Good information Christa. Always appreciate your insights. In a recent survey by Neighbourly about Easter many said in the comments about the pagan roots. Nice to have that refuted by the evidence. Thank you.
The story of the supposed pre-Christian origin of hot cross buns goes something like this: The pagan Saxons would bake cross buns at the beginning of spring in honor of the goddess Ēostra- The cross represented the rebirth of the world after winter and the four quarters of the moon, as well as the four seasons and the wheel of life. Admittedly it’s a pretty cool story, but it is patently false. To be fair, the four quartered wheel in many Pagan circles does represent the four seasons (the Wheel of the Year) as well as the four quarters of the moon; however, that’s about where it ends. So where did the hot cross bun come from? They come from England and are not historically attested prior to about the 1700’s (about the same time as the children’s rhyme about them came out). To suggest that English bakers were carrying on some unbroken thousand plus year pagan tradition is a ridiculous train of thought. A sweet, fruity bake bearing a cross on top, the buns were given to the local poor on Good Friday. This Easter treat so pleased the recipients that word soon spread, and efforts were made across the country to imitate these cakes. By the 19th century, hot cross buns were commonly eaten on Good Friday to mark the end of Lent. There is a story of one Thomas Rocliffe, a 14th-century monk of St. Alban’s in England, is widely credited as making the very first hot cross bun, the Alban Bun, in 1361.This story however, appears to also be patently false and was concocted by a baker in the 1800’s to promote the sale of his particular product. Again we have an instance of assuming there are direct connections between cultural and historical parallels where there aren’t any at all. This is just such a case. Hot cross buns, though similar in appearance to those made in ancient times, are in no way connected to them, nor are they some sort of continuation of a pre-Christian tradition; that’s just some very wishful thinking. Easter derives from Ēostra; the Anglo-Saxon name variation of the West Germanic goddess of dawn (and possibly spring, but most definitely *not* fertility). Indeed, an entire month was named after her; April. In Anglo-Saxon (Old English) it was called Ēosturmônað - Ēostra-month). 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. Bede was born during the early stages of the Christianization of England, when the names of the Anglo-Saxon gods and goddesses would have been common knowledge, and still worshiped in many places. The highly respected father of English history would have been unlikely to invent a goddess of that name. He would have been "called out" on it had he done so. Furthermore, a number of English place names of Saxon origin, such as Eastry in Kent, Eastrea in Cambridgeshire and Eastrington in East Yorkshire, are derived from Ēostra. The Indo-European root of this name is cognate to other dawn goddesses in Europe; for example, the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, has the same root. There are many names of gods and goddesses that still survive in the oral traditions, but are either not evidenced, or very sparsely evidenced in the written tradition. The fact that Ēostra does not appear in the written corpus, does not exclude her existence. The Norse Vanir, for example, appear in only three written sources. The Egyptian ritual of the Five Gifts of Hathor only survives in the oral tradition of Egypt; it is very poorly documented in actual texts. Further, Ostara (in another form, ‘Austra’) was verified in 1958 with the discovery of more than 150 Roman-Germanic votive inscriptions to the matronae (female deities) Austria-hena near Bonn, Germany which were dated to the 2nd century AD, well before the Christian era in that part of Europe. The evidence of her existence appears to be rather strong. In addition, the mere fact that in the very places she was most prevalent (Anglo-Saxon England and northwest Germany), the name for the pre-Christian spring celebration is still called by her name (Easter and Oster) and was not overtaken by English and German forms of what in Dutch is “paask”, (Easter - derived for Hebrew “pesach” - Passover) strongly speaks to her existence. Clearly, this was not someone merely 'invented' by Bede as some would suggest. It would seem that such a deity did exist in the Anglo-Saxon and northern German pantheon. 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! As for eggs at Easter, they were forbidden food during the Lenten fast. Eggs are the product of a warm-blooded animal, all of which were forbidden during Lent; the fish being cold-blooded was an allowed food; hence the association of Lent with eating fish. Because eggs were forbidden during Lent, on Easter Sunday, eating eggs was regarded as a ‘treat’ of sorts. This was especially true for poorer people who did not keep animals for slaughter and could not afford to buy meat. In anticipation of Easter, in many traditions, the eggs were colored during the last days of Lent to mark the end of penance and fasting. In many countries, the colors used are highly symbolic - the traditional red of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, for example, symbolizes the blood Christ shed for mankind. The secular traditions and customs of Easter are deeply rooted in the past, but that past is firmly rooted in an early Medieval Christian Europe past, not an ancient pagan one.
Good information Christa. Always appreciate your insights. In a recent survey by Neighbourly about Easter many said in the comments about the pagan roots. Nice to have that refuted by the evidence. Thank you.
Wow! Yes it certainly is a widespread opinion isn’t it :(
I never associated eggs and hotcross buns with Easter.
Thanks for commenting 😊
The story of the supposed pre-Christian origin of hot cross buns goes something like this:
The pagan Saxons would bake cross buns at the beginning of spring in honor of the goddess Ēostra- The cross represented the rebirth of the world after winter and the four quarters of the moon, as well as the four seasons and the wheel of life.
Admittedly it’s a pretty cool story, but it is patently false. To be fair, the four quartered wheel in many Pagan circles does represent the four seasons (the Wheel of the Year) as well as the four quarters of the moon; however, that’s about where it ends.
So where did the hot cross bun come from? They come from England and are not historically attested prior to about the 1700’s (about the same time as the children’s rhyme about them came out). To suggest that English bakers were carrying on some unbroken thousand plus year pagan tradition is a ridiculous train of thought.
A sweet, fruity bake bearing a cross on top, the buns were given to the local poor on Good Friday. This Easter treat so pleased the recipients that word soon spread, and efforts were made across the country to imitate these cakes. By the 19th century, hot cross buns were commonly eaten on Good Friday to mark the end of Lent.
There is a story of one Thomas Rocliffe, a 14th-century monk of St. Alban’s in England, is widely credited as making the very first hot cross bun, the Alban Bun, in 1361.This story however, appears to also be patently false and was concocted by a baker in the 1800’s to promote the sale of his particular product.
Again we have an instance of assuming there are direct connections between cultural and historical parallels where there aren’t any at all. This is just such a case. Hot cross buns, though similar in appearance to those made in ancient times, are in no way connected to them, nor are they some sort of continuation of a pre-Christian tradition; that’s just some very wishful thinking.
Easter derives from Ēostra; the Anglo-Saxon name variation of the West Germanic goddess of dawn (and possibly spring, but most definitely *not* fertility). Indeed, an entire month was named after her; April. In Anglo-Saxon (Old English) it was called Ēosturmônað - Ēostra-month). 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.
Bede was born during the early stages of the Christianization of England, when the names of the Anglo-Saxon gods and goddesses would have been common knowledge, and still worshiped in many places. The highly respected father of English history would have been unlikely to invent a goddess of that name. He would have been "called out" on it had he done so. Furthermore, a number of English place names of Saxon origin, such as Eastry in Kent, Eastrea in Cambridgeshire and Eastrington in East Yorkshire, are derived from Ēostra.
The Indo-European root of this name is cognate to other dawn goddesses in Europe; for example, the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, has the same root. There are many names of gods and goddesses that still survive in the oral traditions, but are either not evidenced, or very sparsely evidenced in the written tradition. The fact that Ēostra does not appear in the written corpus, does not exclude her existence. The Norse Vanir, for example, appear in only three written sources. The Egyptian ritual of the Five Gifts of Hathor only survives in the oral tradition of Egypt; it is very poorly documented in actual texts.
Further, Ostara (in another form, ‘Austra’) was verified in 1958 with the discovery of more than 150 Roman-Germanic votive inscriptions to the matronae (female deities) Austria-hena near Bonn, Germany which were dated to the 2nd century AD, well before the Christian era in that part of Europe. The evidence of her existence appears to be rather strong. In addition, the mere fact that in the very places she was most prevalent (Anglo-Saxon England and northwest Germany), the name for the pre-Christian spring celebration is still called by her name (Easter and Oster) and was not overtaken by English and German forms of what in Dutch is “paask”, (Easter - derived for Hebrew “pesach” - Passover) strongly speaks to her existence. Clearly, this was not someone merely 'invented' by Bede as some would suggest. It would seem that such a deity did exist in the Anglo-Saxon and northern German pantheon.
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!
As for eggs at Easter, they were forbidden food during the Lenten fast. Eggs are the product of a warm-blooded animal, all of which were forbidden during Lent; the fish being cold-blooded was an allowed food; hence the association of Lent with eating fish.
Because eggs were forbidden during Lent, on Easter Sunday, eating eggs was regarded as a ‘treat’ of sorts. This was especially true for poorer people who did not keep animals for slaughter and could not afford to buy meat. In anticipation of Easter, in many traditions, the eggs were colored during the last days of Lent to mark the end of penance and fasting. In many countries, the colors used are highly symbolic - the traditional red of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, for example, symbolizes the blood Christ shed for mankind.
The secular traditions and customs of Easter are deeply rooted in the past, but that past is firmly rooted in an early Medieval Christian Europe past, not an ancient pagan one.
Thanks for commenting ☺️