Easter arrives, ushering in spring, bringing back colour and renewing hope. A triple celebration that brings together different histories and cultures to celebrate the same event:
the miracle and gift of rebirth!
Easter, a Christian, Jewish and Pagan event, is one of the most important events of the year for Western culture. Find out why in this text!
The Latin name Pascoa (Portuguese), Paque (French), Pasqua (Italian), Pascuas (Spanish) is derived from the Hebrew word Pessa'h which means leap. The leap of the Lord (יהוה) himself over the houses of the children of Israel enslaved in Egypt (Exodus 12, 27). This is the Jewish celebration of the transition from the life of slavery of the Jewish people in Egypt to the rebirth of a new era in the promised land. An event normally celebrated on the spring full moon.
At the same time of year, in the Christian era, the historic event of the resurrection of Jesus and his passage into the life of Christ took place, and has been celebrated with great devotion by Christians ever since. Coincidences aside, both religious events take place in early spring. The pagan peoples of Europe celebrated the rebirth of life by worshipping the earth and the gods and goddesses of fertility, so that they could merit the abundance of the harvests to come.
Like all great festivals, Easter is a superimposition of different layers (Othmar Keel). Easter marks a transition, a passage from death to life, from fear to hope. It is a return to fertility after the scarcity of winter. (Michel Serres).
"Originally, it's a spring festival, which affects more or less everyone. Winter goes away, the flowers start to bloom and it becomes pleasant to walk outside again. Then you have the Jewish layer, which celebrates the departure from Egypt, and then the Christian layer, which relates to life after death." Othmar Keel, PProfessor Emeritus of Old Testament Studies at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, in an interview with SWI swissinfo.ch
Unlike its Latin name, Easter is called Easte in English and Oesten in German by the Anglo-Saxons, words that refer to the East, where the sun rises, in reference to the dawn of the year, i.e. spring, keeping alive the pagan origins of this Western festival. From there, we can understand the symbols of Easter and its ancestral roots, and then make our own rite of passage, with awareness and true prayer, instead of simply reproducing customs handed down by an unknown history.
Are the rabbit and the egg Christian or pagan symbols?
Who hasn't wondered why Easter eggs are brought by rabbits? The answer is not logical, but steeped in myth.
It is said that Ostara, a Celtic goddess, has announced her visit to the forest in early spring. All the animals prepared gifts to please her. The richest offered jewels, fabrics and other valuable rarities. The poor hare had nothing to offer, but he scoured the forest in the hope of finding something to give to his goddess. So he found a lost egg, took it and gave it to her with humility and great devotion. Ostara sensed the authenticity of the hare's gesture and adopted him as her favourite animal. Since then, the image of Ostara has been accompanied by a hare and eggs, representing the qualities of her archetype: fertility, love and the rebirth of life.
Le lapin
In the Catholic version, the domestic rabbit takes the place of the wild hare, but the symbology remains between the lines.
The hare, like the rabbit is a very fertile animal, which reproduces very quickly, full of energy, like the spring that activates fertility in the fields, lands and forests. Its reproductive cycles are short, and it is a species that dies and is reborn quickly, like the moon. The hare was therefore once considered a symbol of fertility and immortality. In legend, it brings an egg as a gift to Ostara, which contains the link between the end and beginning of life and all the potentialities of creation.
The egg
In countless religions and cosmologies in different parts of the world, the egg is a symbol of life, of the beginning, of infinite possibilities.It also represents the vital force that enables the chick to overcome its physical barriers at birth, just as plants, animals, the earth and humans do after the long period of darkness. The egg represents the matrix of the Universe, where all the potential for creation is conserved and contains the force of the cycle of death and rebirth. The egg represents the creative power that resides in the unity of the masculine and feminine polarities. It is the meeting of light and dark, inside and outside, as well as the spring equinox, when we still have the balance between day and night, between death and life, between the past overcome and the future promised.
In short, distributing Easter eggs guarded by a rabbit means allowing the energy of fertility to spread seeds, colours and joys, making dreams come true and manifesting realities. Everything that was in gestation in the inner roots of our hearts/uteruses in the feminine phase of the year, begins to gain visibility and concretisation on the outside, in the solar phase of the year.
Ostara, the goddess of the spring dawn
Ostara is not a wise man, nor a great leader. Nor is it a political, historical or religious event. Ostara is a feminine archetype that appears every year, giving us a different, fresh, young and creative force that invites us to bring out the best in ourselves and dance with the flowers. And that doesn't make it any less or less important. In a Western world exalted by masculine energy, remembering, honouring and acknowledging the other side of the polarity that is also responsible for life is always a heroic/political act that wisely leads to a new moment of human consciousness.
And that's our dance/prayer for April:
Dive deep into the roots and allow the creative energy to pulse outwards from within, just as the green leaves of the trees are doing at this moment. Let's collect this powerful energy that is concentrated within us and dance, distributing fertility, joy and pulsating life from the inside out! Our TransDance Cacao ceremony this month will take place on many levels within us. This inner dance requires all our concentration and attention and we understand the signs that this is not the time to share our dance now but we are preparing for the great fertility festival, which is the moment after dawn that breaks the resistance of the night, and which will take place on 1 May!
We therefore propose that each of you perform your own Easter ceremony, at home, alone or surrounded by your family, and that you carry the ancestral symbols of Easter in your heart and consciousness. May the potentiality of all the possibilities of the Easter egg open the doors to an infinite abundance of smiles, hugs, friends, health and fulfilment with joy! Let's start dancing to this new life now, and meet up again on 1 May for an evening that will warm our hearts! Follow the next publications and you'll know what to expect!!!
Sources consulted :
https://www.swissinfo.ch. Les racines païennes de la fête de Pâques - SWI swissinfo.ch
https://www.philomag.com/articles/paques-une-fete-ambivalente | revue de philosophie
Paganisme anglo-saxon - Wikipedia, l'encyclopédie libre (wikipedia.org)
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