RE: The Real Easter
April 6, 2024 at 7:34 am
(This post was last modified: April 6, 2024 at 7:37 am by Belacqua.)
Recent historians (not Internet memes) tell us that there may well have been a goddess with a name similar to Eostre or Oestre. (Or I should say, people believed in such a goddess, not that she actually existed.) As Bede says, a month may well have been named after her. The Christian holiday called Pascha in Latin fell during this month, and when Christianity reached England the holiday was named for this month in English. All Romance languages keep a version of the Latin. Pascha is derived from Pesach, the Hebrew word for Passover.
Eggs, bunnies, these were all added long after the holiday was up and running, and have nothing to do with the history of the day -- in the same way that candy canes are associated with Christmas.
So English uses the pre-Christian name of a month for a holiday that is Christian. The holiday itself is not pagan.
Eggs, bunnies, these were all added long after the holiday was up and running, and have nothing to do with the history of the day -- in the same way that candy canes are associated with Christmas.
So English uses the pre-Christian name of a month for a holiday that is Christian. The holiday itself is not pagan.
