Thank you for this extraordinary piece of research and writing. It's lovely that you have gathered all of this together in one place and I can only imagine the time that it took! Isn't 'Winters in the World' a most wonderful and helpful book. As for Easter/Ostara, many Pagans are very attached to her I know and so it is a challenge to have any discussion around her (maybe) non-existence. There is also an attachment to those 'nasty Christians'. Christianity has many things to answer for (as do most religions), but stealing Spring festivals isn't one of them.
Living in Kent, I quite like the idea of Eostre being a local deity connected to the the village of Eastry and the land around it. That makes much more sense to me than a goddess who was worshipped across the Anglo-Saxon world but whose existence has completely disappeared, other than Bede's writing of course. What a scamp he was sending us into such disarray!
Thank you Jacqueline for reading and taking the time to leave your thoughts on the subject, it is greatly appreciated. Yes, this post did take a fair amount of time to research, but I do love researching, especially when one thing leads on to another! It is all so very fascinating. 'Winters in the World' is a great read and I am enjoying dipping in and out of it as the months roll by.
I do agree that some people get very protective of their beliefs and I did too when I first began ambling onto this path. But as the years went by and I began applying discernment to what I was reading, I soon realised that the running narrative on many historical topics was not entirely based on historical evidence. I have no problem with people following what they believe because traditions are ever evolving. I just do not like it when a tradition is passed off as ancient when it is clearly not.
How wonderful for you to be living in Kent so close to the roots of Eostre's legends! As for Bede, I am seriously starting to think that he really did not know what he was talking about!
Hello Elissa. I quite agree. It is the best of things for us to weave our own paths. The more Spirit/spirit in the world the better but I pray for the day when we have confidence in our own knowing, rather than feeling that we have to justify ourselves by claiming an ancient tradition. I once went to a talk where the speaker pointed out that it's not that we aren't connected to something ancient, because spirit is ancient. It's just that we have to rediscover it for ourselves and in every generation there will be a percentage of people who are driven to do that. I liked that. It makes our traditions old and new at the same time. I also like the quote that they use at Hastings Jack in the Green, and I am paraphrasing because I may not remember it exactly, but it was something like: 'Tradition isn't worshipping the ashes, but in kindling the flame." Amen and blessed be to that!
Oh, Bede! I am glad that he was there and that he wrote as he did but he certainly sends us all on a merry dance from time to time!
Oh my goodness, yes. We do self sabotage when it comes to listening to our inner knowing. Thank you for sharing what you learnt in that talk, I couldn't agree more. And I will try and paraphrase as well, "There should be as many 'religions/spiritualities' as there are people in the world". Like you say, it has a lot to do with confidence, knowing that whatever path we are following is the right path for us.
Thank you for this extraordinary piece of research and writing. It's lovely that you have gathered all of this together in one place and I can only imagine the time that it took! Isn't 'Winters in the World' a most wonderful and helpful book. As for Easter/Ostara, many Pagans are very attached to her I know and so it is a challenge to have any discussion around her (maybe) non-existence. There is also an attachment to those 'nasty Christians'. Christianity has many things to answer for (as do most religions), but stealing Spring festivals isn't one of them.
Living in Kent, I quite like the idea of Eostre being a local deity connected to the the village of Eastry and the land around it. That makes much more sense to me than a goddess who was worshipped across the Anglo-Saxon world but whose existence has completely disappeared, other than Bede's writing of course. What a scamp he was sending us into such disarray!
Thank you again for your wonderful work.
Thank you Jacqueline for reading and taking the time to leave your thoughts on the subject, it is greatly appreciated. Yes, this post did take a fair amount of time to research, but I do love researching, especially when one thing leads on to another! It is all so very fascinating. 'Winters in the World' is a great read and I am enjoying dipping in and out of it as the months roll by.
I do agree that some people get very protective of their beliefs and I did too when I first began ambling onto this path. But as the years went by and I began applying discernment to what I was reading, I soon realised that the running narrative on many historical topics was not entirely based on historical evidence. I have no problem with people following what they believe because traditions are ever evolving. I just do not like it when a tradition is passed off as ancient when it is clearly not.
How wonderful for you to be living in Kent so close to the roots of Eostre's legends! As for Bede, I am seriously starting to think that he really did not know what he was talking about!
Thank you for your support,
Brightest blessings,
Elissa
Hello Elissa. I quite agree. It is the best of things for us to weave our own paths. The more Spirit/spirit in the world the better but I pray for the day when we have confidence in our own knowing, rather than feeling that we have to justify ourselves by claiming an ancient tradition. I once went to a talk where the speaker pointed out that it's not that we aren't connected to something ancient, because spirit is ancient. It's just that we have to rediscover it for ourselves and in every generation there will be a percentage of people who are driven to do that. I liked that. It makes our traditions old and new at the same time. I also like the quote that they use at Hastings Jack in the Green, and I am paraphrasing because I may not remember it exactly, but it was something like: 'Tradition isn't worshipping the ashes, but in kindling the flame." Amen and blessed be to that!
Oh, Bede! I am glad that he was there and that he wrote as he did but he certainly sends us all on a merry dance from time to time!
Oh my goodness, yes. We do self sabotage when it comes to listening to our inner knowing. Thank you for sharing what you learnt in that talk, I couldn't agree more. And I will try and paraphrase as well, "There should be as many 'religions/spiritualities' as there are people in the world". Like you say, it has a lot to do with confidence, knowing that whatever path we are following is the right path for us.