HOW THE CHRISTIANS STOLE CHRISTMAS (PART 2)

AND OTHER PAGAN HOLIDAYS. PART 2

EASTER

I know at some point, everyone has wondered- what the hell do eggs and
rabbits have to do with Jesus rising from the dead? Well they don't, in fact,
have anything to do with Jesus, because it all comes from Pagan traditions.
Coinciding with the Vernal Equinox of spring, Easter is celebrated at a time
when day and night are of equal length. Aphrodite/Venus, also know as Eostra/Eastre to the Anglo- Saxons, was worshipped at this time as the goddess of Spring and dawn, and fertility. Because of the fact that she represented fertility, she was often associated with rabbits and eggs.

The Easter bunny is actually a rabbit spirit, also called "The Easter Hare,"
which is associated with the moon goddess and various other deities. It is
sacred in many ancient traditions because it represents fertility. There are many myths about the Easter bunny but my favorite is a myth that includes the goddess Eastre. Every year she brings Spring with her to replace the Winter. One year she arrived late and found a poor bird whose wings were frozen by the snow. Eastre felt so guilty that she saved it's life and took it as her pet (some stories state that she took him in as her lover.) Because he could no longer fly she turned him into a "snow hare," renamed him Lepus and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed, so that he can protect himself from hunters. To remember his former life as
a bird she gave him the ability to lay eggs (gave HIM this ability- that doesn't seemright) in all the colors of the rainbow, but only one day out of each year.

The egg was believed to have special powers because life miraculously
burst forth from it, much like life miraculously burst forth in the spring after
a long winter.It's thought that Pagans would dye the eggs in bright colors to show off the new colors and sunlight of springtime. In ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia it was customary to dye eggs for Spring festivals, these were sometimes given as gifts. This is actually where Faberge eggs came from. Peter Carl Faberge was a goldsmith who made a decorated egg for a Russian Czars wife as an Easter gift. She loved it so much that the czar ordered Faberge to make one for her ever year. There are 57 of them in existence, and they are now worth a fortune.

Attis, a fictional consort of Cybele-another fertility goddess, was believed
to have been born of a virgin. He is also believed to have died and been resurrected each year around the time of the Vernal Equinox of spring. He was known as a god of ever-reviving vegetation. it was a 3 day festival of rejoicing his Resurrection. The Christians have a similar celebration (as you know) around the same time. Easter Sunday was somewhat of a fixed date in the year 325, at the council of Nicaea. It is now on the first Sunday after the first full moon, after the Spring Equinox.

If you enjoyed this article please check out the other parts to learn about Valentines day, Halloween and Christmas