ALT-1 Decoding Resurrection Symbols during Easter
Spring Equinox marks one of four solar festivals of the year. At this time day and night are equal and balanced. The darkness of the winter is now turning toward the light of spring. Spring is associated with dawn, youth, Venus and the direction of the East and the Goddess Eostre. In fact, the word East is derived from the name Eostre, as is the word Easter. Eostre is a goddess of the new light of dawn, as the spring or vernal equinox is also the time of new light and life.
In some traditions and civilizations spring is the beginning of a new year. The Roman year started at the Ides of March (15th). The astrological year begins on the spring equinox as the moon moves into Aires the Ram, the first sign of the zodiac. In England, between the twelfth century and the year 1752, March 25th began the new year.
March is a month which is literally teeming with myths of rebirth and resurrection. Attis, Osiris, and Dionysus, die and are reborn again each year during the springtime. All of these Gods were sons of Gods and mortal women. Each of them became a savior to his people, oftentimes through sacrifice. They all died at harvest and were reborn again as the earth began to show signs of new life.
In the days of ancient Rome, a ten day rite was practiced in honor of Attis, who was the son of the goddess Cybele. The rite began on March 15th, with the cutting of a pine tree, which represented Attis. The pine tree was wrapped in a linen shroud, decorated with violets and placed in a sepulchre in the temple. On Black Friday (the Day of Blood), the priests of the temple would cut themselves with knives while dancing ecstatically, sympathizing with Cybele as the grieving mother while they attempted to restore Attis to life once again. A priest would open the sepulchre at dawn two days later, revealing to astonished eyes that the tomb was empty and announcing that the Attis had once again risen. The day of Attis's rebirth was known as Hilaria or the Day of Joy, a time for feasting and merriment. Sounds familiar doesn't it?
As I mentioned earlier, the word Easter comes from the name of the Saxon dawn goddess Eostre, whose festival was celebrated on spring equinox. The date of Easter is still determined by the old moon cycle. It is always the first Sunday on or after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
So how do eggs and rabbits tie into the Easter celebrations? The Anglo-Saxons venerated the hare. Eostre was sometimes depicted as hare-headed. She laid the egg of new life, to herald the rebirth of the year. The hare was also associated with fertility as was the egg. The old agricultural name for the April full moon was the Hare Moon. There are those who claim that eggs balance most easily on their ends at the equinoxes, because of the perfect balance of the earth.
In Sicily there is a ritual of rebirth that still continues into our modern times. Woman plant seeds of grain, lentils, fennel, lettuce or flowers in baskets and pots in the early spring. When they sprout, the stalks are tied with red ribbons and placed on graves on Good Friday to symbolize the triumph of life over death.
