The Origin of Easter

By Sherry Myers

Sit down, snuggle in, and I’ll tell you the true story of Easter.  Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a man named Nimrod who broke away from the beliefs of his great grandfather, Noah, and walked in rebellion.  He decided that he would stir up the people in his cities.  His wife was Queen Ishtar ("Easter") and, when Nimrod (some people later called him Baal) died, she continued in his evil leading of the people.  After her husband’s death, Easter had an illegitimate son whom she claimed was a reincarnation of Nimrod.  She named him Tammuz.  All the people of the land worshipped both Tammuz and Easter.  Tammuz was worshiped as the sun god and Easter was worshipped as the fertility god.  Tammuz was killed by a wild boar and the story began that each year he resurrected in the spring.  Babel was one of the cities of Nimrod and it is the root city of most evil pagan rituals today.

In the spring, the people celebrated the fertility god.  The bunny originally represented a sexual symbol of fertility and the egg was part of a Babylonian fable in which a huge egg fell from the sky and the Goddess Astarte/Easter was hatched from it.  The egg was also a symbol of fertility.  Originally, festivals of Easter were held in the spring worshipping the sun god and the symbols were tied to fertility. 

In America, the puritans did not originally feel that they could celebrate Easter as it was not a celebration or feast that was a biblically appointed one.  Eventually Christians did adopt the holiday as a Christian holiday.  They stained eggs red representing the blood of Jesus and later eggs represented the empty tomb.  Some churches still do not celebrate an Easter holiday involving eggs and bunnies and candies.  Whatever your holiday tradition is, it is always good to understand the roots of the holiday.  Keeping Christ at the center of all you do, not losing focus, and remembering not to get caught up with commercialism should always be the first and foremost thoughts in our hearts and minds throughout the holidays and every day. Find the story of Easter at ChristianAnswers.Net.