Beyond the Chocolate

Photo: geishaboy500 via flickr.com

Christmas and Halloween are forever being unpacked and declared Pagan; I thought it was time I put Easter under the microscope.

Firstly, I will look at where Easter comes from. A clue is in the name. My research has revealed one predominant theory as to where the name comes from. St. Bede links it to Eostre, a Saxon mother goddess, or a Teutonic fertility goddess with the same name, which derives from the word for spring, ‘eastre’. There were similar goddesses from cultures around the Mediterranean, many of whom had a festival dedicated to them around this time of year.

What about the festival itself? As I mentioned, there were a number of festivals dedicated to Pagan goddesses at this time of year. Many even involve the death of a god or goddess, who is then resurrected after three days, or a deity who descends to the underworld for three days, at the time of the Vernal Equinox. One myth featured Cybele’s consort Attis, who was born of a virgin. He died on a Friday and was resurrected on the following Sunday. This myth is descended from earlier, similar versions.

Some historians believe that the Easter festival and the Easter story were copied from such festivals, which were celebrated all over the Mediterranean. Apparently some Christians claim that the Pagan festivities and myths were fabrications of Satan, designed to confuse and mislead us.

I am sure that you are familiar with the Christian Easter story. Jesus, whilst praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, was betrayed by his disciple Judas Iscariot, and handed over to the authorities. He was charged with blasphemy, and crucified on a Friday; the day after he had celebrated Passover (Pesach) with his disciples. He died, and Joseph of Arimathea found him a tomb. On the first day of the week, the women who had been following Jesus went to his tomb to anoint his body. They found the tomb empty and a man dressed in white told them that Jesus had been raised, and to tell his other disciples.

I apologise for the brevity of the summary; it does not really do justice to the story. So what is Easter really about? Should we renounce it, or are the Pagan stories the work of the Devil, or the human imagination? The Christian festival of Easter occurs shortly after the Vernal Equinox, as the date of Passover is determined using the Equinox. It is easy to see why Pagan festivals of fertility and new life are celebrated at this time of year — spring is when everything is coming back to life again, and Pagan deities may well have originated as personifi cations of features of the natural world. It is also easy to see how the Christian festival absorbed elements of the earlier Pagan festivals, just as Christmas did; just like in the case of Christmas, the meanings and symbolism have a lot in common.

Can you imagine being a recently converted Briton? For all your life you’ve celebrated a fertility festival at the time of the spring equinox. You convert to Christianity, and reject your old religion and your old deities, but it is so much easier to keep the name the same, and the symbols associated with the old Pagan festival can help you to understand the meaning of the spring festival of your new religion.

Is there anything wrong with using Pagan symbols during our Christian festival? Should we change the name and stop exchanging Easter eggs, if it is to be a Christian festival rather than a Pagan one? I personally don’t see why we should. Yes, it was the Pagans who had the idea of using the egg as a symbol of new life, but why does that mean that Christians can’t use the same symbol? The idea of the egg hatching to reveal the new life inside captures Jesus’ resurrection, and also the rebirth of Baptism and the new life that we have gained through Christ; the unhatched egg can symbolise the hope and promise of the life to come. Distillation was invented by Muslims — does this mean that Christians can’t drink whisky?

I also don’t see why Easter should not be a time to celebrate springtime, all the wonderful green and colour and new life that begins to appear at this time of year. Christians are not nature worshippers, though we are worshippers of the omnipotent God who created nature. Denying its wonder is to deny God’s power and beauty.

In case I have confused you completely, we should probably consider exactly what we are celebrating at Easter. I have heard Christianity described as a very adult faith, and this is particularly obvious at Easter. While even very small children can understand Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Easter is harder to get to grips with.

At Easter we celebrate the fact that Christ died and rose again to save us from our sins, to allow us all to have eternal life even though we have sinned. This is something very hard to contemplate. Jesus died for us, for you and for me, and crucifixion is not a painless way to die. If you want to know the details, exactly how Jesus would have died, type ‘crucifixion’ into Google, but I warn you: it’s not for the faint-hearted.

In the wider community, and possibly to an extent in our own personal calendars, Easter can be eclipsed by Christmas, and yet it is in many ways more important. The Easter story shows such pain, and above all else such immense love. It is important to look beyond the chocolate, though many of these feelings and ideas can be summed up in a little egg.

Lizzie Freear