Posted by:
RPackham
(
)
Date: April 17, 2014 07:37PM
Response to several posts:
Re: connection with passover: The only connection with the Jewish passover is that Jesus' crucifixion happened (according to the Gospels) at the time of a passover. The passover festival had nothing to do with a dying god, a messiah, atoning for sins, resurrection.
Re: "pascha" as name of Easter: Yes, among Christian Europeans the name of the festival is related to the Jewish passover festival. That connection was made by the Christian church only several centuries after Jesus' crucifixion. It does NOT indicate the ORIGIN of the spring festival. It is the meaning that the church GAVE it.
Re: Shannon wrote: " I think Easter and any other "holiday" or "celebration" means something different to different people. I don't think everyone has to agree." I think I said exactly that in my original post. Please read the original post again. It was NOT about what the festival MEANS. It was about how it originated and what it meant to the ancients who started it. Same response to Bona Dea, who wrote: "It is related to.Passover and suffering"
Re: Etymology of the word "Easter": Yes, the English word is derived from the Germanic goddess whose name was "Ostara." But where does "Ostara" come from? It includes the Germanic root meaning "east" because she was the goddess of the sun as well as fertility. As anyone should know who has studied the origins of religions, religions tend to borrow. Ishtar (Astarte, Ashtaroth, etc.) was known throughout the middle east and Europe as the goddess of fertility, identified with Venus (both the goddess and the planet). Do some searching before objecting. See, e.g.,
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080318090751AAKKtuE on Easter and Ishtar. Just because JWs point this out does not make it wrong. They got it from people who knew something about ancient religion.
Re: history of the cross symbol: Let me emphasize again, that I am talking about ORIGINS, not what something means to you or to me. Google "cross symbol pre-christian" for some enlightenment. The Egyptian cross (the "ankh"), which long pre-dated Christianity, was a symbol of life, of the goddess Maat, and represented the coupling of the gods. How better to symbolize the union of Father Sky and Mother Earth than to make a representation of his penis and stick it into the ground? (Ancients were obviously not as prudish as some people reading my post.)
I hope everyone enjoys the holiday, in whatever way is meaningful to them. Just don't try to tell me what it "really" means. It may mean that to YOU, but just remember that it is a meaning that YOU have given it.