The origin of Easter

9:24am Friday 21st March 2008

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The origin of Easter does not lie where you might expect it to.

Easter did not start off as a Christian celebration. In fact, its roots are mainly pagan.

Ancient Saxons celebrated the passing of winter and the rebirth of nature with a festival to commemorate their goddess of spring, Eostre.

As Christianity grew and spread throughout the world, it became common practice to adopt and modify non-Christian festivals to make Christianity more favourable to converts.

Because Eostre was the goddess of spring and her symbolism dealt with renewal and rebirth, the Christian belief in the resurrection of Christ fitted well with these themes.

Also, the pagan festival of Eostre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the resurrection of Christ so it made sense to adopt this festival as a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over.

Many of the pagan customs of the time were weaved into the Christian celebration to help converts feel more comfortable.

The early name, Eostre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.

Christians believe Jesus was executed and buried on a Friday, which has become known as Good Friday.

The origin of the word good has been lost. Some claim it is a corruption of God and that early Christians called this day God's Friday, in the same way good-bye is derived from 'God be with ye'.

Christians commemorate Jesus's resurrection on the third day, Easter Sunday.

Prior to 325 AD, Easter was celebrated on different days of the week, but then a rule was passed which stated Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox.

The vernal, or spring, equinox is on March 21, therefore Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25.

Easter also has close links with the Jewish Passover as it is believed Jesus was crucified and rose again during Passover week, so obvious connections are made.