Eostre is the Germanic goddess of dawn who is celebrated during the Spring Equinox. On the old Germanic calendar, the equivalent month to April was called “Ōstarmānod” – or Easter-month. As a holiday, Easter predates Christianity and was originally the name for Spring Equinox celebrations.
The date of the Christian celebration of Easter changes each year and the reason the date changes is because it is based on a ‘Pagan’ solar calendar. Easter occurs on the Sunday after the first full moon occurring after the Spring Equinox.
“Esotre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian's God."
“Bonfires were lit at Easter and water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing - here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great Christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess.”
Eostre, also called Ostara or Eastre, is a Germanic goddess associated with spring and the dawn. She is particularly known in Anglo-Saxon and Old High German traditions and is believed to be the namesake for the Christian holiday of Easter.
Eostre as the name of a month corresponding to April and suggests that the festival of Easter may have been named after this goddess.
Eostre is generally associated with themes of fertility, renewal, and the changing of the seasons, as her name is etymologically linked to words related to dawn and the east, where the sun rises. She is often depicted with symbols of spring, such as eggs and hares, which have become integral elements of the modern Easter celebration.
