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What the goddess Eostre means to Easter

March 28, 2013 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Spring reminds us of new beginnings and plans for the year ahead. With it comes the imagery of chicks and bunnies, eggs and flowers, which heralds the start of Easter. These images, which embody ideas of rebirth, are not just attached to the Christian festivities of Easter; they are formed from ancient beliefs and mythology, including the celebration of the pagan goddess Eostre.

The name Eostre derives from Northumberland Old English and was first identified in Bede’s work, De temporum ratione, written in the 8th century AD. The mythology goes back much further to pre-Christian times and, aside from the similarities in name, the themes of Easter can also be traced to these pagan beliefs.

Eostre was regarded as a goddess of fertility and has been associated with the Northern European Saxons, though there are variations of her name as she was adopted by different pagan civilisations. Today, Wiccans and Neo-pagans recognise Eostre in the form of Ostara, from Old German, and they celebrate Ostara, the start of the zodiacal year, as one of their eight annual Sabbats. Ostara occurs at the spring equinox, which falls around the same time as Christian Easter festivities, and celebrates the planting of seeds and the return of fertility to the land after the darkness of winter.

Eostre’s association with renewed life means that she has been characterised as bringing light, with her name suggestive of the sun rising in the east. Commenting on an entry he had read for Eostre in a dictionary of etymology, John Andrew Boyle described how she was supposedly imagined as surrounded by lights which were held up by hares. Hares and rabbits are appropriate symbols for new life because they sleep longer throughout winter and tend to mate in spring.

Some commentators have also been tempted to link Eostre with the Norse goddess of love and fertility, Freyja, who was said to have ridden in a chariot pulled by cats. As John Andrew Boyle states, the idea of cats and hares are seen as synonymous with witch familiars in Wiccan and Neo-pagan beliefs, and it is sometimes thought that the hare was Eostre’s incarnation.

Today we see these representations of the hare and light in the modern festivities of Easter: the Easter bunny brings eggs, which are symbols of fertility, and the longer hours of daylight brings life to crops, flowers and animals.

The Eostre figure is common across many belief systems, with several goddesses of fertility and rebirth found in the ancient pantheon of gods and goddesses. Among those most familiar to us today are Aphrodite, Demeter, Cybele and Ostara.

As well as the similarities with ancient myths, the pagan belief in Eostre also ties in with the Christian belief in Jesus. At Easter Christians celebrate the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ as a powerful cyclical motif of the promise of life after death.

One origin of this concept can be seen in Greek mythology with Cybele, the Great Mother goddess, who desired Attis. Attis, like Jesus, was said to be born to a virgin mother during winter and died and was resurrected around the spring equinox. It has been suggested that, as pagan spiritual beliefs pre-existed the Christian faith, many pagan rituals were transposed onto Christian belief during the pagan conversion to Christianity.

While it is difficult for us to be sure of the origins of particular beliefs, it seems clear that there are dominant themes which remain throughout certain festivals. Nowhere is this more obvious than the ways in which Easter and Eostre celebrate the positive regeneration of life.

In Pure Spirit

Do you still have any faith or time for Eostre? What about Easter? What does Easter mean to you?

What does Pope Emeritus mean?

February 28, 2013 by Andrew Leave a Comment

The word “emeritus” comes from Latin. It’s an adjective that means “retired” but it is also used to honour the position once held by the retired person.

The most common usage is with professors who are still professors even if they’re not teaching any more. However, presidents, prime ministers and bishops also use the title.

In February 26th 2013 the Vatican announced that the retiring Pope Benedict XVI would keep the name Benedict (birth name: Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger), would dress in white without the mozzetta and become known as pope emeritus.

Benedict is the first pope to resign since 1415 when Pope Gregory XII was forced out of office thus ending the Western Schism. The Western Schism of 1378 to 1417 was a time when the Catholic Church was split and two different Popes (both elected by the same people) claimed the title.

What does Pope Emeritus mean? It means the honourable and former Pope. Who is the Pope Emeritus? There may have only been one Pope Emeritus in the history of the church to date and he is Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

In Pure Spirit

Does the retirement of a Pope mean anything to you? Does it feel like you’re living through an incredibly rare moment in history to you or is this just background news?

How you could become the new Pope

February 22, 2013 by Andrew Leave a Comment

Benedict XVI has become the first pope in hundreds of years to resign. The last pope to do so was Celestine V. Celestine tried to flee but was captured by the next Pope, Boniface VIII, and arrested. He died in jail. The name Celestine has never been used by a Pope again.

So, could you become the new Pope? In theory; yes you could.

In Pure Spirit

Do you have any views on the new Pope? Tradition suggests he should be Italian, history suggests he’ll be European but there are many people who think an Asian or African Pope is long overdue.

Megadeth rocker bans The Conjuring for black magic

March 23, 2011 by Andrew 3 Comments

Dave Mustaine, vocalist for the rock band Megadeth, now refuses to play the The Conjuring live. The singer has become a strict Christian and wishes to put his experimental past behind him. Mustaine claims that the song The Conjuring is laden with black magic spells and occult imagery.

Mustaine admits to being fascinated with witchcraft as a young man but now worries that spells he cast back then have come back to haunt him today. The singer says he finds the lyrics in The Conjuring troubling.

In an article in Total Guitar magazine, Mustaine said;

Performance wise, The Conjuring is one of the heaviest songs on the record, but unfortunately it’s got black magic in it and I promised that I wouldn’t play it any more, because there’s a lot of instructions for hexes in that song.

“Although it seems kinda corny, anybody who’s a Wiccan (witch) or a warlock or anything like that will know that all of that stuff is instrumental.

“When I got into black magic I put a couple of spells on people when I was a teenager and it haunted me forever, and I’ve had so much torment. People say, ‘Goddamn, Dave never gets a break, he’s had such a hard life,’ and I just think, ‘No, Dave didn’t – he got into black magic and it ruined his life.’

“Fortunately for me, with all the work and the love of my friends, and not giving up with my guitar playing, I got over it. So I look back now and I think, ‘Hmm, I don’t wanna play The Conjuring’.

The Conjuring is part of Megadeth’s album “Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying” tour album from 1986. The curious can listen to the heavy rock track care of the YouTube embed below.

In Pure Spirit

Did you listen? Which dark magic and occult references did you pick up from the song? Do you think Mustaine is right to turn his back on his own music or is he worried over nothing? Has he found salvation in time?

Christians protecting Muslims while they pray in the Egypt protests

February 3, 2011 by Andrew 1 Comment

This is a fantastic picture. It’s come from the protests in Egypt and is being described as Christians protecting Muslims while they pray during the protests.

Coptic Christians make up about 10% of Egypt’s population and there’s been suggetsions they have much to fear from revolution – if an extreme Islamic faction takes control of Egypt then some worry about the fate of the Coptic Orthodox Church. However, one of the aspects of the current protests in Egypt is how non-religious they’ve been. This is Egyptian brother and sister standing beside Egyptian brother and sister.

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