EASTER: The Promise of New Life

by Nikki Worth

Every year, across the globe, people celebrate Easter, especially Christians. They celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which, according to the New Testament, occurred around the time of the Jewish Passover. Unlike Easter, Jewish Passover is an 8-day festival commemorating the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt during the reign of the Ramses II.

This year, Easter Sunday falls on April 4 (Passover starts on March 29), and last year Easter Sunday was April 12. So why does Easter change each year? In 325, the council of Nicea ordained that Easter is calculated by a complicated ecclesiastic formula. Simply put, it is usually the Sunday after the full moon after the northern hemisphere spring equinox, but if Easter and the Jewish Passover coincide, then Easter is deferred by a week.

Easter was named after Eastre, also Eostre and Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of dawn or Spring. She in turn is related to Ishtar of ancient Babylon and the Jewish Ashtoreth. All these names have their root in a Semitic verb that denotes irrigation; the goddess is associated with the waters that give fertility to the land. There are similar goddesses from other parts of the Mediterranean world and from India. The Greeks called her Astarte and identified her with their own Aphrodite, to the Romans she was Flora.

Therefore Easter was originally a pagan festival celebrating the commencement of Spring - when fertility returns to the Earth. Spring has been celebrated by all cultures across time and represented by male and female gods, like Cybele and Attis. In fact, the resurrection story of Jesus mirrors the resurrection myth of the Phrygian god Attis who preceded him. Attis (like Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus) was a vegetation god born of a virgin, who died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection.

Depictions of the sorrowful goddess with her dying son-lover in her arms resemble the Virgin with the dead body of her son in her lap. These, and other dying and resurrected god figures, are symbols of new life after the sleeping death of winter. The metaphysical aspect of awakening to a new life in the Spirit is a key element of initiation into the Mysteries.

Easter signals the transition from winter to spring as the Sun enters the sign of the Ram. The ingress of the Sun into Aries marks the beginning of the astrological year. The Aries Ram is a highly spirited, spontaneous sign, ready to put new ideas into action, and its symbol, which represents the horns of the ram, also reflects the sprouting seed bursting forth with new life.

A well-recognised symbol of Easter are Hot Cross Buns. They reflect the tradition of offering cakes to the Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah 7:17-18). The raisins are like seeds, and the cross reflects the cross formed by the cardinal points of the tropical zodiac - the solstices and equinoxes that mark the seasonal cycles. The change of seasons and the movements of the stars were imbued with divine forces. The same divine forces in the cosmos were found within oneself - the same creative powers gave fertility to the land and to the human womb. Therefore, it's at this time of year we celebrate fertility and new life, with Hot Cross Buns and the exchange of eggs.

Archived Wisdoms
Readers Biographies
Astrology & the Spirit of Christmas
Know Your Personal Universe
Easter: The Promise of New Life
In love and light for Mother's Day 2010
Winter Reflections
Dad: My Hero
Reflections in Spring
Reflections at Christmas
Valentine's Day Reflections