HAPPY ISHTAR!

Happy Ishtar, folks! Sorry, just could not resist. I am always surprised when pagan information makes the news and then everyone seems to jump on it like it was just suddenly discovered. Kinda like the 1492 myth of people discovering North America, right? I debate about rambling on about the origins of Easter and all its pagan traditions and what I was raised to believe was a very serious Holy day, and indeed, the studies out there are many and all point to the same facts – Easter is not really a Christian celebration. If you are a Christian and want to celebrate the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, then do so but at least understand where all the trappings come from. There are numerous Christian groups trying to state that Ishtar and Easter have nothing in common. They mention that this day is not even called Easter in some parts of Europe where they did, in fact, keep the term Passover and apply it, but then that brings us to the term Passover and what does that have to do with Jesus? Oh, my, “It do get complicated,” as Josie used to say.

Most scholars believe that Easter gets its name from Eostre or Ostara, a Germanic pagan goddess. English and German are two of the very few languages that use some variation of the word Easter (or, in German, Ostern) as a name for this holiday. Most other European languages use one form or another of the Latin name for Easter, Pascha, which is derived from the Hebrew Pesach, meaning Passover. Go ahead, look up Passover… tell me how this is a “Christian” thing… biblical, yes, Christian, no, referring to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt during the time of Moses – nothing about Jesus.

The Easter Bunny and eggs deal with fertility of the goddess Ishtar. "Eggs, the obvious symbols of fertility and reproduction, were used in ancient fertility rites. They were painted with various magical symbols and then cast into fires or buried in the earth as offerings to the Goddess. In certain parts of the world, Spring Equinox eggs were painted yellow or gold (sacred solar colors) and used in rituals to honor the Sun God. Eggs were ancient fertility symbols and offerings to the Goddess of the Pagans and Witches in both western and eastern cultures, including the Goddess Ostara, whose escort was a rabbit." Somehow saying the Ostara bunny just doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it? But at least we know where that bunny stuff comes from.

Moving right along here, and borrowing from some sources I don’t remember where I found them anymore… old age, damn… this was just in my notes from a long time ago. But if you look it up, you will find is factual, so, I will include it here.

“Easter was originally the festival of Ostara, named after the Teutonic Goddess Eostra..She was the Goddess of Spring and fertility... Under Constantine in the 4th century AD, the Christians assimilated this festival and called it the Resurrection… I will cut a long story short… The name Easter is derived from the Goddess Oestare, Ostern, Eostra or Eostre, depending upon which literature you read...How's this girls… The female hormone oestrogen can claim its roots to this Goddess..The fertility aspect of Ostara is symbolized by the egg, which appears as a prominent icon in both Christian and Eastern Orthodox Easters... It is believed that eggs and another symbol of fertility - the rabbit - surrounded the Spring Goddess, Eostra. The rabbit, popularly known as the Easter Bunny, is another ubiquitous sign of modern Easter. Let's talk about hot cross buns..... The cross represents the cross that Jesus died on ..... Right Christians ??? Wrong to the power of 2... Hot crossed buns were another stolen aspect of Ostara... At the feast of Oestre, an ox was sacrificed. The ox horns symbolized the feast and were carved into ritual bread . The symmetrical cross has been continued to decorate the buns, that are now commonly called hot cross buns. So you see it was stolen from the Pagans, Life, Death, Rebirth, it did represent… The Christians stole it to represent the Resurrection...”

More notes on Easter eggs:

The cosmic egg, according to the Vedic writings, has a spirit living within it which will be born, die, and be born yet again. Certain versions of the complicated Hindu mythology describe Prajapati as forming the egg and then appearing out of it himself. Brahma does likewise, and we find parallels in the ancient legends of Thoth and Ra. Egyptian pictures of Osiris, the resurrected corn god, show him returning to life once again rising up from the shell of a broken egg. The ancient legend of the Phoenix is similar. This beautiful mythical bird was said to live for hundreds of years. When its full span of life was completed it died in flames, rising again in a new form from the egg it had laid.

The Phoenix was adopted as a Christian symbol in the first century AD. It appears on funeral stones in early Christian art, churches, religious paintings, and stonework. The egg from which it rose has become our Easter egg. As with many symbols, the Easter egg has continued to shift. When the Lenten fast was adopted in the third and fourth centuries, observant Christians abstained from dairy products, including milk, cheese, butter, and eggs. In England, on the Saturday before Lent, it was common practice for children to go from door to door to beg for eggs—a last treat before the fast began.

By now, I am sure most of you are enlightened to the point that you do know that Jesus was not the only (God, man-god, whatever) to ascend into heaven… it was a popular thing for god-men to do, way back in earliest Egyptian histories and before, no doubt. Don’t forget the early space travelers who literally took folks UP into heaven – sometimes brought them back, sometimes did not. (Ezekiel 1- KJV) We have only those writings of more modern man to go by, Osiris, and all that. Likewise, most ancient religions had someone having an immaculate conception. It was more common than you think! Ishtar did, of course. So there is another link, Ishtar’s son who was immaculately conceived, of course, ascended into heaven. But we know Ishtar did exist – not just by the fact that archeology has records of her existence but, guess what? She is in the Bible, so we know it is true! Yes indeedy!

“Easter is an event that is honored by nearly all of contemporary Christianity as the resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. This tradition is so well established that it is believed to have begun with the resurrection of our Saviour and instituted by His apostles in the first century in commemoration of that event.

However, the celebration of Easter has a long history going back to the time after the Flood. Ham, the grandson of Noah had a son named Cush who married a woman named Semiramis. Cush and Semiramis then had a son and named him "Nimrod." After the death of his father, Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful King.

The Bible tells of this man, Nimrod, in Genesis 10:8-10. Nimrod became a god-man to the people and Semiramis, his wife and mother, became the powerful Queen of ancient Babylon. They developed what became the mystery religion of Babylon.

Semiramis, of course, is actually Ishtar. If you go to Hebrew Roots/Neglected Commandments/Idolatry/Easter on wikibooks, you will find an entertaining history lesson… or just Google Ishtar/Easter and read as many of the entries as possible. Some of them just copy each other, but it is interesting. Then go eat a chocolate bunny.

Meanwhile, putting history in context, keep this in mind. This history was written by the Jewish people who were kept captive, in slavery in Babylonia for years, generations, according to some histories, so it makes sense that they would consider the Babylonians demons. Remember, there are always 3 sides to every story, maybe more.

I wonder – did they have chocolate back in Babylon? Methinks they could have used a little.