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History of Easter

Easter originated as a Pagan tradition celebrating the goddess Eastre before being adopted by Christians, and many modern Easter traditions like egg decorating and the Easter Bunny stem from Pagan spring festivals; eggs have long been symbols of fertility and new life.

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Nuria Rincon
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68 views

History of Easter

Easter originated as a Pagan tradition celebrating the goddess Eastre before being adopted by Christians, and many modern Easter traditions like egg decorating and the Easter Bunny stem from Pagan spring festivals; eggs have long been symbols of fertility and new life.

Uploaded by

Nuria Rincon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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History of Easter Traditions

Did you know

Vocabulary

Easter originated as a Pagan tradition, celebrated by the Anglo-Saxons in


honor of their goddess of birth and springtimeEastre (also known as Oestre
or Ostara).

Blasphemous A violation against God


or other sacred things

During the second century, when Christian missionaries were attempting to


convert the population to Christianity, many Pagans who converted to Christianity still refused to give up their traditional religious celebrations. Easter
began to be celebrated as a Christian holiday, in order to allow former Pagans
to celebrate Eastre without being blasphemous. It became a hybrid celebration
of both the Pagan Eastre and the Christian observance of the Resurrection of
Christ.

Modern Easter traditions

Hybrid A mix of two different things


Fertility Ability to produce young
Persecuted Harassed or harmed,
especially due to ones race or beliefs
Questions
Why do you think it was important for
the early Christians to hold on to their
old celebrations and holidays despite
persecution?

Most Easter traditions originated from the Pagan festival of Eastre. For example the fertility goddess Eastre was associated with a sacred earth animalthe
In what other ways can the egg be
rabbit. The tradition of the Easter Bunny may have started in Germany where
the goddess Eastre was known as Ostara. As one story goes, Ostara arrived late meaningful within the theme of Easter?
one Spring, and many animals had been frozen by the snow. She saved a small
bird whose wings had been frozen, and she transformed him into a white snowhare so he could run fast and survive the winters. However, she allowed the bird
the ability to lay eggs one day a year. And every year during the Eastre or Ostara
Festival the snow hare would lay colorful eggs and give them out to the children.
Eggs have been longtime symbols of rebirth and fertility, even as far back as
ancient Greece and Rome. During the Festival of Eastre it was customary to
exchange colored eggs with ones neighbors. Colored and decorated eggs were
given as a token of good fortune and wishes for a prosperous year. According
to some, the tradition of Easter egg hunts began during the rise of Christianity
in Europe. Since egg-giving was a Pagan tradition, some people were persecuted
because of it. So people began hiding eggs instead of giving them as gifts, and
soon it became a game for children to hunt for the hidden eggs.

Ostara etching by Johannes Gehrts

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