The renowned Oxford English Dictionary informs us that the name Easter is derived from the name of a goddess whose festival was celebrated at the time of the vernal equinox. We are told that she was originally known as the dawn goddess – no doubt the origin of sunrise celebrations at the time of Easter.
According to Venerable Bede, a seventh century Anglo-Saxon theologian, the English word Easter is derived from the name of the pagan fertility goddess Eostra. He tells us that “the heathen Anglo-Saxons called the fourth month “Esturmonath” after their goddess Eostra – another name representing the spring fertility goddesses such as Astarte or Ashtaroth, the goddess who was introduced into the British Isles by the Druids. In all actuality Easter is just another Continue reading “Biblical Christianity Confronts the Dawn Goddess – by Richard Rives”