Adela,  Ancient (pre BCE)

Eostre 

March 24, 2017 /
Ostara (1884) by Johannes Gehrts. The goddess flies through the heavens surrounded by Roman-inspired putti, beams of light, and animals. Germanic people look up at the goddess from the realm below.
Ostara (1884) by Johannes Gehrts. The goddess flies through the heavens surrounded by Roman-inspired putti, beams of light, and animals. Germanic people look up at the goddess from the realm below.

She is the Germanic Goddess of Spring. She is attested solely by Bede in his 8th-century work The Reckoning of Time, where he states that during Ēosturmōnaþ (the equivalent of April), pagan Anglo-Saxons had held feasts in Ēostre’s honor called Eosturmonath. However, Bede is our only source for the historical Eostre. There are no other mentions of the goddess prior to that.

There are theories that Eostre is derived from the same Indo European goddess of the dawn like that of the Greek Goddess Eos. Another theory is Eostre is a local goddess worshiped in Southeastern England. The latest theory by Philip Shaw is that she is linked to a Germanic Matron Goddess called Austriahenea. It could be all three since many matron goddesses are triple goddesses- maiden, mother and crone.

However, as Europe converted to Christianity, the tradition of Eosturmonath died out. It was replaced by the Christian Paschal month, a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus (Easter).

Her festival of Ostara is celebrated by pagans on the Vernal Equinox, usually around March 21st, the first day of Spring. She is connected with renewal and fertility. Eggs and rabbits are sacred to her, as is the full moon.


Adela

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