Something of Interest: Easter

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-04-13 07:18am

Eastre: (or Ostara) This Saxon goddess is associated with Frigga and is linked to the resurrection of nature during spring after the long death of winter. Eggs were also associated with Eastre because of their symbolic relationship with the beginning of life. It is said that this goddess was so loved, that the early Christian Northmen refused to abandon the festival of Eastre. The festival in honor of this goddess was combined with the story of Christ's resurrection for an easy Christianizing process of the Northmen, and the name of Easter survives as a Christian holiday to this day.

Ah, the love of LiveJournal...

{I did a search and nothing came up on this}

Darth Gojira · Post by **Darth Gojira** » 2003-04-13 08:07am

Reminds me of how the Saturrnalia became Christmas, or the minor god's days got turned into Saint's days. Stupid early Christians.

paladin · Post by **paladin** » 2003-04-13 09:10am

Darth Gojira wrote:Reminds me of how the Saturrnalia became Christmas, or the minor god's days got turned into Saint's days. Stupid early Christians.

What do you think that was "stupid?" The early Church absorbed practices from other religions to gain converts. I think that's clever from a "marketing" point of view.

Mark S · Post by **Mark S** » 2003-04-13 09:20am

Ah Christianity. If you can't crush it, take it over and claim it was your idea. In a while people actually start believing you.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-04-13 10:55am

Christianity are SO the borg.

Darth Gojira · Post by **Darth Gojira** » 2003-04-13 11:33am

paladin wrote:
Darth Gojira wrote:Reminds me of how the Saturrnalia became Christmas, or the minor god's days got turned into Saint's days. Stupid early Christians.
What do you think that was "stupid?" The early Church absorbed practices from other religions to gain converts. I think that's clever from a "marketing" point of view.

No, I mean stupid as in annoying. It's like calling those "wassup" beer ads stupid. Stupid semantics, I suck at English.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-04-13 12:16pm

Rye wrote:Christianity are SO the borg.

Resistance is futile, Heretic!

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-04-13 12:32pm

Actually Easter comes from the middle east, specifically Ishtar originally, deformed through many years of intercultural happenings into the Teutonic goddess.

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2003-04-13 12:49pm

paladin wrote:What do you think that was "stupid?" The early Church absorbed practices from other religions to gain converts. I think that's clever from a "marketing" point of view.

You should never have to market a religion. If your potential converts can't take it at face-value without you having to dangle holidays in their faces, they don't belong in that religion.

But at least the Catholic church really doesn't do this anymore. If they did, all the priests' outfits would come from the Gap to gain homosexual converts.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-04-13 01:24pm

if they were good at marketting they'd have gay Harry Potter fans as priests.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2003-04-13 01:47pm

kojikun wrote:Actually Easter comes from the middle east, specifically Ishtar originally, deformed through many years of intercultural happenings into the Teutonic goddess.

The very word "Easter" is in fact derived from Astarte, which was the name of a Phoenician goddess.

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2003-04-13 02:22pm

Darth Gojira wrote:Reminds me of how the Saturrnalia became Christmas, or the minor god's days got turned into Saint's days. Stupid early Christians.

Christmas came from the Winter Solstice celebration of Mithras. Early church officials did not want to celebrate Christ's birthday at all, since they didn't know when it was. Emperor Constantine ordered them to begin celebrating it on the Winter Solstice (as close as the Empire had dated it then), to coincide with the festival of Mithras the Sun (celebrated that day since it was the shortest of the year, which meant Mithras would be returning after that day). Constantine appears to have syncretized the Son and the Sun into one deity in his mind.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-04-13 02:55pm

The very word "Easter" is in fact derived from Astarte, which was the name of a Phoenician goddess.

AKA Ishtar

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-04-13 03:10pm

I've said it many times. Christianity is the whore of all religions. It's got a bit of every religion in it, and it was paid with converts.

Darth Gojira · Post by **Darth Gojira** » 2003-04-13 04:22pm

Queeb Salaron wrote:
paladin wrote:What do you think that was "stupid?" The early Church absorbed practices from other religions to gain converts. I think that's clever from a "marketing" point of view.
You should never have to market a religion. If your potential converts can't take it at face-value without you having to dangle holidays in their faces, they don't belong in that religion.

But at least the Catholic church really doesn't do this anymore. If they did, all the priests' outfits would come from the Gap to gain homosexual converts.

Try Chrsitianity! New! Less fat! More filling! On sale now!! Free toys for the kids! Collect all 19395849292934573721000 of them!!!

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-04-13 04:50pm

Ah.. Easter... where the Monday after, I can buy lots and lots of chocolate bunnies for cheap prices...

EmperorMing · Post by **EmperorMing** » 2003-04-13 04:52pm

3rd Impact wrote:
Rye wrote:Christianity are SO the borg.
Resistance is futile, Heretic!

Egads!! Christian Borg...!

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-04-13 06:54pm

Durandal wrote:I've said it many times. Christianity is the whore of all religions. It's got a bit of every religion in it, and it was paid with converts.

Who's disagreeing?

paladin · Post by **paladin** » 2003-04-13 07:45pm

Queeb Salaron wrote:
paladin wrote:What do you think that was "stupid?" The early Church absorbed practices from other religions to gain converts. I think that's clever from a "marketing" point of view.
You should never have to market a religion. If your potential converts can't take it at face-value without you having to dangle holidays in their faces, they don't belong in that religion.

But at least the Catholic church really doesn't do this anymore. If they did, all the priests' outfits would come from the Gap to gain homosexual converts.

The early Church used marketing techiques that, I think, were similiar to a used car salesman. Basically, they would tell you what you wanted to hear in order to convert you. Think of the early Church as a cult. Think of the early Church as "liberal" with regard to dogma.

By early Church, I mean until around 325 AD. The year when Christianity was recognized by the Roman Empire as the official religion of the Empire. After then, we start to see the beginnings of the "normal" way the church won converts: "convert or die."