Is Easter based on a pagan tradition?

[thesummerqueen]

Passover (with variations of pascal in Romance languages) is an interesting case. As we know Moses and get out of Egypt are myths. What was Passover before the Moses myth was invented? Of was the celebration invented along with the myth?

Passover IS the myth. The two are inextricably intertwined. During the Seder, the story of the Exodus is read from the Haggadah, along with prayers and descriptions of ritual movements, such as hand washing, wine drinking, breaking matzos, etc.

Passover contains things, like eggs and herbs, which most certainly came down from prior polytheistic celebrations, but the feast of Passover itself had no (as far as I know - Min, come in and correct me if I'm wrong) prior incarnation as a 'spring festival'. There is no dying or resurrection or celebration of sowing or anything within it. We have other holidays that celebrate such, like Sukkot for the harvest. This one was created as far as I know to celebrate a fictitious exodus.

[shudders]

It's really strange - I was going to include more information about Passover, but lately memories of the prayers and rituals in holidays and certain instances have been filtering through despite not having been to temple in ages and the sensory memory is disturbing me...so I won't dig further.