Usually, when consulting any research source to discover the origin of Easter, we find a common answer: Easter is a festival of Jewish origin that was readapted by Christians and received new symbolism incorporating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

From the Jewish tradition, we learn that Easter derives from the Hebrew word ‘Pesach,’ meaning ‘Passover. And ‘Passover’ is always associated with Yahweh.

The Hebrew Bible relates an episode through the narrative of Exodus 12, detailing the institution of the Passover. Yahweh, speaking to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, declares the beginning of months, marking a new start for the Israelites. He instructs that on the tenth day of this month, every Israelite family must select a flawless, year-old male lamb or goat, ensuring it is without blemish. This selection is not merely for the household; neighbors are to come together if a family is too small, sharing the lamb based on the number of people and their appetite, emphasizing community and shared responsibility.

The narrative meticulously describes the preparation for the Passover meal: the lamb is to be kept until the fourteenth day of the month when the entire community of Israel is to slaughter it at twilight. The blood from the sacrifice is to be applied to the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses where they eat the lamb. This act of marking their homes with blood is important, serving as a sign for Yahweh to pass over these houses during the forthcoming plague. The lamb is to be eaten roasted over fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, signifying the haste of the Israelites’ departure from Egypt and their bitterness of slavery.

Yahweh’s instructions are clear: nothing of the lamb is to be left until morning; whatever remains must be burned, symbolizing the complete consumption and dedication of the Israelites to God’s command. The manner of eating the lamb—dressed for travel, with sandals on and staff in hand—underscores the urgency and readiness required for the imminent departure.

The Hebrew Bible emphasizes the significance of the blood on the houses, explaining that it will be a sign for Yahweh to pass over the house and spare the inhabitants from the plague of the firstborn. This act of mercy and protection marks the Passover as a memorial, a festival to Yahweh to be observed by all generations as a perpetual ordinance. The instructions extend to the prohibition of leaven during the seven days of the festival, symbolizing purity and separation from the past.

Moses calls upon the elders of Israel to instruct them in the specifics of the Passover sacrifice, including the use of hyssop to apply the blood to the doorposts and lintel. This detailed procedure ensures the safety of the Israelite households from the destroyer, affirming Yahweh’s sovereign protection over His people.

As the narrative unfolds, it is revealed that this ordinance is not only for the moment but is to be observed perpetually, even upon entering the land promised by Yahweh. The story captures a moment of covenantal faithfulness and obedience, as the Israelites follow the instructions given to Moses and Aaron. It ends with a note of obedience and worship, as the people bow down and worship, then proceed to follow Yahweh’s commands precisely.

This passage from Exodus is a foundational narrative for the Jewish faith, establishing the Passover as a central commemorative act that defines the community’s identity and its perpetual remembrance of Yahweh’s deliverance from Egypt.

Knowing the Hebrew tradition, in 325 AD, Emperor Constantine I, during the First Council of Nicaea, established the calculation of the Christian date for celebrating of Easter, which is based on the lunar calendar. Later, we will see how the Anunnaki are connected to this celebration, and which elements of Sumerian mythology has been hidden in the Easter celebration.

For now, let’s observe what the document of the First Council of Nicaea says in juxtaposition to the Jewish celebration:

“We also send you the good news of the settlement concerning the holy pasch, namely that in answer to your prayers this question also has been resolved. All the brethren in the East who have hitherto followed the Jewish practice will henceforth observe the custom of the Romans and of yourselves and of all of us who from ancient times have kept Easter together with you.”

This document, as previously stated, dates back to 325 AD, and it is important to note how Roman Christianity intended to superimpose the pre-established Jewish practices. The question here is that the history of the Hebrew people, and consequently of the Jewish people, is intertwined with the history of Jesus Christ and, consequently, the history of Christianity. For Christianity, the celebration of Easter is a feast of life over death, of the triumph of Jesus who overcame death and resurrected to life.

The apostle Paul emphasized this, stating the futility of preaching and faith without the resurrection. It is seen as the cornerstone of Christian faith, offering salvation from sin through Christ’s selfless act of sacrifice. This event offers humanity a renewed opportunity for redemption.

The observance of Easter Sunday caps off Holy Week, a time reflecting on the sequence of events leading to Christ’s crucifixion. Holy Week initiates with Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’ return to Jerusalem. Highlighted within this week are key events like the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, where Jesus shared his final meal and revelations with his disciples, predicting Judas Iscariot’s betrayal and Peter’s denial.

It is necessary to clarify, however, that the recently discovered Gospel of Judas reveals a different story. It is Jesus who instructs Judas, his most faithful disciple, to assist him with the task of sacrificing himself. Thus, Judas would not have betrayed Jesus, but would have helped him achieve spiritual liberation. We will study the Gospel of Judas here on the channel in the future, so if you don’t want to miss it, be sure to subscribe to the channel.

Maundy Thursday is renowned for the foot-washing ceremony, mirroring Jesus’ act of washing his disciples’ feet, symbolizing humility and service. The arrest of Jesus on the evening of Maundy Thursday led to his sentencing and scourging the next day. Good Friday remains a solemn reminder of Jesus’ crucifixion and death. The narrative unfolds with Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane, propelled by Judas Iscariot’s betrayal, leading to his trial and execution on Golgotha.

Holy Saturday marks the day before Jesus’ resurrection, celebrated on Easter Sunday. The great parallel between the Jewish and Christian celebrations is that the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ occurred at the same time as the Jewish Passover was being celebrated. It is also necessary to remember that Jesus was of Jewish origin and that many associate the sacrifice of the lamb to Yahweh with the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, although this conception is somewhat obscure.

When we observe Easter celebration today, we can see various elements such as Easter eggs and rabbits, in addition to the cross, and the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Jesus’ liberation and freedom combines with the liberation of the Hebrew people, and offers an interesting sense from a mythological and esoteric point of view, if we observe the cross as a symbol of the human body and liberation, as meaning liberation from the suffering imposed by material life, and entry into the spiritual world, which does not need to mean death, but life in its fullness.

Beyond the Judeo-Christian message, we need to explore the origins of mythological thought concerning a period of renewal, death, and rebirth. This exploration leads us to one of the most beloved female deities of ancient Mesopotamia: the goddess Inanna of Sumer.

Inanna appears in several Sumerian and Mesopotamian tablets discovered in the second half of the 19th century. In various texts, Inanna is depicted as the daughter of Enki, in others, as the daughter of Enlil, and yet in others as a direct daughter of Anu. Those who study Zecharia Sitchin’s Anunnaki theory know that this goddess appears, in Sitchin’s theory, as the granddaughter of Enlil, the daughter of Nannar. Nanna, Nannar, or Sin, is the son of Enlil and the god of the Moon. The Sinai Peninsula was named in honor of Nanna-Sin, the moon god. Nannar, the moon god, was the deity responsible for the Sumerian city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, the patriarch of monotheistic religions. It is through the city of Ur, Abraham, and Nanna-Sin that we find another link between ancient Mesopotamia and the stories and biblical accounts.

Regardless of who Inanna’s father is, whether Enki, Enlil, or Anu, it is known that this goddess appears in many texts as one of the great Anunnaki.

Inanna was a goddess associated with spring and renewal, a nature goddess with connections to love and war. Linked to the planet Venus as the Morning Star, she was identified as the goddess of love, fertility, and sexual and sensual behavior. Represented by a star and associated with war, she sought to expand her territories by invading the kingdom of her sister Ereshkigal in the underworld. This aspect of Inanna makes her a unique deity who can descend into the underworld and return or resurrect, a feat few can accomplish.

Thus, her journey through the underworld, akin to a passage or passover, signifies her resurrection or return, symbolizing her annual death and rebirth, much like spring. And this is a milestone of death and rebirth that dates back centuries and millennia before the celebration of the Jewish Passover or Christian Easter.

Many Christians are unaware that the mythical story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is not the first resurrection story told by ancient peoples. In ancient Greek mythology, numerous tales unfold of individuals who transcended mortality, achieving an eternal state of existence. Tales recount how Achilles, upon his death, was spirited away from his funeral pyre by Thetis, his divine progenitor, to dwell eternally in realms such as Leuce, the Elysian Fields, or the Islands of the Blessed. A similar destiny befell Memnon, slain by Achilles, who was granted a comparable immortal fate. Figures like Alcmene, Castor, Heracles, and Melicertes are similarly chronicled, heralded for their ascension to everlasting life beyond the realm of death.

However, centuries and millennia before Greek mythology recounted the stories of life, death, and rebirth, in ancient Mesopotamia, the goddess Inanna brought the first mythological account of death and resurrection. The text exists in numerous copies, and the complete story was composed by experts such as Samuel Noah Kramer, retold many times after each new discovery of each new part of the myth. In the work ‘This History Begins at Sumer,’ Samuel Kramer presents this myth as The First Tale of Resurrection. The technical support of the work by a historian and former professor at the University of Pennsylvania serves as a shield against the attacks of fervent believers who often insist on making this channel, and others of similar subject, targets of their frustration regarding mythical misfortune and the crumbling of their beliefs in the face of the unassailable truths of recent discoveries.

In this sense, I need to reaffirm: I personally believe that people should have their beliefs, and they should be respected. But I believe that the light of truth brings enlightenment to the darkness and obscurity of ignorance. And therefore, it is necessary to unveil the past, tearing away the veil of ignorance. Thus, and only thus, can we achieve truth, and therefore, spiritual enlightenment. This, to me, is therefore the meaning of Easter. The death of a past of manipulation and the beginning of an eternal and true life illuminated by the light of knowledge. And this will lead us to spiritual and true life. And in this, for me, lies the true message of Jesus and all the spiritual masters we know.

In the Sumerian lexicon, “Kur” represents what Greeks identified as Hades and Hebrews as Sheol. Initially signifying “mountain,” its meaning expanded to “foreign land” due to the surrounding mountainous regions that posed threats to Sumer. In a broader cosmic sense, Kur symbolizes the void between Earth’s crust and the ancient ocean, a realm where spirits of the deceased reside. To access this realm, souls were believed to traverse a “man-devouring river” aboard a vessel steered by a designated “man of the boat,” mirroring Greek mythology’s river Styx and Charon the ferryman.

The underworld, despite its association with death, possessed a dynamic aspect. The narrative “The Begetting of the Moon-God” illustrates this with the story of Enlil who is exiled to the underworld by fellow deities for violating Ninlil. His journey there results in the birth of three underworld deities, enhancing the realm’s divine population.

In the ancient Sumerian pantheon, the deity of love and beauty was revered as Inanna, hailed as the “queen of heaven.” This celestial figure was romantically linked to Dumuzi, a god associated with shepherding, known in biblical texts as Tammuz. The saga of Dumuzi and his descent into the underworld unfolds with intricate detail, especially concerning his consort, Inanna.

The text that reveals the first tale of resurrection is known as the Descent of Inanna to the Netherworld.´

This ancient account narrates how Dumuzi, a shepherd, arrives at Inanna’s residence, his hands and sides dripping with milk and cream, seeking entry. Inanna, after seeking her mother’s advice, prepares herself by bathing, anointing, donning her regal attire, and embellishing herself with gemstones before welcoming her soon-to-be husband. Their embrace, likely followed by cohabitation, leads Dumuzi to whisk Inanna away to his deity’s city.

Unbeknownst to Dumuzi, his fervently sought-after union would culminate in his downfall, ultimately leading him to the underworld. He underestimated the formidable ambition of a woman.

Despite reigning as the sovereign of the heavens, referred to as the “Great Above,” Inanna’s aspirations knew no bounds. She coveted dominion over the nether realms, the “Great Below,” prompting her decision to venture into the underworld to explore possibilities. Prepared with the necessary divine decrees and adorned in her royal attire, she embarks towards the “land of no return.”

Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld, Inanna’s elder sister, and arch-nemesis, represents death and darkness. Anticipating possible fatal outcomes from her sister’s dominion, Inanna commands her loyal vizier, Ninshubur, to mourn her absence if she does not return within three days and to seek intervention from the pantheon’s supreme deities for her salvation.

Upon her descent, Inanna arrives at Ereshkigal’s lapis lazuli temple, where the chief gatekeeper interrogates her motives. Devising a deceitful reason for her visit, Inanna is led through the underworld’s seven gates, systematically stripped of her regalia despite her objections, and ultimately, presented before Ereshkigal and the Anunnaki, the fearsome judges of the underworld, naked and humbled. They cast upon her a lethal gaze, transforming her into a corpse, which is then suspended.

After three days and nights, Ninshubur, adhering to Inanna’s directives, seeks divine intervention, only to be rebuffed until Enki formulates a rescue strategy. Enki creates two androgynous beings and dispatches them with the “food of life” and the “water of life” to the underworld. Upon their application to Inanna’s body, she is miraculously revived.

Inanna’s return to the living, however, is conditional. The immutable law of the underworld demands a substitute for her release. Thus, accompanied by merciless demons tasked with ensuring her compliance, Inanna embarks on a quest to find a replacement. Her journey takes her to Umma and Bad-tibira, where the deity protectors, upon witnessing the fearsome entourage, exhibit profound humility, earning Inanna’s mercy and sparing them from the underworld’s fate.

The procession eventually leads to Kullab, where Dumuzi, Inanna’s spouse and the city’s guardian deity, defies the expected display of submission, choosing celebration over sorrow. Inanna, infuriated by his defiance, subjects him to “the eye of death” and delivers him into the hands of the relentless demons for his journey to the underworld. Overcome with dread, Dumuzi’s complexion turns ashen as tears fall. Dumuzi begs Utu to help him escape the clutches of the demons by changing his hand into the hand of a snake, and his foot into the foot of a snake. Dumuzi was a shepherd who prayed and begged a solar deity for deliverance from death.

The narrative tragically halts with Dumuzi’s appeal incomplete, as the tablets bearing this tale break off. Given Dumuzi’s established association with the realm of the dead in various texts, it’s presumed his appeal was in vain, leading to his inevitable descent into the underworld.

This revelation from the newly discovered texts has thousands of implications, revising long-held beliefs about Dumuzi within Mesopotamian mythological studies. For centuries, scholars interpreted the myth of “Ishtar’s Descent to the Nether World” to suggest Dumuzi’s demise before Inanna’s descent, theorizing Inanna’s journey as a rescue mission. However, this interpretation has been debunked by recent studies, which illuminate Inanna’s role not as a savior but as the one who, driven by Dumuzi’s scorn, consigns him to the demons, sealing his fate to the land of oblivion.

Thus, Inanna, the goddess of love and fertility, was the one who delivered Dumuzi, the shepherd who pleaded to the sun god, to death.

This way, it’s possible to understand yet another of the mythical aspects that surround the origins of modern Easter. Venus, the morning star, dates back to the worship of the goddess of love, war, and fertility, Inanna, who delivered, or betrayed, a shepherd, Dumuzi, to death, even as he begged to the sun god. The morning star, Venus, the planet that symbolizes love, is closely linked to Inanna, who in turn contributed to the term Lucifer.

In Roman folklore, Lucifer, translating to “light-bringer” from Latin, designated the planet Venus. This celestial body was anthropomorphized as a male deity, often depicted holding a torch, illuminating the path of dawn. The planet bore the names Phosphoros (“light-bringer”) and Heosphoros (“dawn-bringer”) in Greek, reflecting its role as a harbinger of light.

Lucifer, woven into myths as the esteemed offspring of Aurora and Cephalus and the progenitor of Ceyx, frequently graces poetry as the precursor of dawn.

The celestial dance positions Venus alongside Mercury and the Moon, sketching a vivid portrait across the sky. The term Lucifer mirrors the Greek Phosphoros in denoting this astral body, celebrated in both prose and verse. The star’s mythic persona often finds itself enshrined in tales of old.

Aurora, Lucifer’s mythic mother, shares her essence with dawn deities of diverse cultures. The moniker “Aurora” echoes the Vedic Ushas, the Lithuanian Aushrinė, and the Greek Eos, all dawn goddesses. These deities, stemming from the Proto-Indo-European root for “dawn,” share lineage with the figures of Ostara and Eostre/Eastre from the Germanic and Old English pantheons, respectively. This linguistic and mythological harmony has prompted scholars to postulate the existence of a unified dawn goddess in Proto-Indo-European belief.

And once again, everything leads us back to Inanna.

Known as Inanna in Sumer, this goddess was worshiped by various peoples and became known as Ishtar in Akkad. The similarity between the name Ishtar and the English term “star” is noteworthy. In other cultures, she was known by different names, such as Astarte, Astaroth, Eostre, and Esther. It is worth noting here the similarity between the name of the goddess Esther and the English term ‘Easter’.

Well, what can be said about Easter based on the lunar calendar and the supposed connection with one of the possible paternities of Inanna, the moon god Nanna-Sin? Where can the tradition of eggs and the symbolism of the rabbit be identified?

To further explore the mythological roots of Easter, we must examine the tradition associated with a goddess derived from Inanna: the goddess Eostre. Eostre, a deity of fertility, love, and rebirth in Anglo-Saxon mythology, was linked to the dawn light, much like Inanna was linked to Venus, the morning star.

According to legend, Eostre harbored a deep affection for young ones, attracting them wherever she roamed. The goddess delighted in amusing them with her enchantments and melodious voice.

On a notable occasion, as Eostre relaxed in a garden surrounded by her cherished young companions, a bird alighted on her hand. With a few whispered enchantments, the bird miraculously morphed into a hare, Eostre’s preferred creature, leaving the children in awe. However, as time progressed, it became apparent that the hare pined for its lost abilities to soar and sing.

The young ones implored Eostre to restore the hare to its original state. Despite her attempts, the spell proved irreversible. Eostre concluded that she must await the end of winter, a period during which her powers waned, hopeful that with the rejuvenation of spring, her enhanced abilities might allow her to bestow some happiness upon the hare by momentarily reverting it to its avian form.

With the arrival of spring, Eostre, now at the zenith of her magical abilities, succeeded in temporarily transforming the hare back into a bird. In gratitude, the bird laid eggs as a tribute to Eostre, symbolizing its newfound freedom and the compassion of the children. Once more assuming the guise of a hare, it adorned the eggs and scattered them across the globe as a gesture of celebration.

It is important to note that Eostre was associated with beauty, vitality, youth, and rebirth, and rituals of purification and inner renewal were common in her worship.

In its origins, Easter is a celebration of fertility, life, and the rebirth of a new season. It is connected to a female deity associated with the moon, stars, planet Venus, sacredness, and sexuality. In today’s post-modern world, it is important to appreciate the true and ancient meaning of this celebration, rather than perpetuating stories that have been altered over time to suit various interests.