The origin of the word "Easter"

[sabriner]

I thought this would be interesting and enlightening (in a small way) information.

A friend brought up the idea that the word “Easter” is bad as it has pagan origins, so I went and looked it up. The following is information from a scholar specializing in the Middle Ages (found on this THIS web page) :

The queen of feasts, the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection, which most English speaking Christians know as Easter, is the center of a surprising amount of controversy. The date on which it is to be celebrated has caused arguments and excommunications, and was one of the historical sources of division between Celtic Catholicism and what later became Roman Catholicism.

Not only the date, but even the very name, has also been a source of controversy and disagreement. In Hebrew, the Passover is called Pesach. In most languages, the Christian Resurrection feast is called by a name based on this Hebrew word. Most Orthodox call it Pascha or a similar sounding name. Only in English is it called Easter. According to some, this name is derived from that of an ancient pagan goddess of spring. It is becoming common among some Protestant groups in the U.S. to refer to the day as “Resurrection Day,” rather than use the name of the pagan goddess. In the Celtic Catholic Church, you will generally find the Feast referred to in print as Cáisc, an Irish equivalent of Pasch, although in conversation you will often hear many of us say Easter.

Our guest contributor, Caedmon Parsons, an Eastern Orthodox and scholar of the Middle Ages, clarifies the true history of the word Easter. To reply to this article, you may e-mail him at Caedmontwo@aol.com

Apart from one mention in the Venerable Bede’s scientific treatise, De Temporarum Ratione, there is absolutely no evidence for a Germanic goddess with a name in any way resembling the word Easter. Every other recorded use of the term is in a Christian context. Rather than the term being derived from a goddess, the supposed goddess is derived from the term. She was postulated by certain 19th century Germanic scholars in an attempt to explain the etymology of the word. These same scholars (foremost among them the Grimm brothers, famous for their folk-tale collections and less well-known as the discoverers of the “Indo-European” linguistic family) had a very definite nationalist/ethnic agenda in which they were trying to rediscover the “real” roots of German culture. Thus the folk-tale collection’s avowed purpose was to search for “survivals” of pre-Christian Germanic religion and culture.

The later connection of this invented figure to Astarte was sheer fundamentalist propaganda based on a coincidental similarity in sound. Having dismissed Nativity/Christmas because it’s timing coincides with a number of pagan solar festivals, those fundamentalist groups which criticize all celebration of “holy days” thereby sought to discredit Easter whose general timing is well laid out in the Bible. If there was a connection, it would be the only case of a Sumerian/Canaanite word coming into the Germanic languages without first passing through Hebrew and/or Greek into Latin and then into Germanic via the medium of Christianity. It is to be noted that there is no other Old English word for Passover or Pascha.

There is some by no means conclusive evidence of a festival or holy day connected to the spring solstice. However, every recorded instance of the word’s usage has clear Christian connotations (i.e., if it ever was a pagan festival, it had effectively disappeared by the time people wrote using the term Easter). As to why this word is used in English and German: It is used in German for the simple reason that the pagans of modern-day Germany were missionized by Anglo-Saxon Christians such as St. Willibrord or the two St. Hewalds. The Germans thus got Easter the same way the Russians got Pascha.

In England itself, this is the type of theoretical issue Anglo-Saxonists enjoy arguing. There appears to have been a very strong cultural bias among the Anglo-Saxons against other languages. While their Latin missionaries and then their own churchmen obviously knew and used Latin, there was remarkably little borrowing from Latin into English at this time. In almost every instance, the English Church took existing English words to express ecclesiastical terms (thus sanctus was translated by haelig [holy, healthy, whole], and Old English uses haelige John not St. John, and haeliged [hallowed] rather than sanctified, etc.) rather than simply borrowing the Latin (the modern preponderance of Latin loan words for ecclesiastical terms is a product of the post-1066 Norman invasion). In addition to Latin books, Old English had the most active vernacular literature (primarily Christian) of any Western area prior to the millenium. There is an extant translation of the gospel of John which is the oldest translation of the Bible into a western vernacular with the exception of Bishop Wulfilas Arian translations into Gothic (itself another Germanic language).

In other words, the presence of the word Easter is actually a product of the vibrant “Orthodoxy” of the Anglo-Saxon Church which unlike later periods did not suppress the resident culture in favour of an all-embracing Latinism but rather transformed (in accord with the guidelines given to St. Augustine of Canterbury by St. Gregory the Great) the entire language and culture. Although I myself generally use Pascha because it is the common usage among Orthodox now, I find attempts to dismiss as “pagan” a true survival of English Orthodoxy very problematic. Furthermore, there does not seem to be any English form of the word Pascha; Orthodox England never called the feast anything but Easter.

 

[Dokimas]

If it was founded by pagans originally, don’t you just love it when God redeems even things that the pagans ‘founded’. Every Easter all over the world, the Resurrection of Jesus is discussed. WOW, another miracle by the Lord.

 

[sabriner]

If it was founded by pagans originally, don’t you just love it when God redeems even things that the pagans ‘founded’. Every Easter all over the world, the Resurrection of Jesus is discussed. WOW, another miracle by the Lord.

That’s even a better way of looking at it!

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

Similar to the way Rome persecuted Christianity since it’s beginning, under the penalty of death, has become the location of His Church, pillar of truth to eternal life.

 

[Cominghome89]

Yes, the same way that the cross, once a symbol of punishment, fear and death in Rome, has become the symbol of our Christian hope, the very mark of the Resurrection. How beautifully God has redeemed this world.

Happy Easter! Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!

In Christ and Our Blessed Mother,
Frank

 

[Dokimas]

A wonderful and blessed Lord is Risen Day to all. God be with you.

 

[The_Pilgrim]

And from an Orthodox –

A wonderful and Blessed Pascha to you all…

Christ is Risen!

–The Pilgrim

 

[guanophore]

I thought this would be interesting and enlightening (in a small way) information.

A friend brought up the idea that the word “Easter” is bad as it has pagan origins, so I went and looked it up. The following is information from a scholar specializing in the Middle Ages (found on this THIS web page) :

It is a pecularly European phenomenon calling the Pascal mysteries “Easter”. The dates coincide with the European indiginious celebrations of Oestre, which is the Spring fertility festival. In Latin the part of the female cycle where one is considered impregnable is called estrous. The goddess names Istar and Astarte have been associated with it. The symbolism of eggs and bunnies, both embraced by European Pagan practices of Spring fertility celebrations have been co-opted by Christians whose faith practices were influenced by the Roman (Latin) Catholic Rite.

The Church developed a practice just after the Edict of Milan of overtaking, baptizing, and sanctifying Pagan temples and holidays as well as the persons practicing them. Many of the feast days were deliberately placed on Pagan holidays to provide the faithful with appropriate alternatives to the lunar celebrations to which they were accustomed. The feast fo the Blessed Mother, for example, placed upon Mayday. This Christianization of the Pagan holidays helped to prevent lapse back into Pagan rituals.

 

[Spirithound]

It is a pecularly European phenomenon calling the Pascal mysteries “Easter”. The dates coincide with the European indiginious celebrations of Oestre, which is the Spring fertility festival. In Latin the part of the female cycle where one is considered impregnable is called estrous. The goddess names Istar and Astarte have been associated with it.

I’m sorry, but did you not even read the article?

“Istar” did not exist,

“Astarte”, like any Sumerian/Canaanite word could not have jumped into Germanic without passing through Hebrew (which it did not)

and the Latin “estrous” comes from the Greek for “gadfly, breeze, sting, mad impulse”

Happy Easter

 

[latin_rite]

I thought this would be interesting and enlightening (in a small way) information.

A friend brought up the idea that the word “Easter” is bad as it has pagan origins, so I went and looked it up. The following is information from a scholar specializing in the Middle Ages (found on this THIS web page) :

The word Easter has nothing to do with estra,istaror,Astarte, aster. Nor even a combination of the lot. Easter Is just a translation of a old English word for east. And its similar counter part Ostern Which is an old Germanic word. Which also means east. In fact the only two bibles you will commonly see Easter is in the German and English bibles . In other languages it’s based around the old Greek word for passover “Pascha”, the Greek/Latin transliteration of the Hebrew word Pesach (Passover). Examples of this derivation can be seen in the Spanish Pascua, Italian Pasqua, French Pâques, Dutch Paschen, Russian Pashka, Norwegian Påske, Finnish Pääsiäinen, and Turkish Paskalya.
Man these hippie pagans need to stop trying to hitch their wagon to us.
All those new age Christians who call Easter “resurrection day” Need to do a little research. Before being tricked into believing rumours and false evidence dreamed up by pagans/atheist.
Happy Easter. Or if you wanna get technical Happy East.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

You lost me with the whole “east” thing. What’s the point of saying happy east? Why would Christians be focused on that word for pascha?

The word Easter has nothing to do with estra,istaror,Astarte, aster. Nor even a combination of the lot. Easter Is just a translation of a old English word for east. And its similar counter part Ostern Which is an old Germanic word. Which also means east. In fact the only two bibles you will commonly see Easter is in the German and English bibles . In other languages it’s based around the old Greek word for passover “Pascha”, the Greek/Latin transliteration of the Hebrew word Pesach (Passover). Examples of this derivation can be seen in the Spanish Pascua, Italian Pasqua, French Pâques, Dutch Paschen, Russian Pashka, Norwegian Påske, Finnish Pääsiäinen, and Turkish Paskalya.
Man these hippie pagans need to stop trying to hitch their wagon to us.
All those new age Christians who call Easter “resurrection day” Need to do a little research. Before being tricked into believing rumours and false evidence dreamed up by pagans/atheist.
Happy Easter. Or if you wanna get technical Happy East.

 

[guanophore]

I’m sorry, but did you not even read the article?

I didn’t say I agreed with it, I just said that people associate it with those names.

"Istar" did not exist,

“Astarte”, like any Sumerian/Canaanite word could not have jumped into Germanic without passing through Hebrew (which it did not)

Your insistence that something does not exist does not make it so. I think you better get busy writing all the scholars upon which this article is based, and tell them their life work in research has only turned up that which “doesn’t exist”.

and the Latin “estrous” comes from the Greek for “gadfly, breeze, sting, mad impulse”

Merriam-Webster
Main Entry: es·trous
Pronunciation: \ˈes-trəs
Variant(s): or chiefly British oes·trous \ˈē-strəs\
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of estrus
2 : being in heat

Main Entry: es·trus
Pronunciation: \ˈes-trəs
Variant(s): or es·trum -trəm\ or chiefly British oes·trus \ˈē-strəs\ or oes·trum \ˈē-strəm\
Function: noun
1 a : a regularly recurrent state of sexual excitability during which the female of most mammals will accept the male and is capable of conceiving : heat b : a single occurrence of this state
2 : estrous cycle

I can certainly concede that being in heat does cause a number of “mad impulses”.

If you think there were not Pagan celebrations of the Spring oestrus you are mistaken.

Happy Easter

And a joyful Pascha to you and yours.

 

[latin_rite]

You lost me with the whole “east” thing. What’s the point of saying happy east? Why would Christians be focused on that word for pascha?

I don’t know. Some say because the sun rises in the east. And some because word Ostern (Old Germanic) is derived from the old Teutonic form of auferstehen / auferstehung, that means resurrection. Or if you’re asking why did i say happy east. It was just a lame joke. Based on the facts Easter comes from the old Germanic word for east.
Happy Easter.

 

[prodromos]

You lost me with the whole “east” thing. What’s the point of saying happy east? Why would Christians be focused on that word for pascha?

Christ is risen!

In a number of languages, the root of the word “resurrection” is the word “east” because the sun “rises” in the east, or as many languages put it, the sun “easts”. Thus it would be unsurprising that words associated with the rising of the sun would have similarities to the word “resurrection”

And this is what “Easter” is. It is from the Old Teutonic German word for “resurrection”.

John

 

[prodromos]

The Church developed a practice just after the Edict of Milan of overtaking, baptizing, and sanctifying Pagan temples and holidays as well as the persons practicing them. Many of the feast days were deliberately placed on Pagan holidays to provide the faithful with appropriate alternatives to the lunar celebrations to which they were accustomed. The feast fo the Blessed Mother, for example, placed upon Mayday. This Christianization of the Pagan holidays helped to prevent lapse back into Pagan rituals.

Christ is risen!

I’ve heard this claim made many times but have never seen any evidence presented proving that this was indeed the thinking of the Church. Have you any evidence?

John

 

[Mark77]

**God uses all of His creations, to include pagan non-believers & their rituals to lead us to His Truth, Jesus Christ, our Lord & Savior!
**
**i see God’s Infinite beauty & wisdom in every flower, every bird in the sky & every star.
**
Do not listen to these poor misguided conspiracy theory people (many who even claim to be Christians!) They are being misled by the evil one who Jesus warned us about;

"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (JN 8:44)

Read the CA Tract “Is Catholicism Pagan?” found here; catholic.com/library/Is_Catholicism_Pagan.asp

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

 

[PeaceSerenity]

Even if the origin of the word “Easter” wasn’t originally pagan, today’s world is working on secularizing it as much as possible. When you say Easter, people think of bunnies and baby chicks and chocolate, not of Christ. That’s why I prefer to say Pascha, because it refers to the actual Resurrection itself. People might look at you a little weird, but at least the meaning of the day doesn’t get lost. More important than the origin of the word is the way it is viewed today. It doesn’t matter if the origin was pagan (though I personally think it was, which is another reason why I use Pascha), it matters how people percieve its meaning.

 

[latin_rite]

Even if the origin of the word “Easter” wasn’t originally pagan, today’s world is working on secularizing it as much as possible. When you say Easter, people think of bunnies and baby chicks and chocolate, not of Christ.

I see the point you are making. And by n large i agree with it. But i will always call it Easter. Because i refuse to be bullied into calling it something else by pagans. Especially when they are in the wrong.
And about the Easter eggs thing. This is true too. Sort of reminds me of my older brothers argument with his young kids this pass Easter.
He told them that he isn;t spending A lot of money on chocolates this year.
His kids started complaining about this. Saying that he has to, its a special time of year.
He told them that “If it;s so special. Then they can prove it by going to Church”
He was meet by silence. Needless to say. My older brother and his family aren;t very religious.

 

[shawn38]

Origin of the word "Easter"
The Oxford English Dictionary reads, “Easter. The name is derived from Eostre, the name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the vernal equinox; her name shows that she was originally the dawn-goddess.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia *reads, “Our name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor.”
Academic American Encyclopedia reads, “According to the Venerable Bede, the name Easter derived from the pagan spring festival of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre.”

Customs incorpoarated into Easter
The Catholic Encyclopedia declares, “A great many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gravitated to Easter.”
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Christianity … incorporated in its celebrations of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs of the spring festival.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia (1978) *declares, “Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals.”

**Rabbit - ***The Catholic Encyclopedia *reads, “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”
*Encyclopedia Britannica *reads, “The Easter hare came to Christianity from antiquity…and so a symbol of fertility and of the renewal of life.”

**Easter Eggs - **
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewal of life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival.”

The New Question Box - Catholic Life for the Nineties, copyright 1988 by John J. Dietzen“The reasons for celebrating our major feasts when we do are many and varied. In general, however, it is true that many of them have at least an indirect connection with the pre-Christian [pagan] feasts celebrated about the same time of year — feasts centering around the harvest, the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice (now Dec. 21, but Dec. 25 in the old Julian calendar), the renewal of nature in spring, and so on.”

The early church of the New Testament for over a hundred years celebrated the actual week of Passover as the time that Jesus died and rose from the dead as the scriptures say.

So why the incorporation of pagan customs? To make it easier for the pagan gentiles to convert to Christianity. They were allowed to keep the festival of Easter as long as they tied it to the resurrection of Christ. Later Pope Gregory affirmed it in a letter to Augustine.

In 597 AD Pope Gregory sent to Augustine a letter of wise advice. Do not destroy the temples of the English gods, he said; change them into Christian churches. Do not forbid the harmless customs which have been associated with the old religion; consecrate them, like the churches, to Christian uses.

 

[Anna_Scott]

I thought this would be interesting and enlightening (in a small way) information.

A friend brought up the idea that the word “Easter” is bad as it has pagan origins, so I went and looked it up. The following is information from a scholar specializing in the Middle Ages (found on this THIS web page) :

Origin of the word "Easter"
The Oxford English Dictionary reads, “Easter. The name is derived from Eostre, the name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the vernal equinox; her name shows that she was originally the dawn-goddess.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia *reads, “Our name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor.”
Academic American Encyclopedia reads, “According to the Venerable Bede, the name Easter derived from the pagan spring festival of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre.”

Customs incorpoarated into Easter
The Catholic Encyclopedia declares, “A great many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gravitated to Easter.”
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “Christianity … incorporated in its celebrations of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs of the spring festival.”
*Compton’s Encyclopedia (1978) *declares, “Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals.”

**Rabbit - ***The Catholic Encyclopedia *reads, “The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”
*Encyclopedia Britannica *reads, “The Easter hare came to Christianity from antiquity…and so a symbol of fertility and of the renewal of life.”

**Easter Eggs - **
Encyclopedia Britannica states, “The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewal of life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival.”

The New Question Box - Catholic Life for the Nineties, copyright 1988 by John J. Dietzen“The reasons for celebrating our major feasts when we do are many and varied. In general, however, it is true that many of them have at least an indirect connection with the pre-Christian [pagan] feasts celebrated about the same time of year — feasts centering around the harvest, the rebirth of the sun at the winter solstice (now Dec. 21, but Dec. 25 in the old Julian calendar), the renewal of nature in spring, and so on.”

The early church of the New Testament for over a hundred years celebrated the actual week of Passover as the time that Jesus died and rose from the dead as the scriptures say.

So why the incorporation of pagan customs? To make it easier for the pagan gentiles to convert to Christianity. They were allowed to keep the festival of Easter as long as they tied it to the resurrection of Christ. Later Pope Gregory affirmed it in a letter to Augustine.

In 597 AD Pope Gregory sent to Augustine a letter of wise advice. Do not destroy the temples of the English gods, he said; change them into Christian churches. Do not forbid the harmless customs which have been associated with the old religion; consecrate them, like the churches, to Christian uses.

I appreciate all the posts on this Thread. I have struggled with the word Easter, reading many different origins and meanings of the word. I even refused to attend an Easter service, because it was called “Easter.” Eventually, I abandoned all iconography, even the cross. I stopped putting up a Christmas tree, because of its pagan origins. After a few years of these rigid beliefs; I began to feel isolated–not just from other Christians; but from Christ Himself.

I think we can take things too an extreme, forgetting the mercy of our Lord, and His power of consecration—making that which is unholy into something Holy and acceptable to God.

I have abandoned those extremist beliefs. In Christ, bread and wine become His body and blood. In Christ, the sinner is made a living sacrifice to God. Surely, He can sanctify the residual traces of paganism.

I tend to agree with Pope Gregory on this one.

In Christ,
Anna