Easter or Eostre

Most Christians have grown up reading the new testament and the story of how Jesus was crucified and then on the third day, he rose again. His uncle Joseph of Arimathea buried his body in a tomb at “Calvary.”

The place he was buried was covered by a stone. On the third day, Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb and discovered the rock removed. When she entered the tomb, she found Jesus’ burial rags discarded on the dirt floor. Jesus appeared to her in a golden light and after that, he also appeared to his disciples.

His resurrection became known as Easter and it was decreed in 325CE, by the council of Nicaea, Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the Vernal Equinox.

The Vernal Equinox, or the first day of spring, is also known as Ostara and has its roots buried deep into Pagan mythology, Ostara/Easter evolved from the Saxon/Germanic word Eostre.

Eostre is the Saxon/Germanic goddess of dawn and spring. She is the goddess of spring which is celebrated on the spring equinox. The spring equinox is the 20/21st of March every year. She is also a fertility goddess and represents new life and fertility in the earth after a long cold winter. She is the harbinger of flowering plants, trees with blooming buds, and the birth of babies in the animal kingdom.

The rabbit is one of the most fertile animals there is and the egg represents rebirth and new life. Which is how Eostre, became associated with those symbols of life. The Christians took the pagan symbols of fertility and new life and merged them with the symbolic resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus was crucified and was resurrected three days later, according to the scriptures. It’s very easy to see the symbology between this story of Jesus and his resurrection and the pagan festival of Ostara. How the Christian legend is very similar to that of the goddess Eostre, and her story.

The two stories are about new life and rebirth and that is the true meaning of Easter. New life and rebirth. Although, Jesus’ story is also about conquering death. His resurrection is about rebirth and new life in the kingdom of god.

That is also the spiritual meaning of Eostre. New beginnings and new life. In Wiccan spirituality, this is the energy for starting a new business or a new life or starting anew. It is the time to start over and begin again. It is the time for creativity and new ideas.

The ancient Celts knew that when the earth thawed out from the cold dark winter, it would be ready for the planting of seeds. The term "you reap what you sow" is from the planting season.

Spiritually, the garden you plant during life represents the choices and decisions you make over the course of your life—sowing so to speak.

Later in life, you begin to enjoy the fruits of your labor or reaping what you have sown.

The ancient Celts see how the rhythms of day-to-day life fit into the rhythms of their spirituality. To them, there is no difference between their daily lives and their beliefs. The two are intertwined and related.

Today is the Vernal Equinox, better known as the first day of Spring. The Wiccan festival “Ostara.” The Wiccan celebration of new beginnings, new life, and fertility. It is the time when the goddess Eostre returns and touches the earth with the energy of new life and rebirth.

Happy Ostara.