ORIGINS OF EASTER

There are two days in the year when the earth, sun, moon and Venus are so aligned that there are equal hours of daylight and night on earth. Twelve hours of sunlight and twelve hours of darkness. Wow. These two occurrences actually do wonders to life on earth. It either renews and allow rebirth to life or it withers and kills life.

These two remarkable times on earth are called equinoxes. They occur at the beginning of Spring, (March 20 this year) and Autumn, September 23. They are called the Spring and Autumn Equinox respectively. In the southern hemisphere, the reverse is true. They have Autumn in March and Spring is in September.

Of the two, for obvious reasons, mankind loved and looked forward to Spring as a child looked forward to the return of its parents.  Spring, just like a parent, provided and promised sunshine, hope, protection, growth, care and the fostering of a positive outlook on life. On the other hand, Autumn signaled the return of darkness, gloom, bare trees and cold days. Which child would not want to encourage such a parent as Spring to continue being motherly. The encouragement of Spring to fecundate earth is Easter.

THE FIRST EASTER

Undeniably, even today, most people look forward to Spring time than to Winter time. For the fun of it, imagine Winter for 12 months every year and no Spring or Summer. Scary eh? Well, early men did not leave things up to chance. They needed to ensure that Spring turned up every year and if encouraging or bribing it would help…so be it.

Indeed that was exactly what happened more than 5000 years before Christ, in Mesopotamia. Man tried to bribe nature and created a cult by deifying the Spring Equinox. At first she was called Inanna by the Sumerians, but the Assyro-Babylonian Ishtarte, the Northwest Semetic goddess Astarte,  the Sidonians Ashtoreth, the  Greek  Aphrodite,   Roman Venus or Athena, Egyptian Isis or Hathor, Etruscan Turan, the German (Eostre) and Anglo Saxons (Easter) are all offshoots.

Easter is the “Queen of Heaven”. She is seen as the goddess of fertility, love, protection, fate, sex, childbirth and marriage. Easter was linked to Venus the brightest object in the night sky. She was also said to be Semiramis, wife of Nimrod.

Arguably, Easter is the most important mother goddess of Mesopotamia relics, alive and flourishing today. Since Easter is a Spring and full moon festivity, it is observed on the first Sunday after the full moon after the Spring Equinox. It can fall as early as March 22 or as late as April 25. 

Traditionally, the rites and rituals surrounding Easter range from fun games to gory. In instances cakes or buns were baked for the Queen’s birthday and there are stories of virgin girls being impregnated in order for the baby to born in December near the Winter Solstice. In March of the following year, these three month old babies were sacrificed to Easter to help ensure that Spring would be bountiful. Some common symbols, associated with Easter and embodying fertility and piety are hot cross buns, Easter eggs. Easter Bunny, ashes, Sunday church at the rising sun of Spring after the full moon,  lighting of candles etc.  (See my blong on Easter/Ishtar for more details)

EASTER- THE BIG DEBACLE

Up to 300 years after the death of Christ, “Followers of Christ”, shunned the Church as the Church was hunting them down to kill them. The disciples and “Followers of Christ”, also chose to recognize the death of Christ on the date it occurred: the Jewish Passover, which fell around day 14 of the month of Nisan, (March or April), and could be any day of the week.

However, the Catholic Church along with Constantine the emperor of Rome, decided in AD 325, at the council of Nicea, that  such practice should stop and the “new” Christians would instead make the commemoration of Christ’s death coincide with Easter, the Sunday after the Spring Equinox and full moon. One umbrella for Christ and paganism. This umbrella was given the name Christianity. 

Although Easter was a pagan and satanic worship, the Nicean council decided that they would surreptitiously claim that Christ was killed on a Friday and raised on a Sunday, in order to maintain their Friday worship of fish eating to Dagon and their Sunday Spring Equinox worship for Easter. This would have been quite genius but for one small detail. 

Constantine had been oblivious of the prophecy that Christ must be dead for three days and three nights”.  Count and see if you can get three days and three nights from Friday night to Sunday morning. Doesn’t fit eh? Even if you not the brightest kid in kindergarten.   Of course, Christianity cannot explain this blunder logically  so they do it in “faith and belief”. In English, it is called Fiction and Fallacy. In the streets, it is called a Lie. 

The truth is, Christ was crucified at Wednesday midday and died by 3 pm same day. He rose three days later on the Saturday evening around 6 pm. Count and see if you get three days and three nights. Good, it is something any kindergarten kid can do.

DEBUNKING THE GOOD FRIDAY STORY

How can we safely say Christ was crucified on a Wednesday when the Bible said he was killed the day before the Sabbath. Isn’t the Sabbath a Saturday? Yup, the weekly Sabbath is Saturday but Christ was killed at a High Sabbath or annual Sabbath which fell on Nissan 15 every year. It was a Thursday that year. 

It is a date not a day and can take place on any of the 7 days of the week. This High Sabbath is held to commemorate the exodus of the Israelite from Egypt. Recall the Passover and the killing of the first born of Egypt as we learnt in Sunday School. That was when the Passover Sabbath was created. It must not be confused with the regular weekly Saturday or 7th day Sabbath which was created from in Genesis. Thus each year, a week in March or April has 2 Sabbaths.  

For proof of Christ’s death day, let us take a keen note of the first 4 gospels of the New Testament.  You will see the subtlety. A chronological journey with Christ from Palm Sunday when he rode into Jerusalem on an ass until he rose from the dead Saturday evening should makes things a bit clearer than mud…hopefully.

DAY/TIME	EVENTS	Days/night of death
“Palm”  Sunday	Christ rode into Jerusalem town on an ass Went into the temple and whipped the money exchangers and turn over their tables. Felony? Called the temple a “den of robbers and thieves”. (Slander?) He healed some sick people and then spent the night in Bethany. (altruist?)  Matthew 21:1-16	0
Monday	Spent his time preaching in the temple Spoke parables such as the wicked tenants, Discussed his views on the right to pay taxes Declared that the greatest commandment is that we should love the Lord thy god with all our heart, soul and mind. Curse out the Pharisees. Upon leaving the temple he told the parable of the 10 virgins. Judas went to the authorities. Matthew 21:23-27	0
Tuesday	No teaching Back to Jerusalem Matthew 26:17-19 Passover meal in the evening, at about 6 pm in Jerusalem. Exposed Judas. After the meal they went to the garden of Gethsemane arrested and brought before the Jews later in the night. Matthew 26:47-56	0
Wednesday	Tried and whipped early morning, 9 am Matthew 27:2-50 Crucified at midday Dead at 3 pm removed from the cross, wrapped in linen and placed in a tomb before 6 pm. No time to prepare his body for burial as they had to prepare for the Annual Sabbath in a few hours. Annual High Sabbath (Feast of unleavened bread) begun at 6 pm.	First night (6 pm – 6 am)
Thursday	Christ is already dead. Luke 23:43-46 Annual High Sabbath (Feast of unleavened bread) continued. High Sabbath ends 6 pm	First day (6 am to 6 pm)Second night (6 pm – 6 am)
“Good” Friday	Christ is already dead After the end of the High sabbath Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint the dead. Mark 16:1 Spices were prepared in the day on Friday but they had to stop for the Saturday Sabbath was approaching. They intended to come back first thing Sunday morning to anoint the body. The women rested on the Saturday Sabbath day (starting from 6 pm Friday evening). Luke 23:55 – 24:1	Second day (6 am to 6 pm) Third night (6 pm – 6 am)
Saturday	Christ is already dead, in the morning Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James continue resting during the Saturday Sabbath until it ended on  Saturday evening at 6 pm) Christ risen around 6 pm, Saturday evening. Sunday begins at 6 pm.	Third day (6 am to 6 pm)
Sunday	Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James visit Jesus tomb on the Sunday, first day of the week. 6 am. Matthew 28:1-10 Christ already risen from Saturday (6 pm)	0

EASTER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Since we are on the topic of Bible, let us use this opportunity to further debunk the idea that Easter is being worshiped to recognized Christ’s death. If Christ is in the New Testament and Easter is mentioned in the Old testament, it would mean that Easter existed before Christ. Here are some verses to consider. Get your Bible.

2 Kings 23:13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for  Ashtoreth   the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

1 Kings 11:5-6. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh; he did not follow Yahweh completely, as David his father had done.

1 Kings 11:33. I will do this (split the nation) because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians…

 (1 Samuel 7:3,4). So the people of Israel removed the Baals and images of Ashtoreth. They served only Yahuwah.

The women were engaged in kneading dough and baking cakes of bread for the “Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18).

Jeremiah 44: 15-18 stated that the people actually believed that because they stopped worshiping Easter or the Queen of Heaven they were suffering. Jeremiah think contrary. It was the worshiping of Easter that caused the calamity.

For more details..see my blog on Easter/Ishtar: goddess of fertility. 

THE BIG CONTROVERSY: EASTER – IDOLATRY OR CHRISTIANITY?

How do we start? With an answer and then explanation? Okay. Easter is both Idolatry and Christianity. Don’t get offended yet. Hush, if it hurts but logic would suggest that if Easter was started 7000 thousand years ago by men who created god to represent nature, Spring Equinox and Venus, , then it is a cult and idolatry by definition. However, 300 years after the death of Christ, at the AD 326 Council of Nicaea, the most noble and greatest of emperors of Rome, and arguably, of the world, declared that Easter would no longer be for Romans/pagans only but would also double up as recognition of Christ who he claimed was  “fully human and fully divine.” 

This whitewashed version of paganism, now called Christianity, heralded in a  perpetuation of ungodly and dark mysteries by surreptitiously marrying paganism such as the Spring Equinox (March 20) and the Winter Solstice ( December 22) with Christ name only. This move is akin to re-branding a whore house as a leisure lounge. New name. Same evil deeds. 

Click here to read more about the birthday of the Unconquerable SUN

Easter was “painted’ and “sold” as Christ’s resurrection day (rebirth) and December 22 was called Christmas, even though it was previously known as the birth day of the SUN…not son. At December 22, a remarkable thing happens. Days of sunlight reached its shortest and  then the start to get longer. A Birthday of the SUN.  Sunday, which was holy for the worship of the SUN also became the Lord’s Day instead of Saturday as mandated by Exodus 20 vs 8 – 10 (KJV): ⁸ Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: ¹⁰ But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:

These “new” converts or subscribers to the new religious order was called Christians. By re-branding the mystery cults and religion as Christianity, Constantine managed to keep the religious order in tact while avoiding a civil unrest among the population. Interestingly, Constantine became one of the first Christians, if not the first. The fox was now in charge of the chicken coop. Diabolic or genius or diabolically genius? Such was the greatness of Constantine.  

Constantine was not finished yet. At the same meeting , the council also resolved that Easter should be fixed on a Sunday, not on the Wednesday or on Nisan 14, the day Christ died and as was practiced by the early “followers of Christ. As a result, Easter is now celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon of the vernal equinox.

(To read more about the Unconquerable SUN, the shortest day in the year and the Winter Solstice, check my blog)

(Never ever forget that according to the New Testament, it was the church, led by Caiaphas,  the high priest and Pilate, the Roman procurator of Judea, that killed Christ). The church and the state. 

With that in mind, it is crucial; that we reinforce the distinction between “Followers of Christ” and Christianity. “Followers of Christ” are not Christians. They only have one thing in common. The word Christ. “Followers of Christ” believe in John 3 vs 16 and Proverbs 3 vs 6. They obey the commandments and they feed the hungry, clad the naked and give drinks to the thirsty. They have one god and do not bow to or give respect to no other god, even at the stake of death. They keep the Sabbath holy, not Sunday. “Followers of Christ” detest and scorn Easter and Christmas as they see them as just relics of mystery Babylon and satanic cults. Similar to Christ, “followers of Christ” do not eat abominable meats such as crows, lobster and pork. Last but not least, according to the Bible, they will be just a measly few of them. I guess quality better than quantity? Hmmm.

On the other hand, Christians are idol worshipers under the veil of Christ’s name. Sadly, many do not know and few care but as Mark 7 vs 8 – 9 noted: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men”. Also, in history, Christians waged wars for fun and conquest and have killed or annihilated millions of innocent souls who refused or are not Christians. Recall the bloody Crusades and the enslavement of Blacks in Jamaica and the Caribbean. They were done in the name and support of Christianity.  Last but not last . They are many Christians.  Quantity but no quality? Hmmm

EASTER BACK THEN, SAME AS NOW

Around 2500 years before Abraham and 5000 years before Christ, the people in Mesopotamia  (Sumerians) created gods in their own image and likeness. One such goddess was Easter.  She was hailed as the goddess of fertility and Queen of Heaven. Her cult spread but some people such as Abraham and the prophets were of the view that Jehovah God detested Easter and saw it as abominable.

After the death of Christ, in order to reduce the chances of civil uprising and to appease the pagan gods, Constantine, the emperor of Rome, pulled off a stunt, albeit diabolical.  He, with the signing of a document, made Easter a part of a “new” Christianity that was quintessentially a re-branded ” mystery religion and paganism. 

Due to this fallacy, though painful, at Easter, many people try to connect with the creator of the heavens and earth but are instead connecting with the created beings in the heaven and the earth. Fortunately, although they can fool some of the people some of the times, they cannot fool all of the people all of the time. As such, it was noticed by curious prying souls that Easter is as old as civilization, and existed  thousands of years before Christ. Attempts to tag Christ’s death to a ancient mystery ritual called Good Friday , did not pass the test as 1 plus 1 = 2 but 1 and 1 = 11 (eleven).

Debunking the Friday death day fallacy, we can note that Christ was killed the day before the Sabbath but it was not a weekly Saturday Sabbath. He was killed the day before the High Sabbath that was held every year, at Nisan 15, by the Israelite in recognition of their escape or deliverance from Egypt. It is a date, not a day.

In short Christ was killed as a sacrificial lamb at the Passover Wednesday Nisan 14, to fulfill prophecy which claimed that the messiah Christ would be killed and raised from the dead in three days and three nights in order to wipe away the sins of the earth and provide a new “road to the creator, Jehovah). 

As such, anything that contradicts prophesy and the Bible, should be approached with caution. Of course, it depends if you are a “Follower of Christ” or a Christian. Sometimes, fools do rush in where angels fear to tread.