May You All Have A Happy Easter Walk
Easter echoes the eons old human festivity to celebrate the arrival of spring. The dark and cold days of winter are gone. The bright time of fertility has come.
Today's fertility symbols of Easter, the egg and the hare, relate to the old Germanic fertility goddess Eostre (Ostara). Another related goddess is Ishtar, a Mesopotamian representation of love, who stepped down into the underworld of death but was revived. The Christian resurrection of Jesus is probably a transformation of this older tale.
When the Christian message spread from its eastern Mediterranean origin its incorporation of old local gods and fables helped to convert the multi-theistic societies to the new monotheistic believe. The gods of the pre-Christian religions were not completely discarded but their tales were transformed to support the message the Christian preachers were spreading.
It is finally spring, the darkness has vanished and this is my favored holiday.
Happy Easter
Faberge egg with clock and rooster
bigger
Please join me, Johann van Goethe and Dr. Faust on our traditional Easter Walk:
Look from this height whereon we find us
Back to the town we have left behind us,Where from the dark and narrow door
Forth a motley multitude pour.They sun themselves gladly and all are gay,
They celebrate Christ's resurrection to-day.For have not they themselves arisen?
From smoky huts and hovels and stables,
From labor's bonds and traffic's prison,
From the confinement of roofs and gables,
From many a cramping street and alley,
From churches full of the old world's night,
All have come out to the day's broad light.
...
How it hums o'er the fields and clangs from the steeple!
This is the real heaven of the people,
Both great and little are merry and gay,
I am a man, too, I can be, to-day.
Posted by b on April 17, 2022 at 7:35 UTC | Permalink
"When the Christian message spread from its eastern Mediterranean origin its incorporation of old local gods and fables helped to convert the multi-theistic societies to the new monotheistic believe."
Bad enough: religion on it's way to absolute power. This 'new' believe has enslaved the world for more than 2000 years.
Posted by: Linus | Apr 17 2022 7:50 utc | 2
Hmmm… to me the pictures look like false eggs.
Thanks b for the reporting you do!
Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Apr 17 2022 7:52 utc | 3
Happy easter to western Christians - Real Easter - Paskha is next week
Posted by: Aslangeo | Apr 17 2022 7:53 utc | 4
@b Sorry for the pinch of salt, I threw into your omelet. In my opinion, this development designates the roots of western suprematism.
Happy Easter, anyway!
Posted by: Linus | Apr 17 2022 8:07 utc | 6
A rejuvenating spirit to all …
To b. may the returns be a hundredfold for all your efforts for good in the world.
from Australia on Easter Sunday; "Christos Anesti" the Greek greeting of 'Christ is risen'.
I know it's a week early as the Orthodox church celebrates Easter a week later, and Judea was part of the Greek sphere in its heyday, but what the heck, enjoy life whilst we can.
Posted by: Andrew S MacGregor | Apr 17 2022 8:15 utc | 8
Happy Easter from the House of Leyen.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, speaking about the 6th package of sanctions against Russia, said that the EU continues to consider measures against the banking sector, especially Sberbank, and we are talking about energy.
In the European Union, according to her, "smart mechanisms are being developed" that will allow oil to be affected in the next stage of sanctions.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called on the EU countries to "quickly deliver" weapons to Ukraine, noting that she does not distinguish between "heavy and light weapons"
Posted by: Kim | Apr 17 2022 8:31 utc | 9
C'mon maannn....
The Resurrection is an historical fact. Those others mentioned in the article are just legends.
Posted by: Citizenfitz | Apr 17 2022 8:45 utc | 10
Peace and happiness to all people of good will...
We must unite against the monstrous lies of our time and tell the truth as it is.
Posted by: Norwegian | Apr 17 2022 8:57 utc | 11
Christians! We all had the same Easter until calendars were changed from Julian to Gregorian, the interpretation of whether Last Supper was a Passover Meal on Passover ( which happens on a different date) every year was questioned , and the Spring Equinox which changes slightly year to year.
The first Ecumenical Council in 325 AD said Easter is on the First Sunday after Full moon after Spring Equinox but always after Jewish Passover. The Orthodox have stuck to this. In the main , our Easters sometimes coincide as you know , but from the Year 2698AD Orthodox and other denominations will never celebrate it on the same date again. Thankfully I will be dust by then. Make of it what you will.
Posted by: Brother Ma | Apr 17 2022 9:17 utc | 12
I hope everybody has a happy and peaceful holiday, to the extent possible.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Apr 17 2022 9:18 utc | 13
Happy Easter to you B and all your readers who celebrate today.
Thank you B for your hard work in bringing us great geo political analysis in these troubled times.
Take care!
Posted by: James2 | Apr 17 2022 9:39 utc | 15
Wishing B and all barflies a Happy and Peaceful Easter wherever you are.
Linus @ 2,6: I think the rot began to set in when Constantine made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire in the early 4th century CE and the religion began to acquire a hierarchy based on the organisation of the Roman Empire.
Posted by: Jen | Apr 17 2022 9:51 utc | 16
Happy Easter, b.
May Peace be upon you, and upon us all.
Posted by: Pacifica Advocate | Apr 17 2022 10:03 utc | 17
You forgot to mention the greek godess Persefoni, daughter of Demetra, who was also abducted by Pluto (god of the undeworld) but ressurected - and continues to do so every Spring!
Posted by: Δημήτρης Α | Apr 17 2022 10:28 utc | 18
Wishing a calm, refreshing and restorative Easter to all - and reminding the northerners present that in the south of the world it is not "almost spring", but almost autumn - which is indeed a most welcome season in Australia, and a time of renewal and hope. Joy to us all!
Posted by: Hope | Apr 17 2022 11:10 utc | 20
Happy Easter to all MOB members and to you b for all you do.....Dennis18
Posted by: Dennis18 | Apr 17 2022 11:12 utc | 21
Happy Easter b and thanks again for keeping the bar in good order and well supplied.
Happy Easter comrades may we all live in peaceful and fruitfull times.
Posted by: uncle tungsten | Apr 17 2022 11:12 utc | 22
what the heck, enjoy life whilst we can.Posted by: Andrew S MacGregor | Apr 17 2022 8:15 utc | 8
That's the spirit!
Thanks, b :)
Next round's on me, cheers!
Posted by: rrramirezzz | Apr 17 2022 11:39 utc | 23
Moon - very profound, very moving.
Kim 9 - bloody woman needs a kick in the arse.
Posted by: quasi_verbatim | Apr 17 2022 11:39 utc | 24
On this Easter Sunday, I just think of those poor civilians I see in the basements of Mariupol and pray for them. I hope they find safety and a better life today, and I wonder if they will ever be able to put these horrors behind them. I hope the people who did this to them pay for their crimes. Human beings can be such assholes and we can do so much better.
Posted by: Manage without me | Apr 17 2022 12:17 utc | 26
Posted by: Jen | Apr 17 2022 9:51 utc | 16
No, Constantine did not make it the state religion of the Roman Empire. He made it one of the tolerated religions of the Roman Empire.
Posted by: Alberto | Apr 17 2022 12:35 utc | 27
b - I appreciate that you can face the issues of the day, do great battles, and then have the presence of mind to celebrate the exquisite aspects of humanity. You can stretch your arms wide to touch both ends of the continuum.
Nice work, man.
Re: Manage Without Me @ 26: " Human beings can be such assholes and we can do so much better.".
It is _so_ nice to wake up in the AM, and read this sort of literature. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and here's hard evidence that there is a will to evolve. My day's starting off on a good foot.
And...to the barflies... Good on all of you. Happy Easter and a Most Excellent Renewal!
Posted by: Tom Pfotzer | Apr 17 2022 12:42 utc | 28
Easter in my home used to be our biggest religious celebration until we got invaded through what I think is the American christmas celebration custom, and Easter became something not as much celebrated any more.
Happy Easter for those who celebrate it today. Ours is next week.
Posted by: Man | Apr 17 2022 12:52 utc | 29
Happy Easter to all, especially to those who never wanted war.
Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 17 2022 14:15 utc | 31
Happy Easter all westerners, and happy Palm Sunday to the Orthodox!!
I was just now thinking that there can be no 'cancel culture' in the US, because even if only 5% of us are Orthodox, that is a considerable number - too many of us to put into the lockups around the place. It is as if you cancelled the moon itself, and we join b in saying this is the most important feast of the year. In many senses it is the ongoing feast of life, and it can also be said that every Sunday IS Easter in our faith - Orthodox keep the Sundays during Lent separate from Lent itself, and the feast extends even to infants as it is celebrated then.
There was a tv program once on PBS about the Orthodox back in USSR times - one citizen there said as long as there was one icon in the city apartments in Moscow, the faith was thriving. The show went to Romania, to a monastery there. One of the monks used the Easter greeting as his way of saying hello to all he met -- even the animals -- all year long. It just is that all-pervasive, like spring itself. It will come; there's no stopping it.
So, enjoy Easter to the fullest, and enjoy it again with the Orthodox next week. I hope you can find some of the Holy Week music online -- it is some of the most beautiful music of the entire liturgical year -- especially the Russian!!
Cancel culture?? You might as well cancel spring! Happy Easter, all!
Happy Easter, b!!!
Posted by: juliania | Apr 17 2022 14:32 utc | 32
In accordance with our calendar, I will just give you the words of the Palm Sunday hymn, so that we can add it to the fullness of our ongoing Easter celebration:
By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy Passion
Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God!
Like the children with the palms of victory,
We cry out to Thee:
O Vanquisher of death -
Hosannah in the highest!
Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!
Posted by: juliania | Apr 17 2022 15:07 utc | 33
A blessed Easter to everyone! And prayers for a diseased World.
Posted by: Citizenfitz | Apr 17 2022 16:28 utc | 36
Thank you, b. And Happy Easter to all, this week and next.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Apr 17 2022 17:07 utc | 37
Klauck's 'The Religious Context of Early Christianity' and 'The Mysteries: A Sourcebook' by Meyers are excellent if you wish to learn about much of the religious milieu that gave rise to Christianity. The first century is very much a mystery, even if we know a lot more today, than we used to, thanks in no small part to the Nag Hammadi finds, research on Marcion and the work of countless academics. This, by Earl Doherty, is also an excellent book (on historicity) but makes very compelling points, many of which are laid out on this page. Happy Holiday!
from Gilgamesh ("Gish"):
“Why, O Gish, does thou run about?
The life that thou seekest, thou wilt not find.
When the gods created mankind,
Death they imposed on mankind;
Life they kept in their power.
Thou, O Gish, fill thy belly,
Day and night do thou rejoice,
Daily make a rejoicing!
Day and night a renewal of jollification!
Let thy clothes be clean,
Wash thy head and pour water over thee!
Care for the little one who takes hold of thy hand!
Let the wife rejoice in thy bosom!”
When the journey was accomplished they arrived at Uruk, the
strong-walled city. Gilgamesh spoke to him, to Urshanabi the ferryman, ‘Urshanabi, climb up on to the wall of Uruk, inspect its foundation terrace, and examine well the brickwork; see if it is not of burnt bricks; and did not the seven wise men lay these foundations? One third of the whole is city, one third is garden, and one third is field, with the precinct of the goddess Ishtar. These parts and the precinct are all Uruk'
This too was the work of Gilgamesh, the king, who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went a long journey, was weary, worn out with labour, and returning engraved on a stone the whole story.
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 17 2022 19:07 utc | 40
May spring and summer be a blessing and comfort to us all, best wishes and thank you everybody!
Posted by: Sunny Runny Burger | Apr 17 2022 19:20 utc | 41
Have a Big One, b!
I'm sure p will have one too. Well, after Easter Day. He is a strict Orthodox kinda guy.
Posted by: El Sid | Apr 17 2022 19:53 utc | 42
About the only thing Easter does for me is the urge to eat chocolate. Which is not a Good Thing at my present weight. Hopefully the rest of you don't have that problem and can indulge.
RSH
Posted by: CharlesLutherThanos | Apr 17 2022 19:58 utc | 43
the problem of "resurrection" begins w/the dedication in Faust 1, trying to revive ancient spirits, which will include Mary (i.e., Gretchen) and Helen, and, thematically, the relationship between martial conquest, mythmaking, wisdom and "city-building", as in the quote above from Gilgamesh. Specifically, civilization would not exist if the heroic mythology of fairy tales like the Iliad were the truth. same goes for capitalist crap about competition. all bullshit.
"Cling to words...the true gate to the temple of wisdom," Mephistophiles. (haltet euch an Worte! Dann geht ihr durch die sichre Pforte Zum Tempel der Gewißheit ein). part of the Easter tradition is that the veil of temple has been torn. To keep the "secrets" of the temple from getting out, doctors and lawyers and moneychangers and security guards all pile in front of the "gate of words", holding the masses at bay and cozening them w/their "mysteries of bread and wine" (now with more opium, sugar and nicotine) and the big circus they put on, an elaborate facade, that the bird, the spider, the mouse, the ant, the vine, the bee, the butterfly just ignore. as does the transgressive little child.
This is now the 3rd or 4th Easter for me that b has posted the Easter Walk from Faust. Easter and "being a man" means leaving Paracelsus and the retorts and the bridal chamber and the plagued cadavers and stepping into the sunshine.
now, for a scene in heaven, from about the same time as Faust 1:
let there be light
and sunshine (in English, w/German and English text)
Posted by: rjb1.5 | Apr 17 2022 20:14 utc | 44
Happy Easter to All.. Again i state.. The law of Devine Love is the standard for all human actions. God made it such a simple and easy law to follow. if followed, there would be no wars, and much less poverty'
Posted by: Albert Darmo | Apr 17 2022 20:15 utc | 45
The Lord’s Prayer—a revolutionary, materialist and messianic translation by Patroklos
The text is a direct, literal and unpolished translation from Luke 11.2-4
The italicisation is an interpretation on the presumption that Christ was a self-sovereign revolutionary
The father of us all, who is in the heavens
presiding over the revolutionary future
Let your name be held in holy awe
let your name stand for that future
Let your sovereignty come
let that possibility realise itself
Let your will come to pass upon the earth just as it does in heaven
let this future become a present reality
Render to us today the bread that is ours, the bread that sustains us
the product of our labour is ours and is inalienable
And remit for us the debts we owe just as we liberate from debt those who owe us
nothing other than this future has a claim on us just as we have no claim on another
And do not allow us to be tempted
we must not be seduced by the promise of individual security
But release us from that evil
the evil that would diminish and enslave our fellow living beings
Because sovereignty, power and righteousness belongs to you forever.
because the revolutionary future is the mending of the world
In this way the Resurrection is also the promise of liberation from the death that is in life, endured by the living in the world.
Happy Easter from Oz.
Posted by: Patroklos | Apr 17 2022 22:06 utc | 46
To all those who celebrate Easter, for whatever reason, enjoy, and be thankful to b, and all the posters who make this site a wonderful place for information and therapy.
P.S.---Send b some $.....
Posted by: vetinLA | Apr 17 2022 22:49 utc | 47
Is that your clock, B? It's beautiful! I LOVE clocks in all arrangements sizes and colors.
Happy Easter, B!
And thank you for all the hard work you do everyday for all of us!
Happy Easter to my fellow MofA readers too!!
Posted by: Kay | Apr 18 2022 0:15 utc | 48
"Christ is Risen"! Alleluia! God Bless everyone. Happy Easter. And Thank You God, for giving us Your Son and rising Him from the dead! Thank you For the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world! Thank You!
God Bless all and one! God Bless Russia. God Bless the Russian military! And God bless the Ukrainians with understanding so that they surrender and give up this foolish event. You have all proved yourselves! It is time to end it! Make Peace with Russia and return to the Slavic fold!
Posted by: Lindsay Wheeler | Apr 18 2022 0:49 utc | 49
The May Pole is just right around the corner. That's my favorite holiday.
Posted by: Norogene | Apr 18 2022 1:30 utc | 50
There was in fact a historical Christ, alright. What his exact teachings were? Their interpretations? What it means for us ultimately? Suppose that's up for some debbate.
In a world where we are rediscovering long concealed realms of interdimensionality, the idea that a figure in touch with those higher realms could heal sick, raise the dead, cure the blind, perform miracles, come back from the tomb after being killed or mortally wounded.., that really isn't so far out an idea to take seriously. We have tic tac UFOs being acknowledged. Maybe Christ has more than a few answers for us about such things..
Posted by: Mikhail-Raygun1775 | Apr 18 2022 1:49 utc | 51
'Leaping from Despair into Hope: The Lesson of Rembrandt’s Resurrection for Today’s Troubled World'
https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/leaping-from-despair-into-hope-the-18e
...Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Confucian, Hindu, Buddhist or other, the lesson conveyed by this biblical story and especially Rembrandt’s artistic treatment has a universal value for the simple reason that Christ’s life and mission represented a moral power of change which had the unique capacity to undo the foundations of the Roman Empire. This movement accomplished this miraculous feat not through military force, money or any other Hobbesian notion of power, but merely by tuning the hearts and minds of a suppressed people to the power of forgiveness, loving all including one’s enemies, and adhering to one’s conscience before all “political norms of acceptable behaviour” demanded by the Roman oligarchy...
Posted by: Browser | Apr 18 2022 15:28 utc | 52
Thankfully I will be dust by then. Make of it what you will.
Posted by: Brother Ma | Apr 17 2022 9:17 utc | 12
Well, come the spring of 2068, I will be freshly thawed from my long freeze, no worse for the wear, but still I will be sad that Brother Ma turned to dust. No one to discuss with until I learn New Chinglish (an evolution of Old Chinglish that became an international standard ca. 2100, until it had to be reform to eliminate the gap between official and vernacular ca 2300, thus stating the era of Middle Chinglish, a process repeated ca 2500).
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Apr 18 2022 23:45 utc | 54
The comments to this entry are closed.
Happy Easter to all people of good will. To you b. and all the readers and commentators of MoA all around the Earth
Posted by: John V. Doe | Apr 17 2022 7:46 utc | 1