Origins of the word 'Easter'

Why is English the only language with this word? Is it based off the name of a pagan goddess? Who said it was? Were they right? Should we care? While the more 'correct' term for the day of Resurrection is 'Pascha', we take a look at why English-speaking people call it 'Easter'.
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[jakeeasterday]

As one bearing the last name "Easterday", from German "Ostertag" originating from as early as the 1400s, I appreciate this video and your research!
Lord willing, I'll be baptized on Pascha next year, which is poetic.

[jeremiahstiles]

This brought tears to my eyes. Language itself is so mysterious and powerful. Beautiful work as always!

[norinamagdalena]

As a German who always wondered about why it was called "Ostern", THANK YOU! You just brought tears to my eyes and continue to bring so much joy and new knowledge to me and my husband as catechumens in the Orthodox Church! God bless you and your brother.

[Christiansymbolism]

your videos inspired me to started creating of instagram reels, about orthodox theology and symbolism. great job, great person, keep going

[MichelAgaiby]

We use the word bascha in our coptic orthodox in Egypt for the masses prior to the Easter day... In Arabic we call it the resurrection day...

[ExplainingChristianity]

Another amazing video from Patristix himself!

[Krentiles]

Glory to Christ. This channel is such a treat to watch.

[loverlei]

I'm just going to start sending people here with their questions.

[wp]

It still doesn’t make sense to me for anybody to prefer using the word Easter over Pascha. Despite it not being ‘bad’ it still does not encompass what Pascha does. Pascha so beautifully ties together the Old Testament and the New, it connects us to our ancient heritage and clearly expresses what we celebrate today as a fulfilment of what we celebrated thousands of years ago. Easter as a term with its obscure and uncertain origins was only utilised in one nation and is now more prominently used to identity this Great Feast.
I don’t know, to me it seems like a no brainier that we ought to preserve and uphold one term over the other, especially when Easter’s origins don’t uphold any spiritual significance and as a word has become synonymous with bunnies, chocolate eggs and a generally secular and commercialised holiday.

[randy]

I use “Easter” and “Pascha” interchangeably.

[kavikv.d.hexenholtz]

Not sure why your calling Anglo Saxon (Old English) "Celtic". Monađ - 'month' is Germanic, not Celtic.

German Oster comes from the Germanic goddess Ostara (the Anglo-Saxon cognate is Ēostra). The goddess of dawn.
The etymology of her name comes from the Indo-European root word *hewsôs, meaning “to shine, glow red” -a reference to dawn. In Proto-Germanic, the name has been reconstructed as *Austrô(n). To the early Germans, she was Ostara, from which modern German gets “Oster” for Easter. Ēostra’s name has also given us the name of the cardinal direction “East”, many placenames in England, and even a few female first names (none of which I believe are used anymore).
Further, it is interesting to note that only in the places she was worshipped (England and parts of northwest Germany) is the word Easter (German, Oster) used in place of an equivalent of the Greek/Latin ‘Pascha’ (from Hebrew “Pêsach” and Aramaic “Pasḥā” - Passover), as with other European languages.
Some will claim that because Ēostra’s name only appears in one written source; a text from the works of the Venerable Bede, that he invented her, and this Germanic deity never existed. The place and personal names based on her name in the areas she was worshiped however, completely contradict this claim.
In addition, the Brothers Grimm, more famous for their collecting of fairy tales, also conducted important work in the burgeoning field of Folklore.
The brothers surveyed the local people all around Germany and in neighboring German speaking regions. Through his study of oral history, they discovered that the goddess Ostara was to be found in nearly *all*  German speaking areas.
The folklore recorded by the Grimms demonstrated that people miles and miles apart retained shared cultural memories of the same goddess.
If Bede invented her in England, then how did illiterate peasants in Germany know of her over one thousand years later? Either she was genuinely worshiped, or Bede had an excellent PR team!

[davidcornetta]

This was good. I grew up Jehovah’s Witness and the Ishtar thing was always something they harped on.

[roonilwazlib]

I love St Bede and his ecclesiastical history, he’s so salty about Easter I can feel him in his words.
St Bede pray for us.

[christinewaldron]

Thank you so much for your content. I love your teaching style and your videos are very shareable.

[darrylviljoen]

"we need to look at everything we know about the goddess Eostre."
this is your daily reminder that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
if Beedle the bard was such a reputable source then we cannot discount the fact that he may have had access to sources now lost to us.
it is a sad fact of life for us history enthusiasts that most ancient knowledge is forever lost to us.

[posavka]

6:45 I didn’t understand this one moment of the video, does it mean the word easter in and of itself is older than some words orthodox use or what was meant by “many things we love”? Please excuse me, I’m a bit slow in understanding some phrasing sometimes as english is not my first language 😅😂

[BrandonTalleyRealtor]

Excellent, well researched, and eloquently explained… as usual! Thank you tremendously for what you are doing with this channel. ☦️

[OrthodoxCanonFodder]

In Bulgaria they don't say Pascha, they say Velik Den: Great Day

This reminds me of that

[jukesngambits]

Is there a way to download your videos without paying YouTube? I want to preserve your content for my kids!

[Sue-vbnc]

I wonder if it has anything to do with Purim and ESTHER?