Easter (Astarte) is of pagan orgins.

[Tomoshibi]

The forum isn't going Pagan as a whole, but I did drop one Pagan-oriented thread in the religious section here. Other than that, there is just this thread that is discussing Easter and it's historical significance.

However, I did notice something on my previous post on this topic. I got my holidays a little crossed. Beltane isn't our equivalent of Easter. Ostara is the Pagan Easter. Sorry for the confusion. Here is a small cut from Lady Bridget's article on this holiday. This will sound a whole lot more sensible.

Ostara, Eostre, Easter, Vernal Equinox, Spring Equinox, and First Day of Spring are all names for the same festival time. This is the day when the light and darkness are of equal length, and afterwards the days get longer. This occurs when the Sun enters Aries, which is on March 20th or 21st. This is the time when the light symbolically "triumphs over darkness", so it is no wonder that the Christian's put their Easter, wbere the God of Light triumphs over darkness and rises again, at this time of year. It has long been the time for Gods to return from the Underworld, or the darkness, as we shall see.

Agriculturally, this is the time in most of Europe and America when the seeds are sown and planted in the ground. This corresponds in Wicca also to the planting of new ideas, new goals for the coming year, new businesses or new activities to be started.

This holiday is sacred to Eostre, Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring, also known as Ostre. Sacred to Her are eggs, and white rabbits. There is a legend in which a white rabbit fell in love with her, and to prove his love he laid colored eggs for her everyday. (Eggs and white rabbits, sound familiar anyone?) The white rabbit symbolizes the transformation of innocence, and constant fertility. The eggs symbolize new life, and also rebirth. In ancient times, when hens were not domesticated, it was necessary to climb trees and hunt for these eggs, no doubt a welcome treat after the dreary winter fare. Thus we may have the origination of the egg hunt so many cultures still do today. Also, since the eggs are found in the woven nests of birds, which were the inspration for woven baskets, we can see the link between the ancient ways and our traditions today of putting the colored eggs into pretty woven baskets.