OSTARA -- (Give or take pronounced oh-star-ah) One of the Sabbats in the Wheel of the Year. It takes place on the spring equinox. It may derive from the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring, Ēostre. Her name means "moving with the waxing sun." Her symbols are eggs and bunnies.One story goes that a bunny wanted to give a gift to the goddess. He found a fresh egg. He wanted to eat it, but he thought it would make a great gift. He decorated the egg and gave it to the goddess. She loved it. This is why the Easter Bunny delivers decorated eggs.
Culturally speaking, spring is one of the most prolific celebrations. All ancient peoples had some version of a spring celebration.
It is a time of renewed fertility and sacred sex rites were and are performed for those who wish to participate.
It has been associated with Cú Chulainn, Dagda, Taranis, early Christian beliefs, Thor, and a host of others. Ancient oaks found there way into many names of places. Places like Holy Oaks, Derry, and Kildare derive their names from it.
Many early Christian churches were built in oak groves probably because they may have been places of pagan worship.
Romans generals were given oak crowns in victory, which a version is still used in modern military.
One pagan tradition celebrates the Oak King and Holly King. They battled for dominance as the old year passes and and new year begins. The Holly King's power wanes as the Yule comes and the Oak King's power waxes to bring forth fertility by impregnating the Earth Goddess. It symbolizes the cycle of life and death as the Wheel of the Year passes.
OLD ONES -- A term used to encompass all aspects of the God and Goddess.
Disclaimer: None of these pictures belong to me. I found them on Google.
Very cool information. I liked the bit about the bunny and eggs.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Love those pagan rituals in modern day religion. I think it's a cute story too.
DeleteVery interesting post. Looks like I need to catch up on all your A to Z posts!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI did not know how the Easter bunny and the eggs came to be so this was quite interesting. Always love the mighty oak
ReplyDeleteOaks don't grow where I'm from so I can only look at them in pictures.
DeleteEaster is one of the holidays that come from ancient roots like the Easter bunny.
The bunny and the eggs had to come from somewhere and Christianity pinched most of the other festivals too - nice to know where from :) Oaks can be amazing trees when they grow to be old.
ReplyDeleteTasha
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I know. It's sad that many people don't realize the history of what they celebrate.
DeleteSo that's where the Easter Bunny comes from! That got me thinking if the goddess' name was used for Easter, and according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it was:
ReplyDeleteEaster (n.)
Old English Easterdæg, from Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from Proto-Germanic *austron-, "dawn," also the name of a goddess of fertility and spring, perhaps originally of sunrise, whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *aust- "east, toward the sunrise" (compare east), from PIE *aus- (1) "to shine" (especially of the dawn)
And the picture of that oak is absolutely gorgeous. They are among my favorite trees.
Yep. More than likely. The church integrated it like Samhain to help transition from pagan to Christianity.
DeleteThat bunny story explains a lot... It was hard for us to explain to some of the foreign students here how the bunnies and the eggs came to be associated with Easter... :D
ReplyDelete@TarkabarkaHolgy from
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I found the story both on the Internet and a book about Ostara in the public library. I condensed it to its main bits here. I guess it will be easier now, I hope.
DeleteI love the egg and the Oak King stories. Also, the Eostre relates to being in estrus, which again relates to spring and birth. It is amazing how entwined ancient pre-Christian beliefs are with Christian traditions.
ReplyDeleteThe images are beautiful--the spring goddess and the oak. Lovely!
Yes, it is. I loved both stories too.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.