Happy Eostre

Since I tell people I am a pagan-druid when they ask about religion, I better write about the celebration of our vernal equinox!

The story of the bunny has Nothing to do with the new christ religion invented in the first Century AD. The holiday, like Halloween, and christmas- EASTER (Eostre ) was already being celebrated for CENTURIES , by the Pagans, before Jesus came along preaching new and popular ideas.

Ostara or Eostre (Easter), is REALLY celebrating the spring equinox, 21st March: Return of the sun, the word EASTER is not Christian, so lay off the bunny, its NOT a chucrh and state thing.

The history of Easter reveals history and traditions that we practice today evolved from pagan symbols, many of them related to the myths and symbols of the ancient goddesses Ostara or Eostre. ( easter)

Feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, the Goddess Ostara or Eostre saved the life of a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow. She made him her pet or, as some versions have it, her lover. Filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly (in some versions, it was because she wished to amuse a group of young children), Ostara or Eostre turned him into a snow hare, named him Lepus, and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters.

In remembrance of his earlier form as a bird, she also gave him the ability to lay eggs (in all the colors of the rainbow, no less), but only on one day out of each year. which is why in the springtime, we hunt for the eggs of the Easter Bunny.

Eventually Lepus managed to anger the goddess Ostara, and she cast him into the stars where he would remain as the constellation Lepus (The Hare) forever positioned under the feet of the constellation Orion (the Hunter). He was allowed to return to earth once each year, but only to give away his eggs to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring.

~ by Johnny Miller on April 11, 2007.