The Pagans can rightly argue that the Christians stole bunnies and eggs and even the name from them. It's true though. I agree with them.
The name Easter gets it's name from the fertility goddesses: Ishtar, Ostara, Eoster, Astarte. These gals usually had male god consorts, who are depicted as dying and being reborn.
Two of the most important symbols for these ladies were the hare and the egg.
Egg hunts were held in their honor. Women hunted for these cherished items. If they found one, it was said that they would become pregnant within the year.
This was celebrated way before the Passover or the Resurrection of Jesus.
Around 325 AD, Emperor Constantine absorbed the pagan Roman religion into Christianity's to make the new converts feel at home and to stop widespread violence in his land.
The Christians celebrate the last supper, the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
Messianic celebrate the later two like myself. But I don't do the bunnies and eggs along with it.
Unfortunately, there is always so much pressure to buy stuff no matter how you celebrate it. Greeting cards are like five bucks a piece. Candy is outrageous. The price of food for the feasts has really been tipping the scales. Personally, I'm exhausted from it all.
Has commercialism hi-jacked all three? It looks that way to me.
Why can't we just have a holiday without the commercialism and the fuss? Why can't we just have quiet self-reflection? Quiet prayer? Time with our families without all the excess?
What do you all think?
Hope everyone had a nice, quiet holiday.
Hugs and chocolate, all,
Shelly
