Origins of Eostre

[Odin]

how much of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eostre) article is true.

"Eostre is generally said to be an Anglo-Saxon goddess, but her existence in any real pre-Christian Germanic mythology is disputed."

So is there evidence of a Goddess called Eostre in older mythology or is she a more recent invention?

[drkitten]

Originally posted by Odin
how much of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eostre) article is true.

"Eostre is generally said to be an Anglo-Saxon goddess, but her existence in any real pre-Christian Germanic mythology is disputed."

So is there evidence of a Goddess called Eostre in older mythology or is she a more recent invention?

The OED supports her existence linguistically with references to old Teutonic, the ninth-century writings of King Alfred, and the eighth-century writings of the Venerable Bede.

Earlier than Bede it becomes difficult to get any sort of decent information about the Anglo-Saxons at all. So I'd say offhand that she's about as validated as she's likely to get.

[Meadmaker]

I have read that Eostre is cognate with Ishtar, who is also Astarte, one of the arch-enemies of Jehovah worshippers in the Old Testament.

In those sources, there were lots of references to a Canaanite festival that was replaced by Passover, and that Canaanite festival had a lot of characteristics of our current Easter celebrations, including eggs and bunnies.

But my sources are typical web pages, found by googling, with no original source attributions that would give them a bit more weight. But if anyone finds more information on the subject, please pass it on.

[phildonnia]

I don't know this for certain, but I've always supposed that the tradition of eating ham so close to passover began as some deliberate jew-baiting.

[drkitten]

Originally posted by phildonnia
I don't know this for certain, but I've always supposed that the tradition of eating ham so close to passover began as some deliberate jew-baiting.

I believe this is documented historically (although I don't have the documents or citations to hand); the tradition of eating ham actually originated out of an earlier tradition of eating bacon --- but a particularly influential king (Charlemagne?) didn't much like bacon, so he started eating other bits fo the pig.

[drkitten]

Originally posted by Meadmaker
I have read that Eostre is cognate with Ishtar, who is also Astarte, one of the arch-enemies of Jehovah worshippers in the Old Testament.


I would be extremely surprised at this. To start with, the relationship between Astarte (Phoenician) and Ishtar (Babylonian) is well-established historically and culturally -- but how did a Babylonian goddess make it across most of Europe into Germany without leaving linguistic footprints all around the Black Sea and throughout the Balkans?

A much better-attested cognate is simply between "Eostre" and "eost," the direction, which may in turn be cognate with "Eos," the (Greek) goddess of the dawn --- all of which refer broadly to the appearance of the sun, a very important thing if you live in Northern Europe and have been suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder for the past six months.

[Meadmaker]

Originally posted by new drkitten
I would be extremely surprised at this. To start with, the relationship between Astarte (Phoenician) and Ishtar (Babylonian) is well-established historically and culturally -- but how did a Babylonian goddess make it across most of Europe into Germany without leaving linguistic footprints all around the Black Sea and throughout the Balkans?


Good point, although I will suggest a counter. Wouldn't Eostre have been a pre-Saxon figure? In that case, there are Irish traditions that say that Ireland was settled by people from the Mediterranean, via Spain. So, the influence would be that way, via the Celts, as opposed to going through central Europe.

Still, I think the "Eos" theory seems a bit more reasonable. The only thing that made me think the Canaanite connection was in any way plausible was the possible links to a spring festival with eggs and bunnies, but that, too, was poorly documented.

[drkitten]

Originally posted by Meadmaker
Good point, although I will suggest a counter. Wouldn't Eostre have been a pre-Saxon figure?


Our current best guess (based in part on cognates to German) is that Eostre would have been Germanic, not Celtic. (For example, the only cognate word for "Easter" that is cognate is German itself : "Ostern.")


Still, I think the "Eos" theory seems a bit more reasonable. The only thing that made me think the Canaanite connection was in any way plausible was the possible links to a spring festival with eggs and bunnies, but that, too, was poorly documented.

I think there's another problem here too, though. Human psychology tends to reinvent patterns, and it's easy to misperceive a connection where there's really only similar reinvention.

If I were to create a religion out of whole cloth, and I were to add some sort of fertility/rebirth festival to the new religion, early spring would be an obvious time to do it. Similarly, using symbols like bunnies (which are notorious for their fertility) and eggs would be obvious. I'd also be strongly inclined to make the deity of fertility female. I'd hold the festivities themselves near dawn (at the time of the rebirth of the sun). I might also use infant animals like lambs, and would probably use bright spring-like colors to distinguish it from the winter just passed.

But on the basis of these "obvious" associations, I've just reinvented most of the so-called "pagan" Easter association. Why assume instead that I stole the associations from Babylon?

[Meadmaker]

After I posted my last response, I went back to see what I could find.

Pretty much every source that made either the Ishtar/Easter connection or the Canaanites with bunnies connection came from one of two sorts of people.

1. Neo-pagan sorts who wanted to make their chosen pantheons more significant. Or

2. Strange Christian fundamentalists who were telling people not to celebrate Easter because it was "really" a Pagan holiday.


Several sources that seemed a bit more reputable did say that the Canaanites celebrated a Feast of Unleavened Bread in the Spring, but on those sites there was still no primary source evidence to say how we might know about these Canaanite traditions.

[clarsct]

I found other sites on eostre
http://www.englishheathenism.homestead.com/eostre.html
http://www.ealdriht.org/eostre.html
It seems that no one can agree. The Wikipedia site seems to have most of the data, as far as can be told. In one version eostre is just the name of a festival, in others, she's a goddess.

I even found a site that equates her with Kali, based on a passage from Beowulf. Like most of the early pre-Roman history, not much was written.

[Dancing David]

I think Eastre was a Roman goddes which would bridge to the goths.

[TragicMonkey]

The goddess Eostre was invented by Gaius Claudius Hallmarcus in the first century AD, as the basis for a new holiday designed to sell greeting cards, festive souvenirs, and edible treats. Hallmarcus's wife had extensive financial interests in both the rabbit and chicken industries.