The Return of the Invincible Sun

The word Easter is derived from Eostre, the name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the vernal equinox; her name shows that she was originally the dawn-goddess." Compton’s Encyclopedia reads, "Our name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honor." Academic American Encyclopedia reads, "According to the Venerable Bede, the name Easter derived from the pagan spring festival of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre."

Ppagans observed festivals at the vernal equinox, which was and is considered the first day of spring, when the length of the day and the length of the night are equal, as the sun climbs in the sky of the northern hemisphere.

Encyclopedia International (1978) declares, "Many of the customs associated with Easter are derived from various spring fertility rites of the pagan religions which Christianity supplanted." The Catholic Encyclopedia declares, "A great many pagan customs celebrating the return of spring gravitated to Easter." Encyclopedia Britannica states, "Christianity ... incorporated in its celebrations of the great Christian feast day many of the heathen rites and customs of the spring festival." Compton’s Encyclopedia (1978) declares, "Some Easter customs have come from this and other pre-Christian spring festivals."

The Catholic Encyclopedia reads, "The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility." Encyclopedia International (1978) reads, "The Easter rabbit, legendary producer of Easter eggs, was also a symbol of fertility and new life." Encyclopedia Britannica reads, "The Easter hare came to Christianity from antiquity. The hare is associated with the moon in the legends of ancient Egypt and other peoples. Through the fact that the Egyptian word for hare, um, means also ‘open’ and ‘period’, the hare came to be associated with the idea of periodicity, both lunar and human, and with the beginning of new life in both the young man and young woman, and so a symbol of fertility and of the renewal of life."

Regarding Easter eggs, Encyclopedia Britannica states, "The egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewal of life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival." The New Book of Knowledge (1978) declares, "One of the best-known Easter symbols is the egg, which has symbolized renewed life since ancient days. The egg is said to be a symbol of life because in all living creatures life begins in the egg." Encyclopedia International (1978) states, "Eggs were a primitive symbol of fertility; but Christians saw in them a symbol of the tomb from which Christ rose, and continued the practice of coloring, giving, and eating them on Easter."

The New Book of Knowledge (1978) declares, "The custom of a sunrise service on Easter Sunday can be traced to ancient spring festivals that celebrated the rising sun."

Friday, the English name of the sixth day of the week, is the Germanic translation of "dies Veneris" or "Day of Venus." Venus was the Roman goddess of sexual love. A fertility symbol associated with Venus is the fish, because fish can produce more rapidly than any other creature. A single cod can spawn 9,000,000 eggs in a year! Eating fish on Friday is an act of adoration to Venus and her cohorts, and it celebrates by sympathetic magic the principles of fertility and reproduction.