Why Easter Eggs? March 29, 2013

So as we are dying our Easter eggs, the question of "why do we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus with eggs and bunnies" came about.  Welllllllll..... Here's the deal MikaJ, long ago before Jesus ever lived there was a "goddess" named Ishtar, pronounced 'Easter.' She came to earth from the moon in a 'moon egg' and became known as the goddess of fertility. The egg has since been associated with fertility, specifically the "Ishtar egg." And as for the bunnies, Ishtar had conceived a son whose favorite animal was the rabbit. When the boy died in childhood after being attacked by a wild hog, the egg and bunny were forever associated with "Ishtar."  Oh, and what about the 40 days of fasting, mom? Well, Madygirl, Ishtar declared a 40 day period of mourning each year over the death of her son, no one could eat meat. So how did "Ishtar" become the Christian celebration of "Easter?" Every year on the 1st Sunday after the full moon of the spring equinox, "Ishtar Sunday" was celebrated with eggs, bunnies, and eating lots of ham. Because Ishtar's boy was killed by a pig, everyone had to have ham on "Ishtar Sunday". Occasionally that celebration fell at the same time as the Passover celebration, which the Christians were taking part in... And so it goes, as most all holidays our culture celebrates, over time pagan traditions meshed with Christian traditions and wah-lah, the majority of the folks don't have a clue why we celebrate the way we do. So girls, what did you learn about Easter tonight while coloring these eggs? Mady: Ishtar was a baby-making goddess, whose son liked bunnies, we use these symbols today for fun, nothing to do with Jesus. 

Mika: Uumm,  nothing.