the literal truth of their savior’s Resurrection.
Here are some recent articles giving statistics on this problem:
Marie de France, Lais of Marie de France