When we celebrate Easter, do we know what the rabbit and eggs symbolize and do they actually have anything to do with Jesus’ resurrection? Its quite interesting to know where these symbols came from...
When the christian missionaries wanted to convert the Pagans to Christians they thought the easier way would be to incorporate some Pagan beliefs with the story of Christ.
Many people celebrate Easter, thinking that this was the time when Christ resurrection took place, but Easter is a pagan festival, it is the coming of spring and the actual rebirth of nature after the dark times of the harsh winter, and the church adopted this concept, and turned it into the ressurection of jesus, it was a very affective propaganda, and so the pagans used to celebrate this time, would easily welcome a person who was actualy the rebirth of the seasons himself, into their celebrations.
This is the time for joy, and to welcome the harm sun and the power of nature, after its "death" at winter time, it can return in such a beauty and a cosy feeling, when people can start their crops again and enjoy and take what the earth has to give.
So is Easter Pagan or Christian?
In reality, Easter does not represent the "historical" crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in fact, the gospel tale reflects the annual "crossification" of the sun through the vernal equinox (Spring) at which time the sun is "resurected", as the day begins to become longer then the night. Rather then being a "chirstian" holiday, Easter celebrations date back into remotest antiquity and are found around the world as the blossoming of spring did not escape the notice of the ancients, who revered this life-renewing time of the year, when winter had passed and the sun was "born again".
To the Anglo-Saxons, Easter or Eostre is the goddess of the dawn, but i will make a post about it, just to talk about Eostre.
The word "Easter" shares the same root with "east" and "eastern", the direction of the rising sun.
The Syrian sun and fertility god Attis, was annualy hung on a tree, dying and rising on March 24th and 25th, an "Easter celebration" that occured at Rome as well.
This tradition which placed the death of Christ on the twenty-fifth of March was ancient and deeply rooted. This "coincidence" between the deaths and resurections of Christ and the older Attis was not lost on easly Christians, whom it distressed mightily. In their attempt at explaining the existence of these pre-christian motifs, easly christians apologists, claimed the devil had gotten there first!
The rises of the "crucified Adonis", another dying and rising saviour god, were also celebrated in Syria at Easter time.
"When we reflect how often the church has skillfully contrived to plant the seeds of the new faith on the old stock of paganism, we may surmise that the Easter celebrations of the dead and risen christ, was grafted upon a similar celebration of the dead and risen Adonis, which, as we have seen reason to believe, was celebrated in Syria at the same season."
The Salvific death and resurection at Easter of the god, the initiation as remover of sin, and the notion of becoming "born again" are all ages-old pagan motifs or mysteries rehashed in the later Christianity.
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