Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by pkphilip 429 days ago
The connection goes further back to Asheroth - the Cannanite goddess of fertility.
2 comments

The world was not ready for such religions then [0]:

> There are several reasons why the worship of Baal and Asherah was such a problem for Israel. First, the worship of Baal and Asherah held the allure of illicit sex, since the religion involved ritual prostitution. [...]

The Asherahs/Ashtoreths probably needed better branding.

[0]: https://www.gotquestions.org/Baal-and-Asherah.html

"the world?"

Ritual prostitution was common in many ancient religions, and Baal and Asherah were commonly worshipped at the time. It only seems aberrant in hindsight because we live in a world formed from the strict patriarchy and sexual taboos of one specific Semitic religion, and a narrative of history written by its adherents.

That said as far as I know the whole Easter/Eostre connection has been discredited by the actual evidence. Which is unfortunate because it would be such an enjoyable thing to annoy Christians with if it were true.

No it does not. Asheroth is a Canaanite language term. Easter comes from the Proto-Indo-European for dawn of east, the direction of the sunrise. A very fitting name for the rising of the Son of Man. The direct cognates to Easter are Usas (Indic languages), East, or Aurora.
Remember, Easter is only called Easter (or something similar) in a few languages, I'm only aware of English and German (Oster).