Saturday, March 30, 2013

Easter, Eastre, Estrus?

On the first Sunday after the first new moon in Spring Christians all over the world celebrate the resurrection of Christ. That holiday (holy day) is called Easter Sunday.

But the word, Easter, is derived from a pagan festival called Eastre that was a celebration of fertility. The word is also related to the term, estrus, which means the time when women and many animals are able to become pregnant.

So what do those things have to do with the Christian holiday?

They're all about new life.

Flowers grow from seeds and bloom, rabbits have lots of babies, and eggs are hard objects that look almost like stones, but chicks and baby birds hatch from them. Flowers, bunnies and eggs are all used to celebrate Easter. I can't think of anything in the natural world that would be better able to represent the idea of Jesus, who was dead, coming to life again.

Happy Easter to everyone!

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