The Pagan Origins of Easter

[Michael Grant]

What does the term Easter itself mean?

It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean
Babylonian origin on its very forehead. The
popular observances that still attend the period
of it's celebration amply confirm the testimony
of history as to it's Babylonian character. The
hot cross buns of Good Friday and the dyed eggs
of Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites
just as they do now. The "buns" known too by that
identical name, were used in the worship of the
Queen of Heaven, the goddess of Easter. The
prophet Jeremiah takes notice of this kind of
offering when he says:

Jeremiah 7:18 The children gather wood, and the
fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead
their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven,
and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods,
that they may provoke me to anger.

From where comes the eggs?

The classic poets are full of the fable of the
mystic egg of the Babylonians and thus its tale
is told by Hyginus, the Egyptian, the learned
keeper of the Palatine library at Rome, in the
time of Augustus, who was skilled in all the
wisdom of his native country.

"An egg of wondrous size is said to have fallen
from heaven into the river Euphrates, the fishes
rolled it to the bank, where the doves having
settled upon it, and hatched it, out came Venus,
who afterwards was called the "Syrian Goddess"
-- that is, Astarte. Hence the egg became one of
the symbols of Astarte or Easter.

From where comes the "Easter Bunny"?

That a rabbit, or more accurately a hare, became
a holiday symbol can be traced to the origin of
the word "Easter". According to the Venerable
Bede, the English historian who lived from 672
to 735, "the goddess Eastre" was worshipped by the
Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the
hare." - Panati's Extraordinary Origins of
Everyday Things pg 55

Easter is another example of a Christianized
pagan festival. For hundreds of years before the
Messiah was crucified the pagans had a festival
which basically celebrated the "Queen of Heaven."
This spring equinox festival was known by
different names in different cultures (Eastre /
Ishtar / Astarte), but the same traditions
associated with it are pagan customs. YHWH (God)
commands us not to worship Him with pagan customs.

Deut. 12:30-31 says, "enquire not after their
gods, saying, How did these nations serve their
gods? even so will I do likewise."

You can choose the broad way (the way the world
/ crowd goes) that leadeth to destruction ...
(Matt 7:13) The pagan bunny fertility symbol -
Ishtar / Eostre to Easter - spring fertility
goddess worship rites. Or you can choose the
narrow way (of truth that few people find), which
leads to life eternal (Matt. 7:14)
- Leviticus 23 eternal feast days and Sabbaths
Obey Elohim's (God's) eternal holy days (Lev. 23)
for all Israel (including grafted in believers in
Yeshua / Jesus) (Rom. 3:31; 11:17, Eph. 2:12-13)
Check a good encyclopedia on Easter / Eastre /
Ishtar.

Shalom
Michael Grant