Who is eostre

She is the first warm spring winds, the birds that return, the trees that bud and curl forth leaves and flowers. She is the awakening earth, rabbits and hares, the eggs that appear after a winter of no light. City folk may not know that chickens who are kept in natural lighting quit laying in the winter, when the days are short, and begin again as the days lengthen.

Ostara's legacy is all those colored eggs which many of us still hang on trees every year. Beautiful maidens in sheer white were said to seen frolicking in the country side.

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What Eostre has to do with Easter is that both holidays were celebrated around the same time: Spring. Easter, according to Scripture, falls around the time of Passover Matthew , and Passover tends to happen very close to when Easter occurs. In this year, for instance, Passover happens on April , and we celebrate Easter this year on The church likely saw both holidays happening at the same time, and decided, like with Lupercalia and Samhain, to try and blend the two in a way to eliminate tensions between those of other religions and form a bridge between the two to spark a curiosity in the Christian holiday.

This question depends entirely on which symbol you are referring to. When talking about elements spoken of in the Biblical narrative such as crosses, the empty tomb, angles, etc. But as for Easter eggs and Easter bunnies, we can find ties of those in the original pagan celebration of Eostre. We can also see Easter baskets, baskets that typically hold candies or other goodies for those who receive them, have pagan origins as well.

Baskets originally were used to carry seedling offerings to the goddess Eostre. The Easter bunny is an integral part of Easter celebrations, but where does it come from?

Not much is known about this symbol, but it has been suggested that spring hares were followers of Eostre, seen in spring gardens and meadows. Although there is an obvious connection with Christianity, coloring and decorating eggs most certainly predates Christianity. In Europe, the craft of decorating eggs for spring festivities is noted in the ancient craft of Pysanky where eggs were decorated with beeswax.

German immigrants brought the idea of egg-laying hares to the new world of America as early as the 18th century. The importance of Eostre is visible in her presence in Christianity and faint glimmers seen in Christian festivities that were originally set up for her.

Germanic and especially Northern Paganism associate her with an image of a fair maiden that brings spring and light, clothed in white and radiant. She is presented as a messianic figure. While her worship may have transcended into the worship of other messianic figures like Jesus Christ, she remains relevant to this day.

A good illustration of the renewed interest in Eostre is her comeback in literature. Gaiman introduces Eostre as Ostara, an ancient European spring deity that migrated with her worshipers to America where her power, fed by the worship, is dwindling due to her worshipers turning to Christianity and other religions. The proliferation of the New-Age religion and further disenfranchisement with predominant monotheistic religions and the erratic speed of technological change and global warming have led many to turn towards re-evaluating the cult of Eostre.

Online portals are popping up on the internet dedicated to Eostre. The following is an Adoration to Eostre:. Eostre may not be as well-known as she was in the past, but she remains a representation of the rebirth of nature and the return of light.