Easter’s Pagan Roots
Easter has Pagan roots. Most Christians don’t realize that. They only know that Easter is usually celebrated on a Sunday in March or April. Unlike Christmas (always on December 25th), Easter is celebrated at widely varying dates.
Why is that? If Christ’s birth date is so easy to pinpoint, why does the date of his Resurrection seem so vague?
Ask almost any Christian why Easter is celebrated at such different dates, from year to year. He or she will usually pause and say, “I have no idea.”
Here’s the answer: Easter is always the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox.
Yes, like many Christian holy days, Easter is firmly rooted in Pagan traditions. Most people know that holidays such as Christmas and All Saints Day were deliberately placed on or near times when converted Pagans were accustomed to celebrating.
Easter — based on Ostara, the Pagan celebration of springtime renewal — is a holiday clearly founded on earth-based traditions.
Many Pagans and Wiccans embrace that as another symbol of how all religions are interconnected. We’re happy to share basic spiritual concepts with other faiths. The names may change, but the core beliefs are universal.
Ostara and Easter both celebrate the renewal of life, and they’re an affirmation that the spirit continues after apparent physical death.
Many Christians embrace that unifying belief system as well. Though firmly asserting non-Pagan concepts (such as a powerful devil or Satan figure), the book The More Perfect Way (by Chad and Christopher McCoy), urges Christians to return to first century Christian beliefs. Though some Pagans will be baffled by — or even resent — the “evil” references linked to the Old Ways, few books cover as much ground linking modern religions (such as Christianity) to their time-honored foundations.
Pagans may be more comfortable with books such as Solar Myths and Christian Festivals, by Edward Carpenter (Kindle format). He also connects the events and belief systems that preceded today’s Christian holidays and holy days. However, his views celebrate Pagan (and Wiccan) traditions rather than cast them in Satan’s shadow.
Drawing lines between religions is not helpful. Pagans, Wiccans and Christians can live in harmony. We can find joy in our common concepts, regardless of the labels placed on them.
Whether you call it Easter, Eostre, Ostara, or by some other name, the meaning of the season is the same: A celebration of rebirth, and an affirmation of eternal life through our connection with Deity.
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Though it may seem a little “too Christian” and heavy-handed for some Pagans, this book may be a useful bridge between witches and our Christian neighbors who aren’t too sure if their church is still authentic.
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