If you were to dive into the backgrounds of many holidays, you would see that most have pagan origins. The holiday known as Easter would not be an exception. When
you think of Easter you probably think of bunny rabbits, baskets filled
with goodies, chocolate, painted eggs and pastel colors. Many think Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let me inform, this is not. Easter has absolutely NOTHING to do with Jesus or any other true Christian customs.
To
start out, true Christians know that Jesus wanted us to remember him,
not by his birthday and not by the day he was resurrected. He wanted us
to remember him and honor him on the day he died. NISAN 14 is the day
that Jesus celebrated with his Apostles the ‘Lord’s Evening Meal’ in
order to celebrate the Passover. The origin of
the Passover Feast was derived from the night that God's angel swept
over Egypt and killed the first born of anyone who did not have the
blood of the lamb over their doorposts. This was the last of the 10
plagues of Egypt.
Jesus celebrated that 'Passover' with his Apostles but he gave a new commandment to celebrate this night in remembrance of him. Because
days started at sundown to sundown that night of NISAN 14 still
continued to the next day at sundown, the day Jesus died. That is why
true Christians celebrate NISAN 14, not Easter. Easter is an entirely different subject and is days after NISAN 14.
Even the ancient ecclesiastical historian Socrates stated this, “Thus
much already laid down may seem a sufficient treatise to prove that the
celebration of the feast of Easter began everywhere more of custom than
by any commandment either of Christ or any Apostle." It
was obvious from times passed that the Christian Religion and that of
many pagan customs would become so intertwined with one another that it
would be almost impossible to pull apart and dissect the truth out of
them.
First
and foremost, the tradition of Easter goes back thousands of years all
the way back to Babylonian customs and mythology. Although many believe
that Easter is a Christian holiday or even some sort of hybrid between
Christian and Germanic Religious beliefs, I can assure you that it goes
much further. According to the book, “Two
Babylons,” author Alexander Hislop states that the term Easter comes
from Chaldean origin, for the name Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis,
the Queen of Heaven. It goes even further back to the goddess Ishtar as
you will read later on.
According
to historians from the early 19th century, Easter originated with
Ostara (or Ēostre) , the Pagan (Saxon) Germanic Goddess of Spring. It
was Northern European culture that introduced the hare or rabbit into
the whole idea of Easter. Ostara was the Goddess of Fertility, bringing
an end to the Winter season and a new rebirth of life in Spring.
EASTER BUNNY-
The
hare or rabbit, which was well known for its propensity for rapid
reproduction, was Ostara’s sacred animal. What many are not aware of is
the fact that the Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny were also older in
origin than one would think. They were actually celebrated in festivals
all the way back in Mesopotamia at the Feast of Ishtar. The
rabbit symbolized fertility, given the fact that rabbits have been
known to become impregnated with a second litter while pregnant with the
first litter. Also, in the Epic of Gilgamesh an “intersexual” being
comes to rescue Ishtar from the Underworld while ancient customs in
various mythology spoke of rabbits that were symbolized as being
“hermaphrodite,” having both male and female parts just as the
intersexual creature in the Epic of Gilgamesh.
According
to belief, The god Papsukal reports the entire situation to Ea (the
king of gods) that Ereshkigal is holding Ishtar against her will in the
Underworld. Ea manifests an intersex being called
Asu-shu-namir and sends it to Ereshkigal, commanding it to invoke "the
name of the great gods" against Erishkigal and to ask for the sacred bag
containing the waters of life. Ereshkigal is enfuriated when she finds out Asu-shu-namir's demand, but she has to give it the water of life. So Asu-shu-namir drops water from the bag onto Ishtar and revives her. Then Ishtar passes back through the seven gates into the realm of the living.
EASTER EGGS-
In
history the Easter eggs symbolized rebirth or new life. Many believe
that it related to the resurrection of Jesus Christ but it does not.
Long before Christ walked the earth, this custom was already taking
place in the cradle of civilization, Assyria and Babylon. Eggs
have always been regarded as a symbol of new life. To this day many
superstitious people still use eggs to predict the sex in an unborn
baby, by watching the rotation of an egg suspended by a string over the
stomach of a pregnant woman.
Going
even further back you will find in the story of Ishtar, the Babylonian
“mother of the gods” whose very existence was said to have come from an
egg. According to ancient Babylonian mythology,
Ishtar came from a golden egg that descended from heaven. It survived
the deluge (the flood of Noah’s day) and the fish pushed it onto the
land. Then the birds sat upon it until it hatched, giving life to the
deity Ishtar.
The
more you look into the story of Ishtar (especially in the Epic of
Gilgamesh) the more you will find striking resemblance to other stories
in mythology from Roman, to Greek, to Egyptian. Why do you think that
is? That is because all mythology started from Babylon and evolved
within each different civilization, making slight changes but not enough
to detract from the ancient origins.
You see, Ishtar is none other than the Germanic Goddess Ostara, the Sumerian Goddess Inanna, the
Greek Goddess Persephone or the Roman Goddess Proserpina (not to
mention even more). Look the stories up, they are all similar. Easter is also a time in ancient mythology where the resurrection of the god Tammuz was celebrated, the lover of Ishtar.
The facts stand to point to the Goddesses of
Rome, Greece, Sumer and Egypt having all come from one source, Babylon. All Easter origins come from here. You can agree with me or disagree, the history doesn’t lie. And
if you search hard enough you will find that many gods or goddesses all
derive from the very beginning of false gods, Tammuz and Ishtar.
If
you read the Epic of Gilgamesh you will see the similarities to the
stories of Persephone, Proserpina, Adonis and even some Egyptian
mythology such as Isis and Osiris. Although, some characters change in some stories, the outline remains the same.
PROSERPINA-
In Roman mythology, Venus sends her son Cupid to shoot his arrow at Pluto in order for him to find love. He comes out of the volcano
Etna with four black horses named Orphnaeus, Aethon, Nycteus and
Alastor. He then kidnaps Proserpina to the Underworld where he is ruler.
Her mother, Demeter (or Ceres) goes searching the entire earth for her.
Pluto tricks Proserpina to eat three seeds from a Pomagranate in order to entrap her in the Underworld.
She
is now forced to spend three months out of the year with Pluto in the
Underworld each year. According to Roman customs and beliefs, that is
why the seasons change. During winter is when Proserpina goes to the
Underworld and that is why her mother Demeter allows the earth to become
barren, because she misses her. However, when Spring arrives all the blossom’s bloom and vegetation is abundant because Demeter’s daughter returns to her.
So
in conclusion, this article is not to rain on your proverbial parade
about your beliefs in Easter, but to be a wake up call. Just because you
want something to be about Jesus doesn’t mean it is. Just because you
want it to be about roses and flowers, fluffy bunnies and carefully
decorated eggs doesn’t mean it is. Most everything that is known as a
holiday comes from pagan origin, even if you wish to believe it is
somehow Christian.
J'aime Rubio (copyright) 2012
Thank you Jes Alexander for allowing me to use your photo of Ishtar(Astarte).
Many people often think of Good Friday & Easter as a time when they celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, but the true origins of Easter, (as I pointed out in one of my previous articles, "Easter- Do You Really Know The Truth About It?"), date back to Ancient Babylon and their pagan goddess, Ishtar (which the name "Easter" originates from). In fact, Easter was also a time in ancient mythology where the resurrection of the god Tammuz was celebrated. 
