Easter- The East-Star Festival of Renewal
By: Nuta Moses Amen-Ra (C) 2010
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| Scarab Beetle (khepera) (Scarabaeus sacer) |
The Holy day of the East-Star was originally a celebration of renewal and rebirth for original people and ancient Ancestors. We are The Children of the Sun, the burnt skinned people known as KMT. As with most of our holidays, the celebration of life is prominent. Our ancestors Were Agriculturalist, Builders, Hunters, Explorers, Merchants, Spiritual Travelers and stewards of the planet. Celebrating the return of early spring, honors the Mother Nature goddess known
in many cultures as Ast or Auset(Isis) Ma, Eostra, Oestera, Eastre(Esther), Ishtar, Oshun, Yemaya, Het-Heru, Hathor,
Aurora, or Adonis...
Although every morning the sun "Ra" rises in the east, Easter occurs after the Vernal Equinox event on the 1st Sunday after the full moon.
In Ancient African Societies, The pregnant mothers were thought to have conceived their Children from Ra the Sun. Goddess Auset was the first Queen Mother to experience immaculate conception. Her husband was killed by his jealous Brother, so she had to resurrect her husband's energy after his death. Her Son- Heru was also considered the Rising Sun and the Son of the Sun (Nsdbity).
Watching the cycles of Nature one sees that Ra the sun, Tefnut- air, atmosphere, and Nu- rain brings life to Geb- Earth, so ancient cultures saw, Nut as Heaven, and Ma as Earth Mother.
Nut the Celestial sky goddess, swallows Ra the sun at dusk and gives birth to the sun at dawn daily.
Throughout the night there is a battle between Heru
and his infamous Uncle Set or Sebek
for the conquest of Light and Enlightenment. Every morning Heru
-(Later known as Horus or Hero- and even later forms of KRST
throughout the world) Becomes the victor to raise the sun with the help of Tehuti
, Auset
and Ausar
!
There is a whole pantheon of stories related to the Celestial and seasonal events. The Spring is one of these joyous occasions.
Earth has been referred to as Mother since ancient times as “Mother Earth” and “Mother Nature.”
Another symbol of spring and renewal, was the Scarab Beetle (khepera) (Scarabaeus sacer). This beetle was famous for his habit of rolling balls of dung along the ground and depositing them in its burrows. First, the female would lay her eggs in the ball of dung. When they hatched, the larvae would use the ball for food. When the dung was consumed the young beetles would emerge from the hole.
It seemed that the young scarab beetles emerged spontaneously from the burrow where they were born. Therefore they were worshiped as "Khepera", "he who came forth." This creative aspect of the scarab was associated with the creator god Atum. Millions of amulets and stamp seals of stone, ceramic or other materials, were fashioned in the depiction of the scarab beetle.
The ray-like antenna on the beetle's head and its practice of dung-rolling caused the beetle to also carry solar symbolism. The scarab-beetle god Khepera was believed to push the setting sun along the sky in the same manner as the beetle with his ball of dung. In many artifacts, the scarab is depicted pushing the sun along its course in the sky.
During and following the New Kingdom, scarab amulets were often placed over the heart of the mummified deceased. These "heart scarabs" (such as the one pictured above) were meant to be weighed against the feather of truth during the final judgment. The amulets were often inscribed with a spell from the Book of the Dead which entreated the heart to, "do not stand as a witness against me."
The union of the Sun-Ra and Auset brought forth a son Heru symbolic of abundant crops, as the rains from the sky met the welcoming earth. Festivals like “The Marriage Feast of Canaan” were Spring fertility rites in ancient times which celebrated Pregnancy, the dawn of spring and fertility. The dawn of the Sun Star was in the east, so Sunrise celebrations centered on growth and renewal were celebrated. Growers celebrated to petition for abundant crops, and eggs were eaten and exchanged as talismans.
Easter is exceptional depending on where you live in proximity to the Equator. There are only 3 seasons, instead of 4 for those living near the equator.
Other Names of Spring
Goddess:
With brightening and longer days after vernal equinox, was known as the Great Mother
Goddess of the North in Europe. She is a goddess of dawn and spring, and her name
derives from dawn, the light arising from East. The word, East and the female
hormone, estrogen is related to her.
The Rite of Spring,
Eastre’s male consort was Ra (the Sun god), and rites of spring
were celebrated in her honor on the first day of spring. Celebrations were on
the first full moon following vernal equinox. The full moon represents a “pregnant”
phase of Eastre, passing into fertility to give birth to the Sun’s offspring.
“Eastre” is derived from the direction East, and the Spring
Goddess is associated with dawn. Eastre is related to the Indo-European Hausos,
Goddess of dawn, and the Roman and Greek Goddesses, Aurora and Eos. In German
Austron means dawn, derived from Aus, “to shine.” The ancient word for Spring
was Eastre, and Goddesses in many cultures are celebrated as the bearer of
springtime. Many Goddesses and Gods are represented as spring deities:
Aphrodite ~ Cyprus
Ashtoreth ~ Israel
Astarte ~ Greece
Auset/Ast and Heru ~ Kemet (Egypt)
Demeter ~ Mycenae
Het-Heru (Neb-Het/ Hathor)~ KMT (Egypt)
Ishtar ~ Assyria
Kali ~ India
Ostara ~ Norse Goddess of fertility
The Middle East celebrate many Spring festivals, including
the Iranian Nowruz, ascension of the mythological king of Persia. Commemorated
by Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, India, Turkey, Zanzibar, Albania, Kurds, and
central Asia, it is a Zoroastrian holiday, and celebrated by Baha’i’ and Nizari Ismaili Muslims.
Sham El Nessim has been celebrated since 2700 B.C. the
ancients celebrated this creation story with a feast at the Great Pyramid. The
feast of Shemu, means ‘renewal of life’ later changed to Shu/‘shaam’ (smelling
or breathing) and ‘nessim’ (breeze). Sham El Nessim is celebrated as a national
holiday, and is celebrated by Christians and Muslims as “Easter Monday”.
Rabbits & Eggs
Easter represents
renewal and fertility. Eggs and rabbits were considered sacred. Rabbits are
potent symbol of fertility, as a female rabbit can conceive a second litter while
still pregnant with the first!
The Earth in Spring is filled with fertility and awakening. Many people Bless their homes, Newborn Babies and get married during this season and many children are born during this time. The egg is an obvious symbol, of rebirth since
ancient times. The hare was a sacred animal of the Spring Moon. At vernal equinox
an egg, is the symbol of New Life.
In current times Easter is just another re-enactment ritual for the massacre of our Sacred Indigo Queen Mother Womb- of Mankind and our Black Indigo KRSTal Children in Europe! This is why they "hunt" for Chocolate and "Colored" Eggs! This is the REAL anti-KRST who has come onto the world to steal from our Ancient civilizations and replace our spirituality with their religions, then to destroy our way of life and finally to kill our Heru KRSTs who are rising or resurrecting in the world!
http://amen-parankh.blogspot.com/2014/07/black-male-youth-are-krst.html
The 3 day Je-w+Zeus death/ crucifixion and resurrection reenactment was thrown in to exacerbate the ongoing lynching of people of color and to promote the inception of terror to maintain the status quo of slavery.
Remember that many people were killed or executed by lynching at that same site; Golgotha or Calvary, and on that same day, he didn't die alone. This was a ritual site for human sacrifice. Many people have been and are still being terminated even though they are innocent of any crime. They become martyrs for a cause. Lynching is crucifixion. Public Execution is now done by the officers of another unjust system who choose to also act as judge and jury and their method of choice is a gun.
Our Mother Earth
Earth is referred to as Mother since ancient times: “Mother
Earth” and “Mother Nature.” Watching the cycles of Nature one sees that rain
falling brings life to Earth, so ancient cultures saw Father as Heaven, and
Earth as Mother.
The union of the Sun-Ra and Auset brought forth the immaculate conception of a son Heru
symbolic of abundant crops, as the rains from the sky met the welcoming earth.
Festivals like “The Marriage Feast of Canaan” were Spring fertility rites in
ancient times which celebrated Pregnancy. Many families would marry during this celebration.
Sunrise celebrations centered on growth and renewal. Growers
celebrated to petition for abundant crops, and eggs were eaten and exchanged as
talismans.
The middle east celebrates many Spring festivals, including
the Iranian Nowruz, ascension of the mythological king of Persia. Commemorated
by Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, India, Turkey, Zanzibar, Albania, Kurds, and
central Asia, it is a Zoroastrian holiday, and celebrated by Baha’i’ and Nizari Ismaili Muslims.
Sham El Nessim has been celebrated since 2700 B.C. the
ancients celebrated this creation story with a feast at the Great Pyramid. The
feast of Shemu, means ‘renewal of life’ later changed to Shu/‘shaam’ (smelling
or breathing) and ‘nessim’ (breeze). Sham El Nessim is celebrated as a national
holiday, and is celebrated by Christians and Muslims as “Easter Monday”.
So essentially Easter is the celebration of the fertile womb
and the lunar menstrual cycle. Easter was not always celebrated as the Ascension
Christ from the dead; the meaning of Easter was quite different from what
Christians celebrate today. Long before the name of Jesus, many peoples
associated this festival with the coming back to life of the god of the earth Ta-mmuz
(see Ezek 8:14,) also known as Geb, Ausar, Adonis Orpheus or Perseus, who had been
dead in the underworld during the winter to rise in the spring. The name
by which Christians still celebrate the festival is the name of
the ancient fertility goddess Eastre, Ishtar, Auset, or Ashtoreth (whose name
also survives in the name of one of the books of the Old Testament, the only
Bible book that contains no reference to God - the Book of Esther).
Ausar is considered the god who conquered the underworld. Heru, the first to be born by Immaculate conception from Auset, Is considered to be the reborn sun in the east.
Easter was originally (and still is) a
celebration of the fertility of the earth, renewed each springtime. The egg,
the chick, the rabbit, the flowers, are all fertility symbols (and much older
than this latest Christian symbol). Its celebration has
often been marked by sexual exuberance, pregnancy and new birth, as is still
prominent in the pre-Lenten Carnivals and Mardi Gras festivals and the phallic
symbolism of the May pole and the cross. Easter was celebrated as a time of new life, Beauty, sunshine, and birth. So Jesus (in the Christian version of the myth) is just the latest in a long line of gods to symbolize new life through resurrection.
The precise date of Easter has at times been a matter for
contention. By the later 2nd century, it was accepted that the celebration of
the holiday was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition.
The First Council of Nicaea (325) established the date of
Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal Full Moon) following
the March equinox. Ecclesiastically, the equinox is reckoned to be on 21 March. So Easter is a movable feast, meaning it is not fixed on the calendar. In Western Christianity, he date of Easter varies from 22 March to 25 April inclusive. churches in and around Rome
observed the practice of celebrating Easter on the following Sunday calling it
“the day of the resurrection of our Savior.”
Eastern Christianity bases its calculations on the Julian calendar, whose 21
March corresponds, during the 21st century, to 3 April in the Gregorian
calendar, and in which therefore the celebration of Easter varies between 4
April and 8 May. Initially, in the early days,
The specific day on which the resurrection should be
celebrated became a major point of contention within the church.
If his resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted
to all who believe in Him, when was he crucified- To rise again in three days?
Did he rise on the Sabbath or the first day of the week?
It is the central tenet of Christian faith and theology and
part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in accordance
with the Scriptures.” The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of
the Christian faith, according to the Apostle Paul, who even says that if Jesus
Christ has not been resurrected then the Christian faith is worthless and
futile (1 Cor. 15:14-17). Therefore, without Easter there is no Christianity.
Historically, the Christian church, because it could not eradicate the
celebration of what was considered a Pagan festival, reinterpreted it and assigned to it a new
meaning, but was unable to erase completely its original significance. The egg
and the rabbit, and the phallic pole, has persisted to be loved and celebrated as the new
life which the spring brings.
At Amen Par Ankh We celebrate The Vernal Equinox as the ending of winter. Now the Days will be longer and the nights will grow shorter until the Summer Solstice. We begin planting during the First New Moon. This is a time when we Glean new life and Ground from the soft land, Sprout fresh seeds for planting and sun-gaze to reset our 3rd eye from the winter.
Energize You!
- Enjoy a Seed festival and Seed Blessing
- Decorate
your home with Spring flowers; crocuses, daffodils, violets, lilac,
lilies, roses, iris
- Add
something green: a plant, candles, soap to represent growth and expansion
- Work
on projects and ideas initiated around Winter Solstice -Envisioning Boards
Here are some favorite Spring Flower symbols. Add some to
your home!
- Dogwood Flower:
4 petals symbolize 4 directions
- Iris:
Purity, wisdom, faith, birth blessing, life and resurrection
- Honeysuckle:
Rebirth, renewal, spiritual sight, versatile mind
- Jasmine:
Lunar, psychic, spiritual love
- Lily:
Strong associations with fertility, purity, rebirth
- Rose:
True love, joy, yellow roses for Eastre
The soil is prepared, planting season has begun, so sow your
seeds and hard work will bring you full bloom!
(c) All rights reserved. No part of this Blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the author; Nuta Beqsu Adenike AmenRa
I am available for Lectures, Libations, Griot Spoken Word Presentations, KMT Wedding, Birth and Ascension officiant, Salutations and Blessings for new beginnings, Home and Businesses, Afrikan Storytelling, Conferences and Workshops Contact: amen.parankh@gmail.com or amen.ankh@live.com Phone: 816-281-7704
Amen Par Ankh (Sacred House of Life) is a not profit Tax Exempt Spiritual, Educational and Science organization. They are tax Exempt and presently acquiring
vacant lots for growing foods in Metro Kansas City. Through Amen Ankh Enterprises LLC, and Amen Ankh Urban Farms, they are providing Services like, tilling and building raised beds, to grow
local foods for the spring to feed our at-risk youth and families. If you would
like to make a Donation, Volunteer, Learn, cultivate and feed Healthy food to our youth in Kansas city, Please feel
free to give us a call; 816-281-7704
Email us: amen.parankh@gmail.com and amen.ankh@live.com
