“Ostara” by Johannes Gehrts (1884). The word “Easter” comes from the name of a Germanic fertility goddess. Very little is known about her (as is often the case about western European pagan deities), but the English writer Bede recorded in the 8th century that pagans had been partaking in rituals celebrating the goddess during one of their months: “Eosturmonath”, but (and here one has the impression that he reports in a relieved tone) Christianity’s Easter/Paschal celebrations have replaced it.
