Eostre: Celebrating The Resurrection In The Name Of A Pagan Witchcraft Goddess
- Truth Ignited
- Mar 28
- 29 min read
It’s been a while since I have addressed the issue of the so-called “Easter” holiday at length. In fact, the only other article I have published prior to this was in 2017, a message titled Easter, Ishtar, Eostre, And Jewish Hatred. In that writing, which I encourage everyone who desires to know the truth that sets us free from the lies of unbiblical “Christian” religion to read, I focused on debunking some of the wild claims that originate from the likes of Alexander Hislop regarding the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, introducing the real influence of “Easter” through the goddess Eostre, and highlighted how the so-called “Easter” holiday has historically been one of the most anti-Semitic days of the entire year. In fact, as I go into in that writing, in the past it has been the day a majority of Jewish persecution at the hands of so-called “Christians” has occurred through pogroms and other heinous acts.
In this message I want to place the primary focus on the goddess Eostre, also referred to in some traditions by the Germanic name of Ostara, as this is the true influence and origin of the name “Easter”. You see, most people have been led to believe that there is a lone source for the claim that “Easter” has a connection to this goddess Eostre (or Ostara), a mention from a monk named Bede, which we will look at in a moment. In fact, at the time I wrote my previous article I too was not aware that there are additional sources that contend to prove this connection and validate Bede’s own claim.
Why take the time to talk about this? After all, I have reviewed my previous message several times over the years and every time I have read it I am quite satisfied with what it says and would not add anything to that article, even after what I have studied and learned since writing it. But, in addition to learning elements pertinent to this discussion that I feel must be shared, this is also regarded by most “Christians” as the celebration of the resurrection. In fact, I have even been told by well-meaning people that they know holidays like “Easter” are pagan, but they somehow rationalize it with a belief that Yeshua is glorified in them. And if this holiday truly were solely a valid and God-approved celebration of the resurrection, certainly I could and would accept that He is glorified in it. But I believe that as you go through this study, you will find out that Yeshua is anything but glorified through the holiday called “Easter”. So, with that, let’s dig into this.
The Claim From Bede
To begin, I need to address the claims of the monk commonly known as The Venerable Bede. While this man was a Roman Catholic, he is primarily known as a historian of his time and much of his work portrays this as it focuses more on documenting history than it does offering theological tones. His work is also widely regarded as a valid portrayal of the historical events he recorded, and in cases like this where we are looking at the record of history as recorded by a verified historian we can overlook the fact that the person is also a representative of a demonic false religion like Roman Catholicism.
Despite all of that, however, many have questioned his reference to the origin of the festival that would become known as “Easter”. However, as we will see here and further validate as we continue deeper into this study, the reference so often cited is not only valid but should be taken very seriously. So, let’s take a look at what Bede says in his work titled The Reckoning Of Time.
Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observances.
So, to break down what is said here, the word “Eosturmonath” would be rendered in modern terms as “Eostre month” or perhaps even “Easter month”. The word “Paschal” was adopted by various “Christian” traditions as the name of the holiday called “Easter” in other “Christian” traditions, but “Paschal” would technically be more properly a reference to the biblical Passover through the Greek word “pasha”, which I will speak more on later. But for now, it should be noted that Passover and “Easter” are not the same thing and do not even occur on the same day. In some years, because of how the Hebrew calendar and the modern secular calendar are structured, Passover and “Easter” may be separated by an entire month. So, Bede is saying that there is this “Easter month” that is also called the “Paschal month” and despite being named for this goddess Eostre it is now accepted as the time “Christians” celebrate the resurrection.
Many believe that a statement made by Jacob Grimm, a nineteenth century linguist, validates Bede’s claim. Having studied and preserved the histories, languages, and traditions of Germanic peoples, Grimm draws the following conclusion of Bede’s work in his own work titled Teutonic Mythology:
The two goddesses, whom Beda (De temporum ratione cap. 13) cites very briefly, without any description, merely to explain the months named after them, are Hrede and Eâstre, March taking its Saxon name from the first, and April from the second. It would be uncritical to saddle this father of the church, who everywhere keeps heathenism at a distance, and tells us less of it than he knows, with the invention of these goddesses.
So, basically, in addition to validating the claims of Bede regarding a goddess named Eostre and the naming of first a month and later a holiday for her, Grimm notes that it would be unlikely that someone who opposed paganism simply made up these two goddesses. This is an important point as even to this day many believe this to be the case. However, as you will see in the next segment of this study, there is actually more evidence that supports the existence of this goddess Eostre.
Before we get there, however, I want to note two other sources that support Bede’s claim. The first is an article written by Answers In Genesis titled Is The Name “Easter” Of Pagan Origin. In this article the following remarks are made regarding both Bede and Grimm:
Some scholars have called Eostre an invention of Bede and discount the connections, but the confirmation of Grimm cannot be easily discredited; nor does the quality of Bede’s other works lead us to disbelieve him. Grimm established a clear connection between the Anglo-Saxon Eâstre and the German Ostrâ. Similar connections are found in etymologies that describe the origin of Easter from many sources. Ester and oster, the early English and German words, both have their root in aus, which means east, shine, and dawn in various forms. These names may have developed independent of the name of the goddess as a reference to the Easter festivals, or they may have been related to her name in some way.
This is an important point in that it notes that both the endorsement by Grimm and the quality of Bede’s works as a whole endorse his claim as believable, even if there were not the additional evidence we will be looking at that supports the reality of this goddess Eostre. In addition to this statement by Answers In Genesis, the Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary also supports the idea that the “Easter” holiday finds its name through this goddess Eostre, in stating:
Easter was originally a pagan festival honoring Eostre, a Teutonic (Germanic) goddess of light and spring. At the time of the vernal equinox (the day in the spring when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are of equal length), sacrifices were offered in her honor. As early as the eighth century, the name was used to designate the annual Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
The only appearance of the word Easter (KJV) is a mistranslation of pascha, the ordinary Greek word for ‘Passover’ (Acts 12:4).
I include the last line from this entry because it is important to note that the correct meaning of pascha, as in regard to the “Paschal month” that Bede referred, is supposed to be a reference to Passover, not some holiday commonly called “Easter” by a good majority of “Christians” today. I will also reference one additional source, from the entry on Etymology Online, which is a widely regarded dictionary of word etymology—or, to put it in more simple terms, the history of how a word came into being. Regarding the modern word “Easter”, this is what is stated about the etymology:
Old English Easterdæg, "Easter day," from Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from Proto-Germanic austron-, "dawn," also possibly the name of a goddess whose feast was celebrated in Eastermonað (the Anglo-Saxon month corresponding with April), from aust- "east, toward the sunrise" (compare east), from PIE root *aus- (1) "to shine," especially of the dawn.
Bede writes that Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted her name for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of Latin Pascha to name this holiday.
While written a little less definitively, this also supports a historical and etymological link between the name of the goddess Eostre with the later naming of the holiday “Easter”.
Eostre: An Archaeological Reality
At this point I want to turn to a source that is not well-known outside of the most academic discussions about this topic. Philip A. Shaw, Ph.D. (University of Leeds) has been a lecturer at the University of Sheffield and the University of Leicester, and currently is a Professor in Medieval Literary Studies at Durham University. In 2011, while a lecturer at the University of Leicester, Shaw wrote a book titled Pagan Goddesses in the Early Germanic World: Eostre, Hreda and the Cult of Matrons, and it is to this work that I want to now turn our attention.
There are several points made in this brief work that add to this discussion and support not only the existence of this goddess named Eostre, but also confirms that her name is the origin of the holiday today called “Easter”. These points will show that those who contend that Bede is “the only source” to support the idea of the goddess Eostre, as well as those who go as far as to say he made up this goddess, are wrong. To start, let’s look at this statement from Shaw:
We have, then, a lengthy history of arguments for and against Bede’s goddess Eostre, with some scholars taking fairly extreme positions on either side. Much of this debate, however, was necessarily conducted in ignorance of a key piece of evidence, as it was not discovered until 1958. This evidence is furnished by over 150 Romano-Germanic votive inscriptions to deities named the matronae Austriahenae, found near Morken-Harff and datable to around 150-250 AD (Kolbe 1960: 53, 122; see Figure 3 on p. 42 for location). Only a few of the votive stones are complete, but many have enough text to be reasonably sure that they were dedicated to the Austriahenae (Kolbe 1960: 55-109). As Gutenbrunner (1966: 123-5) recognised, the first element of the name Austriahenae can be connected etymologically with the name Eostre, and with an element used in forming Germanic personal names – connections that will be discussed in detail below. Gutenbrunner’s proposed interpretation of the evidence, however, relies on a cryptic allusion in an Old Norse eddaic poem to construct a rather unconvincing picture of a Germanic pre-Christian tree festival (1966: 122-3). Sermon (2008: 340), on the other hand, argues that the inscriptions to the Austriahenae ‘provide important comparative evidence’ for Eostre, but argues that they might be evidence of either the same deity or for deities whose cults ‘developed independently’. The possibility of an etymological connection between the names Eostre and Austriahenae has also led to an argument by Kurt Oertel on a contemporary pagan website that there was indeed a deity Eostre/Austro, connected with the Spring and worshipped across England and parts of the Continent (Oertel 2003). Essentially, Oertel sees the Austriahenae as bolstering the claims of Grimm and Helm, and the implication of his piece is that these matrons are basically figures identical with, or derived from, the goddess Eostre/Austro. This does not seem entirely satisfactory, and in order to unpick the various problems presented by Eostre, we will need to consider not only the exact nature of the deities termed the matronae Austriahenae, but also the linguistic evidence provided by Germanic terms for Easter and related words.
To simplify this, what Shaw is saying here is that there is an ancient votive with a bunch of names written on it and one of those names is related to the name Eostre. This is then presented as among the earliest evidence of the existence of a goddess by this name.
What is particularly comical is that when I ran the term “matronae Austriahenae” in a search, I found a blog by a guy named Roger Pearse, an “independent researcher” who appears to lack any academic credentials and has a habit of trying to defend popular Christian beliefs, such as the celebration of “Easter”, through blogs that are written to appear highly academic in nature but in reality lack verifiable support. He wrote a piece after this manner responding to claims connecting the matronae Austriahenae with Eostre where there is no mention of Shaw’s work, no real supporting evidence of his claims that there is no connection between this votive and Eostre, and a conclusion that: “There is no link with Anglo-Saxon goddess five centuries and hundreds of miles further away. The rest is imaginary.” At one point in his diatribe he says, “Sane people point out that Eostre is only recorded once, in 725 AD, while Easter is recorded in the 2nd century AD. The early Christians did not possess time-machines.” So, apparently, a leading scholar like Philip Shaw is not sane but this random blogger is? This is why I write articles like this, because delusional people like this guy Roger Pearse write nonsensical pieces with no real facts behind them but they feed “Christians” the lies they want to hear.
I only found one other reference to a book by a guy named Richard Sermon, who also appears to be an independent researcher. From what I can gather he agrees that the name of the holiday “Easter” originates with the goddess Eostre, but disagrees with the connection to the matronae Austriahenae votive.
To put all of this in perspective, if this were a court trial before a judge and a jury to determine if the name of the holiday “Easter” originates from the pagan goddess Eostre, Phillip A. Shaw would be considered an expert witness and would be viewed as qualified to testify as such for the purpose of speaking to this issue. Richard Sermon likely would not be considered as such, Roger Pearse, an internet blogger with no stated academic credentials, definitely would not, and your “church pastor” most likely wouldn’t be either as most of them are clueless about the history of their own faith. And that’s something a lot of students of Scripture would do good to consider when they are reviewing information that supports and opposes the position they are reviewing—because if more “Christians” would do that they would find out more often than not that they are following a false and totally unbiblical religion.
But this is not the only evidence that Shaw brings to light regarding the goddess Eostre and her cult. One of these evidences is through place names, where Shaw states: “The conjectural Old English word *ēastor has been invoked (quite independently of any discussion of Eostre) to explain a small number of English place-names.” In discussing this, he says the following:
[E]arly forms of the name of Eastry in Kent provide sufficient evidence to suggest that ēastor probably did exist as a word during the period of formation of this place-name, and we can reasonably relate this word to the name Eostre. It would, of course, be possible to make a case for Eostre deriving her name from the comparative form ēastra, but the form ēastor seems, on balance, to be more likely, given that, in De Temporum Ratione, the month-name clearly has a back vowel (spelt <u> in most of the early manuscripts) in the second syllable. This agrees better with *ēastor than with ēastra.
Another point that Shaw brings up is that in addition to place names, there is evidence available through personal names. In addressing this point, he says:
The name Eostre is, then, perhaps not unrelated to traditions of naming people and places. And we have seen such interlocking traditions of divine names with localities and personal names before – in the evidence for matron cults.
This is really quite a common practice throughout cultures and history. How many people, particularly in Spanish-speaking Roman Catholic cultures use the name Jesús as a common name among people? How many Muslims name their children Muhammad? Even the common “Christian” tradition of naming children for the apostles or other Bible figures demonstrates this practice to some degree. So, it is expected that personal names in old English culture related to deities would also exist, and the fact, as Shaw points out, that there is evidence of personal names related to Eostre also serves as evidence of the existence of the goddess herself.
In the concluding words of Shaw’s commentary on the historical, linguistic, and etymological evidence supporting the existence of Eostre and the relationship between the name of this goddess and the later naming of the holiday “Easter”, he makes the following comments.
Eostre is probably not ‘an etymological fancy’, nor yet a pan-Germanic goddess. The picture we have developed looks rather different. We have found evidence for parallel naming practices in an early Anglo-Saxon goddess and a group of matrons. This need not surprise us, given the considerable similarities between the naming practices of the various early Germanic dialects: the basic patterns of name formation in the Germanic languages appear to have quite ancient origins. However, more than a parallel of naming practice, the specific name-element involved suggests a general parallel in terms of the basic structure of these two cults. The association with a topographical term suggests that the pattern of numerous, tightly localised cults visible in the Romano-Germanic votive inscriptions may be similar to patterns in early Anglo-Saxon England – though we have much less evidence for these. We cannot push this very far, as ultimately our picture of Anglo- Saxon pre-Christian religious life must rest on the evidence from Anglo- Saxon contexts.
…
Eostre – and perhaps, therefore, other Anglo-Saxon deities as well – appears to have been principally defined by her relationship to a social and geographical grouping. If they believed that she had a specialist function or functions, we have no evidence for this belief – and the etymological connections of her name suggest that her worshippers saw her geographical and social relationship with them as more central than any functions she may have had.
So, to sum up Shaw’s contributions to this discussion, he has brought to light evidence of the existence of a goddess named Eostre in old English, Germanic, and pre-Christian European pagan traditions through inscriptions on an early votive, place names, and personal names. He notes that modern ideas about this goddess may not be exactly accurate to the history and original mode of worship given to this goddess, but nevertheless this goddess did indeed exist and Bede’s claim that a month and later a holiday took her name are accurate and valid.
Eostre In Modern Wicca
The goddess Eostre is today carried forward into the religion of Wicca, which is arguably the most popular or at least most well-known form of paganism and witchcraft practices of modern times. This lends a very important element to this discussion. You see, many would contend that since Wicca was formed in 20th century England and first made public in 1954 that it’s entirely too modern of a religion to consider in this context. However, this is not a valid argument as the Wiccan religion is merely pulling much older beliefs and traditions into modern practice. As such, it is quite valid to consider what Wicca has to say about its worship of Eostre, also referred to as Ostara, and the celebration of “Easter”. It is for this reason I want to take time to share a series of statements taken directly out of Wiccan guidebooks, or to put it another way books on how to practice witchcraft through the Wiccan tradition.
“Coven/Household—Culturally speaking, we see public Easter egg hunts and games designed to promote community. Why not? After all, not only are those eggs a symbol of the animal fertility associated with this Holiday, but the very practice of hunting those eggs comes from the ancient practice of hunting for eggs and nuts to be given as gifts of fertility. Today, some of the largest of these community egg hunts are often held at local zoos. What better way of sharing the true Pagan meaning of this celebration with our children?”
“…virtually all Wiccan denominations incorporate brightly colored eggs into the Spring Equinox ceremony as symbols of new and/or eternal life. Nowadays, as a result of this Pagan practice being transformed into ordinary custom, just about everyone knows these eggs as Easter Eggs without ever realizing their origin.
Another custom adopted into modern culture through pure coincidence is that of the Easter Bunny. This belief began with the ancient witches of Europe, who honored the Goddess of Spring (often referred to by the name Eostre) by portraying her holding an egg in one hand while a rabbit sits at her feet. The way the story goes is that the rabbit wished to please the Goddess so he presented her with colored eggs. Upon seeing the beautiful eggs, the Goddess was so delighted that she commanded the rabbit to spread them around the world for mankind to enjoy—and two springtime legacies were born.”
Witches’ Craft: A Multidenominational Wicca Bible (Bruce K. Wilborn, 2011)
“Easter, the traditional Christian holiday that is widely celebrated, has been adapted from the pagan Sabbat Ostara. As you may know, Easter is named after the female hormone oestrogen, necessary for fertility, which is one of the main aspects of the celebration of Ostara. As Easter has evolved from Ostara, there are actually quite a few similarities between the two holidays.”
Wicca: A Modern Guide to Witchcraft and Magick (Harmony Nice, 2019)
“Eostre/Ostara: Fertility goddess associated with the spring equinox. Eostre is a deity of Teutonic / Germanic origin associated with conception and birth. She is linked with the fertility of humans, animals and crops as well as the natural vegetation of the Earth. Her totem is the hare, archetypal symbol of fertility and fecundity, and the egg, which is life in potential. She is an Earth and Moon goddess, linked to reproductive cycles and the wealth of the Earth. Her name is given to the festival of Easter which in the Christian calendar commemorates the rebirth of the fallen man-God, as well as to the pagan festival Eostre or Ostara which marks the vernal equinox.”
The Wicca Bible: The Definitive Guide to Magic and the Craft (Ann-Marie Gallagher, 2005)
“The year is in perfect balance between light and darkness, the god is now a green youth and the Goddess is in her maiden aspect. Their courtship dance begins. Ostara is a solar festival of fire, light, and fertility sacred to the Saxon goddess of spring, Ostara/Eostre. Witches follow the old pagan custom of dyeing or painting hard-boiled eggs, then balancing the eggs on their ends to symbolize equilibrium. We work magic to balance any imbalances in our lives.”
The Wicca Handbook (Eileen Holland, 2008)
Many of the symbols of Ostara (pronounced oh-STAR-ah) are also common to Easter. Eggs have been a symbol of renewed life and fertility since the time of the ancient Egyptians and Persians. In the Wiccan tradition, the Goddess and God are seen as young and innocent now. The hours of light and dark are balanced, spring blooms in the air, and the Goddess and God, as do all the creatures of Nature, begin to wonder about one another. A Wiccan celebration of Ostara, a Lesser Sabbat, includes boiling and decorating eggs. Some Wiccans even do egg hunts and eat chocolate bunnies. In ritual, witches might bless seeds for future planting. I suggest you buy a new ritual broom for sweeping out negative energies.
Wicca And Witchcraft: Learn To Walk The Magikal Path With The God And Goddess (Denise Zimmerman, Katherine A. Gleason, 2019)
At the time of the Vernal Equinox, eggs were used for the creation of talismans and were also ritually eaten. … During the Spring Ritual at the Vernal Equinox, bowls and baskets of naturally dyed eggs and magically inscribed pysanky may be placed around the circle and the colored eggs may be eaten as part of the ritual. Pysanky, the famous Ukraine Easter eggs, are powerful amulets for fertility, prosperity, and protection, and the creation of them is an ancient ritual that evolved with the hunter/gatherers of Eastern Europe. … The Ukraine did not accept Christianity as its official religion until 988 C.E., and at that time the Pagan population refused to give up this Pagan art, so eventually the Church had to accept it, give its blessing, and call them Easter eggs (which, after all, are named for a Pagan deity).
Wheel Of The Year: Living The Magical Life (Pauline Campanelli, 1989)
Ostara has long been the sabbat of rebirth, even as appropriated by Christianity. Eggs and bunnies abound. As the equinox, Ostara marks a brief period of balance leaning toward the light. All things are possible, and probability runs high; the vitality of the Earth has returned, and so has our own. We strip off our heavy coats and start new projects. It is a time of great creativity, as air is the element of imagination and exploration. New pursuits and ideas are all of the air. As the birds hatch their eggs, we hatch our plans.
The Circle Within: Creating A WICCAN Spiritual Tradition (Dianne Sylvan, 2003)
On the Spring Equinox, or Ostara, which falls between March 20 and 22, night and day last equally as long. Decorate your altar with representations of spring and new life (such as rabbits, birds, baby animals, or flowers) or images of fertility (such as eggs, nuts, or seeds). … This festival pays respect to Ostara, the German Goddess of rebirth, dawn, and growth. She is also known as Eostre, from which we get the name for Easter, falling on the Sunday after the Spring Equinox full moon.
The Book Of Spells: The Magick Of Witchcraft (Jamie Della, 2019)
That’s nine references from Wiccan books on how to practice witchcraft, and those are just the ones I have personally reviewed and verified—I have physical copies of several of these books. I am sure there are many other Wiccan books that I have not looked at where similar statements are made as this is a major celebration in witchcraft and these traditions—the eggs, the rabbits, and numerous other things—are central to it all. And do you want to know where you will not find the celebration of “Easter” or traditions like the colored eggs or the rabbit? In The Bible.
Celebrating The Resurrection In The Name Of The Goddess
One of the popular arguments made by a majority of “Christians” who seek to defend the celebration of “Easter”, by that name or any other—like “Resurrection Day” or “Pascha”—is that the naming of the holiday is taken from the name of the month: Eosturmonath, or “Easter month”. The argument typically goes something like this: The cult of Eostre was long dead by the time Christianity spread into Europe and the name of the month or other such things (place and personal names) were remnants of this cult, but the Christians did not know these origins and therefore there is no direct connection between the goddess named Eostre and the naming of the Christian holiday of “Easter”.
The problem or fallacy with this line of thinking is that it doesn’t really matter if hundreds or thousands of years ago someone in ignorance used an improper name for this holiday and it became established over time. It’s still the name of a pagan goddess that today is venerated through the Wiccan religion and all of the witchcraft involved in it.
What this means is that no matter how any “Christians” seek to justify any of this, they are still ultimately using the name of a pagan goddess. It means that they are claiming to celebrate the resurrection of Yeshua, the single greatest event in the history of the world, and they are doing it in the name of a pagan goddess—one who today is a prominent deity in the modern witchcraft religion of Wicca.
How do you suppose Yeshua feels about that?
I mean, let’s just apply a little bit of common sense here. Do you honestly believe that this is a God-approved, Messiah-approved, Spirit-approved celebration? Do you really think that Yeshua is OK with all of the “Christians” celebrating His resurrection by calling it “Easter”, the name of a pagan witchcraft goddess? Do you really and honestly think He doesn’t care about all of the churches having all of these pagan fertility rituals with the colored eggs and the rabbit and all of it when Deuteronomy 12:29-31 emphatically tells us not to do things like that—and then having the audacity to call it the celebration of His resurrection?
Look, I know some people do not like the use of insulting language, despite that throughout the apostolic writings of Scripture we find records of Yeshua and the apostles using insulting language. But if anyone, especially after a review of the facts I have presented, thinks that Yeshua is fine with all of this, that He has no problem with calling His resurrection “Easter”, such a person is completely delusional.
Listen, I had a recent interaction with a person, as I so often do, who openly acknowledged that holidays like “Easter” (and “Christmas”) are pagan and that idolatry is a sin, but then said that it doesn’t really matter because Yeshua is being glorified through them. I tried to ask this person how Yeshua can be glorified through a holiday named for a pagan witchcraft goddess (or one named for a pagan Roman Catholic Mass, the word “Christmas” is actually formed from the original phrase “Christ’s Mass”), but never got a response to that. Now, most of my conversation with this person has been positive so I will not state any personal details about them, and this is a person who does seem to be receptive to truth but perhaps is having a hard time with it. Most “Christians” have a hard time with these facts because their entire life and family history has been built on the lies of popular “Christian” religion.
And look, I understand it too. I really do. It’s very difficult for the person whose whole life has in some way revolved around “Christian” religion to comprehend that they have not been told the truth. The is amplified when that person had a faithful praying grandmother or a preaching grandfather or their parents pastor a thriving church or run a ministry that would be considered successful or influential. Because those people now have to wrestle not only with their own personal faith but with the reality that their relatives, living or not, are or were wrong. That’s a difficult thing, especially when the relative is no longer among the living and that person now has to face the difficult thought that such a person was not accepted into The Eternal Kingdom.
But, regardless of what it means, you should never allow the anti-Bible choices or beliefs of family, close friends, or anyone else influence your faith. If you know the truth, if you see the truth, then you should follow the truth no matter the cost.
So, I will ask again: Do you honestly think that Yeshua is OK with people celebrating His resurrection, the single greatest event in the history of the world, by calling it “Easter” and mixing it with pagan fertility rituals?
Some contend that the solution is to call it something else, like “Resurrection Day”. This sounds good and is often well-received by those who want to shun anything that would be unacceptable to God. But this doesn’t really solve anything, it just puts a bandage over the wound to hide the real issue. Because even in calling it “Resurrection Day” or anything else, you are still participating in the Roman Catholic festivities.
Do This In My Memory
The only correct resolution to the pagan celebration of “Easter” is to go back to The Bible and do what it tells us to do, what our Messiah told us to do in His memory. You know, The Bible tells us to let things be done with two or three witnesses. Consider the following passages.
Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, on which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage. For by a strong hand Adonai brought you out from this place. No hametz may be eaten.”
—Exodus 13:3 (TLV)
And when He had taken matzah and offered the bracha, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you. Do this in memory of Me.” In the same way, He took the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.”
—Luke 22:19-20 (TLV)
Get rid of the old hametz, so you may be a new batch, just as you are unleavened—for Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast not with old hametz, the hametz of malice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread—the matzah of sincerity and truth.
—1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (TLV)
Did you catch that? Moses, Yeshua, and even the apostle Paul all tell us to keep Passover. And not a single place in the entire Bible will you find anything telling us to celebrate something called “Easter”—not even if you call it something else. Again, passages like Deuteronomy 12:29-31 specifically tell us not to learn the ways of pagan religion, rebrand them, and use them in our own faith traditions. After all, if a holiday named for a literal pagan goddess that includes literal pagan fertility rituals doesn’t apply to this passage I don’t know what does.
And for the record, if you want to know how God feels about His people dabbling in the ways of the pagan nations just read through the historical record of Israel in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles in The Bible. We read about how Israel embraced worship of Ba’al, Asherah, Molech, and numerous other gods. They molded golden calves, burned incense in the high places, raised up Asherah trees, and passed their children through the fire. And what was the response of God? Over and over He said that these things were evil in His eyes. The prophets railed against all of this and called the people to return to the ways of The Torah—the same thing I am doing. I’m not calling myself a prophet, but I am delivering the same message they did. Jeremiah 7:8-11 describes people who committed all manner of sins, including worshiping Ba’al, while going to “the house that bears God’s name” and claiming to be saved. Isaiah 1:13-15 and Amos 5:21-27 describes how the Israelites were embracing pagan sabbaths, festivals, new month celebrations, and other convocations and sacred assemblies honoring gods like Siccuth and Chiun instead of keeping the biblical Sabbath, Feast Days, and new month celebrations appointed by their own God—YHWH, The God of Israel and The God of all Creation.
You know, it’s one thing to have Moses tell us we are to keep Passover and The Days of Unleavened Bread throughout all of our generations. It’s also one thing to be told by Paul to keep it—even the “Romans through Philemon” Marcionist “Christians” who are so deceived that they think Paul taught against The Torah can’t really get around that one. But to have Yeshua, “Jesus”, our Master and our Messiah tell us to keep this one Feast Season in His memory right before heading off to be the final atonement for our sin is a whole other level.
And what has “Christianity” done with this? It has rejected the very request of The Messiah Himself and completed desecrated the entire thing by turning it into a man-made holiday bearing the name of a pagan goddess that today is one of the primary deities of the outright witchcraft religion of Wicca. And what’s worse is that many “Christians”, as well as some people I know in Messianic Jewish and other supposedly Torah-positive circles, will fight tooth and nail to defend celebrations like this and make the nonsensical claim that “Jesus is still being honored by it”. Again, tell me just how is Yeshua being honored by everyone celebrating the resurrection, the single greatest event in the history of the world, in the name of a pagan goddess?
Yes, I realize, as I have already mentioned, that a lot of “Christians” try to rectify this by calling it “Resurrection Day” or something else other than “Easter”. But even at that it’s not “Resurrection Day” because it’s not the day He rose. According to the biblical record and in line with essential biblical prophecy, He rose again on The Day of First Fruits, which is calculated based on The Day of Passover. Having the correct Day of First Fruits is also essential to calculating the correct day for celebrating Shavuot (also called The Day of Pentecost). Yeshua said to keep Passover in His memory. If you truly wanted to honor Yeshua and His resurrection, you would keep Passover according to the terms of the covenant, as prescribed by The Torah.
It’s not like it’s that hard, you know. The basic commandments of Passover are quite simple.
1. You are to keep the Passover meal in your home with your family and any “in covenant” close friends you may invite to your home.
2. You are to prepare a meal of lamb with bitter herbs.
3. You are to rid your home of leavened (risen) bread and use only unleavened (flat) bread for the duration of Passover and The Days of Unleavened Bread—the seven days following the Passover meal.
Look, Yeshua died for you. He was whipped and beaten for you. He had his beard ripped in chunks from His face for you. He endured a crown of thorns placed on His head for you. He carried His cross to His place of crucifixion for you. He was stabbed with a spear that drew water and blood for you. He died, but then He rose again, and He did that for you. And if you cannot do even this one thing that He specifically said to do in His memory for you, not even getting into the entirety of “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15), if you cannot celebrate Passover as appointed in The Torah with the celebratory meal of lamb with bitter herbs and a week of using “flat bread” instead of “regular bread” than I seriously question your salvation.
It’s one thing to be in ignorance of these facts. But now that you have read this you have no excuse. I realize that some commandments seem strange. There is literally a commandment, Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11, part of The Torah, telling us not to wear wool and linen together. It seems odd, nobody today truly knows why this is an edict of The Law of God, but if you love Him, the one who suffered and died for your sins, you will check garment labels and make sure you don’t even accidentally violate this commandment.
And the same is true here. Sure, there are cultures in the world where lamb is not even a common meat source. There are places where flat breads simply are not eaten and maybe even some people have never even seen this type of bread. And especially to such people these things may seem strange and they may even find it a little hard if they are not accustomed to the taste of lamb or flat breads. But I would ask, do you love Yeshua? Do you believe that with all He did for us you should keep His commandments, but above all else you should do the one thing He said to do in His memory before enduring the suffering He did, for you?
Always remember this one simple point: Regardless of whatever culture you were raised in, the moment you truly commit your life to following The Bible and The Messiah, Yeshua, Bible culture is your culture. And Bible culture is keeping The Passover Meal and The Days of Unleavened Bread. Bible culture is keeping the appointed Feasts of God as described in Leviticus 23. Bible culture is celebrating Purim from the Book of Esther and Hanukkah as seen in John 10. Bible culture is keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. Bible culture is adherence to the Leviticus 11 clean and unclean food regulations. Bible culture is not wearing wool and linen together and not tattooing your body. Bible culture is a rejection of paganism and idolatry, even if its in the form of supposedly “Christian holidays” like “Christmas and Easter”. Bible culture is faithfulness in marriage. Bible culture is raising your children to serve God. Bible culture is doing what The Bible says, regardless of what the lawless, Torah-rejecting so-called “Christian churches” say.
See, I really don’t understand all of these people who claim to be “Christians”, claim that they base their faith on The Bible, but then they have absolutely no desire to actually follow The Bible. And what do they do? They make stuff up and distort Scripture to make themselves believe they are justified following a faith that claims to be built on The Bible but in reality oppose it. You know, if you really, truly love God then when you get to a commandment of God in His Word that seems uncomfortable to you, the one that you feel is hard to do, the one that seems strange, the one that conflicts with your culture, THAT is the commandment that proves whether or not you really, truly love God—or if you just want to be a part of the Torah-denying social club churches that hate the real truth of God’s Word.
Why do you think Satan created this whole pagan and demonic “Easter” thing with rabbits and colored eggs and nothing to do with anything in The Bible? It’s very obvious. Yeshua said to keep Passover in His memory, so Satan came in and had misguided people create a different holiday and get them to believe it was a valid celebration of the resurrection. Friends, I have to be very honest, I fear greatly for every “Christian” who celebrates this counterfeit instead of the biblical Passover. Imagine standing before God at The Judgment and having to answer for the crime of calling the resurrection of Yeshua by the name of the pagan goddess Eostre! Do you think that is going to end well for the billions of people doing this?
We are to celebrate Passover and The Days of Unleavened Bread. Moses said to keep it as an eternal memorial of God’s deliverance of His people. Paul said to do it for Yeshua, The Passover Lamb of God. But Yeshua said to do it as a memorial of Him and the work He did to save you from your sins. So, if you are a “Christian” and you have read this, there is really only one question you need to answer: Are you going to abandon the lies and do what Yeshua said and what The Torah demands, or are you going to say you don’t care about any of it, you just want to continue to “fit in” with all of the billions of misguided and deceived “Christians” because you prefer the comfort zone instead of the difficult path of Bible truth?
Blessings and Shalom
©2025 Truth Ignited Ministry
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