Every Easter thousands of kids hunt for treats left behind by the Easter bunny, hot cross buns fly off the shelves, and Christians worldwide celebrate the day as the resurrection of Jesus, oblivious to the pagan origins of Easter. Read on if you want to know the truth!

So, if Easter celebrations commemorate the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion, where do the bunny and eggs come from?

Is Easter a Pagan holiday? Are you celebrating the ancient festival of your ancestors?

Believe it or not, the roots of Easter are connected to the ancient Paganism and Pagan traditions that predate Christianity. Let’s explore the Pagan roots of Easter.

Pagans worshipped nature and natural forces. Paganism is all about acknowledging the cyclical changes of seasons and imbibing them into day to day life.

Spring has been a symbol of rebirth and regeneration in many ancient cultures since time immemoral.

After the long cold winter, the commencement of Spring has been celebrated as a festival of rebirth, fertility, and new beginnings among the Celts, Druids, Greeks, Mesopotamians, and many other ancient civilizations.

When Christianity spread across Europe, instead of abolishing some festivals, the Church absorbed and took over them.

Spring Equinox marks the time when day and night are of equal duration and from when the length of daytime will only increase.

The time around Spring Equinox was already seen and celebrated as a time for rebirth – life emerging from the dark cold winter – for thousands of years.

So, it made sense to hijack an already prevailing popular sentiment centering around the victory of life over sufferings and adapt it into the Christian faith by making it all about Jesus rising from the dead.

You must know that Easter has no fixed date. It is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon, just right after the Spring Equinox – the day itself hints at it being a celebration of the seasons, a core concept of Paganism.

That’s why many customs associated with Easter have their origins in pre-Christian springtime festivals. If you’re not convinced yet, we welcome you to delve deeper into the ancient pagan history of Easter, with us.

Read: 8 Ancient Pagan Practices That You Still Do Unknowingly!

The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter

The following five points will help to explain the connection between Easter and Paganism:

1. Stories of Resurrection Before Easter

Across ancient cultures and their spiritual practices, mythologies of resurrection echo the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth—long before the Christian narrative came in.

In Mesopotamian mythology, documented on a clay tablet, thousands of years before Christ, there’s the story of Damuzi, (also known as Tammuz) a shepherd god who dies and descends to the underworld.

He was eventually rescued by his wife Inanna (or Ishtar), the goddess of love and fertility, who herself undergoes death and rebirth during her journey through the underworld. Her annual revival signified the revival of life in spring time.

Similarly, in Greek mythology, Persephone is abducted by Hades and taken to the underworld; her annual return to the surface marks the arrival of spring, symbolizing renewal.

These myths, along with others like the rebirth of Baldr in Norse mythology and Dionysus in Greek tales, reflect ancient civilizations’ deep-rooted belief in the regeneration of life.

2. Eostre: The Spring Goddess

Many believe the name “Easter” has derived from Eostre (or Ēostre), an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. Celebrated during the spring equinox, Eostre’s festival symbolized renewal and rebirth.

The Venerable Bede, an 8th-century monk, documented this association, noting that the month of “Eosturmonath” was named after the goddess. While Bede’s account is the primary source linking Eostre to Easter, the association remains influential in understanding the holiday’s nomenclature.​

3. The Ancient Origins of the Easter Bunny

Rabbits and hares, known for their prolific ability for procreation, have long symbolized fertility and new life. In Pagan traditions, the hare was sacred to Eostre, which supports the origin of Pagan Easter.

Another theory suggests the concept of the Easter Bunny originated with German immigrants in the 1700s, who brought the legend of the “Osterhase,” a hare that laid colored eggs for well-behaved children.

This tradition evolved in America, where children would create nests for the hare to lay its eggs, eventually leading to the modern Easter egg hunt.

4. Eggs: Emblems of Rebirth

Eggs have been potent symbols of fertility and rebirth across various cultures. Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and Persians used eggs in spring festivals to represent new life. This further supports the ​claims of Pagan history of Easter.

In Christianity, eggs came to symbolize the resurrection, with the shell representing the tomb and the emerging chick symbolizing Jesus rising from the dead.

5. Hot Cross Buns: From Pagan Ritual to Christian Tradition

Hot cross buns, sweet rolls marked with a cross, are traditionally eaten on Good Friday. The cross is now associated with the crucifixion of Jesus.

But some scholars suggest that these buns originated from pagan rituals honoring Eostre, where breads marked with a cross symbolized the four seasons or phases of the moon.

As Christianity spread, it assimilated and reinterpreted many pagan symbols and practices, including the hot cross bun.

Read: 8 Pagan Holidays And Traditions To Beat Your Post-Christmas Blues

Easter and Paganism: Ancient Traditions Behind Modern Celebrations

So, is Easter a Pagan holiday ? Whether you believe in a Pagan Easter or not, the Pagan history of Easter is surely worth knowing – something to think about.

The Easter customs that are deeply rooted in ancient traditions celebrating Spring, renewal, and fertility offer a more broader appreciation of this holiday’s rich and diverse heritage.

If you want to know more about the Pagan origins of Easter, you can check out the below video:

Don’t forget to let us know your thoughts on the Pagan origins of Easter by leaving a comment below. We expect all comments to be respectful of others’ views and beliefs. Pagan or not, we hope you all had a very Happy Easter!

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