Eostre

[Mnemosyne]

I assume that most of you know about the Anglo Saxon goddess, Eastre, but for those of you who don't, here is some interesting information on her.


http://www.pantheon.org/articles/o/ostara.html

It's kind of interesting to know that Easter was named after Eostre, the goddess of dawn, and that she was associated with the Hindu goddess, Usra, and the Greek goddess, Eos.

Remember that Easter is the first full moon after the spring equinox. It's interesting to note that some cultures associate the rabbit with the moon. For example, in India, Chandras, the moon god, carried a hare. How's that for gods, rabbits, festivals, and the moon.

[Chibi-Fallon]

Isn't the whole moon rabbit thing Japanese too? Maybe I'm just being crazy tho. :D

[Mnemosyne]

Yeah, I think that you are right. You can connect Japanese culture with Buddhism. In Buddhism, Buddha rescued a rabbit after the rabbit jumped into the fire. After rescuing it, Buddha placed the rabbit in the moon. At least, that's the story that I know.

[Terra Mater]

Rather than start a new thread for this, I thought I would engage in a bit of thread necromancy.

On another board I post on, these articles were shared. I thought I would share them here, not just because they debunk a long held myth, but because they show that enough people can make a myth of their own.
Eostre: The Making of a Myth
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/502368.html?thread=7943520
Eostre: The Making of a Myth Part 2
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/568052.html

Read and discuss.:thumbsup:

[Toby Stimpson]

Well the rabbit thing isn't really all that coincidental. There is a very recognizeable figure of the rabbit on the moon it's self. Similar to how constellations were similar. Ofcourse I think we have to look at different ideas being moved about due to migration and the like. I think though the controversy of whether or not Eostre was actually a Goddess and not an invention must come into play here, as well as the fallacy of relying too heavily on language as proof. After all, Krishna and Christ sound similar and have similar stories but mean completely different things.

[Gyda]

http://www.wyrdwords.vispa.com/goddesses/eostre/index.html