[MR] new vs. old

[EoganOg at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/26/02 1:13:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, SNSpies at aol.com 
writes:


> Well, as I was just regaling Barre with, Easter is still extremely pagan.  
> Not only is its name taken from a Celtic goddess of fertility, Oestre (and 
> hence oestrus ... ask your local female), but bunnies and eggs continue to 
> be 
> as important as any superimposed Christian practices.  It is a truly 
> ancient 
> fertility holiday.
> 

Not neccesarily.  The evidence for this is scant, at best, and is being 
called into question by modern scholars.

Ronald Hutton is the author of _The Triumph of the Moon_ (1999).  He is a 
professor at the University of Bristol (England) and is an expert on pagan 
British religion.  In this book he points out the lack of evidence that the 
Celts, or any other pagan culture, celebrated feasts on the equinoxes.  He is 
quoted by Charlotte Allen in "The Scholars and the Goddess" (The Atlantic, 
Jan 2001) as saying, "The equinoxes seem to have no native pagan festivals 
behind them and became significant only to occultists in the nineteenth 
century.  There is still no proven pagan feast that stood as ancestor to 
Easter."

In fact, most of what we would consider to be "timeless fertility rites" like 
Maypole dances, he can trace no farther back than the Middle Ages, or the 
eighteenth century in some cases!

The only historic source of the name for Easter being taken from a pagan 
goddess is the Venerable Bede, who realtes the name to "Estre," a Tuetonic 
(not Celtic) goddess of spring.  However, this goddess is otherwise unknown, 
not appearing in the Edda.  The term seems to have been used as a general 
name for the season.  In Anglo-Saxon it was "e{a^}ster," Old High German 
"{o^}stra," and German "ostern."  The entire month of April was 
"easter-monadh."  So when the feast of the resserection of Christ came to be 
called Easter, there is no reason to assume that it was in recognition of any 
pagan goddess, but rather a general reference to the time of year that the 
feast occurs.  In fact, the 40 days preceding Easter is called "Lent" which 
also comes from an Anglo-Saxon term refering to the spring season.

Note that only in some cultures is this feast even called Easter.  In Greek 
and Latin, it is "pascha", in Italian "pasqua," in Spanish "pascua," Dutch 
"Paschen," and even in some parts of Germany it is "Paisken" not "Ostern."  
Even in Scots Gaelic the name is "Pask."  All of these names refer to the 
Passover, not a Celtic fertility goddess (or any other fertility goddess).

As for eggs and bunnies, I would have to ask, "Is there any evidence for 
colored eggs and bunnies being used in any pagan festivals?"  Not that I have 
seen.  Their use as spring time symbols may or may not date from 
pre-Christian times, but their religious signifigance is questionable.

The custom of Eastern Eggs is found in both the Western and Eastern churches. 
 According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the use of eggs at one time was 
forbidden during Lent.  So, in celebration they were served on Easter, 
colored red to symbolize joy.  The CE says that the custom "may have its 
origin in paganism" but the only reason suggested is because "many pagan 
cultures celebrate the return of spring."  

However, I would have to add that a custom such as this is not the same as a 
religious rite, and also that if it did stem from a pagan custom it would be 
extremely remarkable that you would find it being observed in both the East 
and West, throughout Europe, as there was no unifed pagan culture that 
spanned that far.

As for rabbits, the CE again suggests that they are a pagan symbol of 
fertility.  I would offer that they are a Christian and modern symbol of 
fertility as well.  After all, we still use the phrase, "breed like rabbits." 
 But again, the use of this symbol during spring, at a time of fertility and 
rebirth, is a custom and not a religious rite.

As an example of what I am talking about, I think that we will all agree that 
colored leaves are symbols of autumn.  American is a (more or less) Christian 
country.  Now, let's imagine that tomorrow aliens from Alpha-Centauri land 
and over the next hudred years, we are all eventually converted to their 
religion.  And still, when autumn rolls around, I bet you will still see 
store fronts decorated with colored leaves.  A cultural symbol is not 
neccesarily a religious symbol.

The Catholic Church, when an area was converted, never set out to do away 
with all customs of that people. Just because a pagan people had a particular 
custom does not ipso facto make that custom a "pagan rite."

You will find it repeated as fact in many books today that Easter is really 
an old pagan feast for a fertility goddess.  Modern scholarship, however, is 
discovering that this is more than likely not true.

Aye,
Eogan Og


Tighearn Eoghan Og mac Labhrainn, CP, OPE
http://www.albanach.org
Sacred Stone Pursuivant
Web Master for the Canton of Hawkwood
"Checky Or & Vert, two lions combatant, tails knowed, in base a mouse 
couchant, all within an orle of roundels, Argent."
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