THE REAL EASTER

Easter is an annual celebration observed throughout the Christian world. However, there are absolutely no verses in the Christian Bible that authorize or endorse the keeping of this tradition.

Furthermore … the Bible does not mention anything about Easter eggs, Easter baskets, Easter bunnies, or even Lent. These very items were parts of the pagan rituals of the Mystery Religion of ancient Babylon.

So then, where did the tradition of celebrating Easter originate? The hidden accounts of the original Easter festival which was

initiated several thousand years ago - many years before the belief in a birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus The Nazarene.

Easter has its origins in the Pagan world. The pagan and occult calendar is comprised of four periods of 13 weeks each. It is believed that numbers contain inherent power, and many base their lives on numerology and/or gematria. Numerology is also a key component of astrology. Thus the occult calendar is divided into 4 parts of 13 weeks each. Note that 13 x 4 = 52 weeks – our year.

Numerology assigns '6' to represent the number of man, and the number '7' to represent the number of divine perfection. Thus, as a person climbs that "Jacob's Ladder" toward self-perfection … the number '13' represents the state of divine perfection, self-achieved perfection, and Illumination (6+7 = 13).

Historically, the name Easter is derived from the Scandinavian "Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre" - both of whom were goddesses of mythology and were identified with spring and

fertility. Festivals for these goddesses were celebrated on the first day of the vernal equinox – March 21. Important parts of these pagan celebrations included the rabbit, colored eggs, and gifts – all of which represented fertility.

Easter is steeped in the Mysteries of ancient Babylon. Ishtar – the Babylonian goddess – is the one for whom Easter is named. Ishtar is but another name for Semiramis – the wife of Nimrod. Semiramis and Nimrod instituted the building of the tower of Babel.

This festival was part of the Babylonian Mysteries and was started by Nimrod and his wife Semiramis (also known as Ishtar). They also

established themselves as god and goddess to be worshipped by the people of Babylon. As most all ancient royalty and/or rulers they were considered to be elevated to the stature of gods.

Nimrod was worshipped as the Sun God. He was worshipped in numerous cultures and countries under a variety of names: Samas, Attis, Uti, Merodach/Marduk, Ninus, Bel/Baal, Moloch, Tammuz - the list is virtually endless.

The name Easter actually comes from Ishtar / Easter who was worshipped as the moon goddess, the goddess of spring and fertility, and the Queen of Heaven. She is known by so many other names in other countries and cultures that she is often referred to as the goddess of one thousand names.

The Babylonians celebrated the day of Ishtar / Easter as the return of the goddess of Spring – the re-birth or reincarnation of Nature and the goddess of Nature. Babylonian legend says that each year a huge egg would fall from heaven and would land in the area around the Euphrates River.

In her yearly re-birth, Ishtar would break out of this egg and if any of those celebrating this occasion happened to find her egg, Ishtar would bestow a special blessing on that person. In other words. an Ishtar/Easter Egg Hunt.

From Babylon, this mystery religion spread to Egypt, Asia, Europe, North and South America, all over the world, and eventually was incorporated into mainstream Christian religion in an effort to entice, and/or expand the Constantinian version of Christianity created at the Council of Nicea in 325 CE.

So what about the timing of Easter tradition? It is written that Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that when He died, He would be in the “heart of the earth” for three days and three nights (72 hours) before He arose. The traditional Christian Good Friday to Sunday celebration however only accounts for Jesus’ being in the heart of the earth for two nights and one day. It differs slightly in Orthodoxy. Remember also, that the ancient Lunar Calendar began each new day at sunset. This differs from the current Solar Calendar.

There are absolutely no verses anywhere in the Bible that authorize or endorse the keeping of an Easter celebration. Further, the Bible says nothing about the practice of observing Lent, dying Easter eggs, having Easter egg hunts, baskets of candy, bonnets – and so on. Easter has long been known to be an important Pagan festival.

This festive celebration is clearly an ancient event, adopted by Christianity to align with Pascha/Paskha, or passover from the OT Hebrew scriptures.

Just a thought ...

Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.