Easter

Is Easter an appropriate holiday?

Ashtoreth, Ashtoroth,Astarte, Eastre were all goddesses of fertility. (Did you notice the spelling of their names?)

These goddesses were worshiped long before Jesus' execution. Their worship was slowly 'laced" into the Easter traditions we now have in Christianity. Fertility, not a commemoration of Jesus' execution and resurrection, is Easter's hallmark.

Perhaps as far back as Abraham festivals to these fertility goddesses were practiced. Israel seemed to have a predilection for adopting these idolatrous practices from the natio

While Israel was in the wilderness, it was probably not celebrated, as it may have been before the Exodus because any among the Israelites or large number of Egyptians who came with Israel out of Egypt because celebrating it would have brought on God's wrath.

Israel was about to learn a lot about their God. One pagan act performed at the beginning of t he Exodus brought on a 40 year delay in reaching their Promised Land. Their idolatrous weaknesses were rampant in the Promised Land all the way up to 607 BCE when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and took Judah into bondage. Israel was never truly a nation again until 1947 CE when a mixed group named "Israel"took over a part of Palestine and called it Israel.

After their release by Cyrus, the Persian, the remnant of Israel's 12 tribes (Judah and Benjamin) returned to Jerusalem and put together a religion named Judaism. It was fashioned around the government they lived by in the wilderness and the Promised Land up until 607 BCE. That government was dubbed the Mosiac law.

Judaism was a religion allowed to exit by the Medes and Persia (now Iran and Iraq). This empire ultimately overrun by by Rome who held sway until Jesus' time 167 years later. Their being able to practice their religion was a wise move by all those who ruled over the Jews. They were damned hard to control and allowing them to practice their own religion (other than the sacrifices) had a placating effect or so it seemed. At any rate, the festival of Easre (a Teutonic goddess) somehow reemerged around the Judaism perimeters and seems to have loosely tied itself to the Passover, the most important Jewish festival. Another obvious reason for Jesus Christ to enter the scene.

The fertility festivals throughout paganism, usually found themselves wrapped around the spring equinox. A time when all things come back to live (so to speak). This is how the rabbit (symbol of fertility) and eggs (a traditional present, painted in bright colors to represent the brightness of the new season) and the sun (sunrise services are a sun god observance) came to be associated with Easter.

A great many Christianity converts were Jews, out of Judaism and of course steeped in Judaism's traditions and they succeeded in introducing the Ashtereth, Ashtoroth, Astarte and Easre traditions into the Easter commeration with its resurrection connections__a perfect shoo in!

But...... nowhere in the Mosiac law - Judaism religion or the New Testament is there any call for a celebration of the execution or resurrection of Jesus or the celebration of any of the equinoxes.

Easter is also a celebration with no specific date. Last year, 2016, it fell on March 27, one full week after the first day of spring. In 2015 it fell on April 5, not even in the same month as the equinox. In 2014 it fell on April 20, 1 full month after the equinox. The holiday doesn't even closely adhere to its true pagan origin.

Easter is an acceptable holy day....I don't think so!

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