Easter, Ostara, Passover: Who Wore it First?
An Incredibly Brief Exploration into Observances of the Vernal Equinox
Spring is springing! In the Northern Hemisphere, at least.
Every year at around this time, I stare at the wall and ponder all of the overlapping elements of the way that different cultures and religions honor the vernal equinox (which is completely normal, right?).
Here's a sneak peek into what's going on in my brain:
See, there are eggs and bunnies which represent fertility, but then in some languages “Easter” is called “Pascha,” which means Passover, and some people say that “Easter” comes from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of rebirth, Oestre or Eostre, but some people dispute that.
And then there’s the Wiccan holiday Ostara, and then how do Australians celebrate Easter if it’s their Fall?
And then all of the ancient civilizations built these great monuments to the equinox, like some sort of holy Google calendar.
What does it all mean?
This year, I’m finally going to Google it, because for whatever reason, that felt too laborious before.
An Incredibly Brief Summary of My Findings:
Passover is about liberation, freedom, and renewal. Easter celebrates resurrection and rebirth. Ostara (a modern Pagan festival) honors fertility and balance as winter shifts to spring on the “wheel of the year.”
There’s also Nowruz, of Persian origin, which I wasn’t familiar with before (also about – you guessed it – renewal and rebirth), and Shunbun No Hi in Japan.
And this doesn’t even scrape the surface. From the ancient Mayans to the Druids to the Egyptians, civilizations across the world and across millennia have marked this seasonal transition as a festive occasion, to honor the reemergence of light after darkness and new life.
Hence the fertility symbols (eggs, bunnies, so on and so forth).
The Hot Goss
Okay, but are they historically connected? Like – did Christianity, for example, co-opt Pagan customs?
Maybe! People certainly like bickering about it on the internet.
But I don’t think it really matters.
My Verdict
We remix, we sample:
Some people prefer Stevie Wonder’s Pastime Paradise.
Some people connect more with Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise.
And a rare few were raised on Weird Al Yankovic’s Amish Paradise.
To each their own, but we all share butterflies of excitement when we hear those opening chords. I do, at least.
What matters is this: every spring, we still find ways to celebrate renewal in a way that includes chocolate, and that’s what’s important (to me).
P.S. — I’m not kidding that these are but a BRIEF summary of my findings. I could write a whole book on this! It took a whole lot of discipline to keep this post this short. Thanks for reading.
Sources: