dionysos enorches

The Covid pandemic was a bad flu mixed in with a magic spell.
You might want to keep that to yourself.
Nah, that's a good one because I can explain it without coming across as too nuts.
Most people know by now how nonsensical those years were.

Paul can be moody.
Dionysos is very talkative.
Why do you think that is?
Dion was shut away for a long time while Paul had the run of the place.
Yeah, but Paul is quiet.
Why was I a quiet and shy kid?
Other people.
They try to dominate interactions.
It's endemic to the whole human experience where you notice this behaviour in sexual relationships and business because they are more raw in terms of showcasing behaviour and then we don't realize it permeates all walks of life.
You don't have a personality which is dominating and needs to control other people, however you don't want to be controlled.
This leads you towards withdrawing.
Thanks, doctor.
Why don't you exhibit this same behaviour as well, doctor?
Oh, there's no controlling me.
I'm it, the big kahuna.
There's nothing more than me.
You have an interesting confidence.
Yes, it's quite the thing to go through life knowing you're better than others.
How do you do it?
For the most part you shut up about it.

What do you think of the act in ancient Egypt of raising the Djed pillar?
It's hard to grasp it completely if you follow the interpretations of Egyptologists.
Why is that?
They are prudes.
It depicts the power of the life force to animate you.
How is that done?
In a male it's virility.
The pillar is your penis.
Osiris is the symbol and the strong life force in him gives him a huge erection.
I have pictures I took in Egypt at his temple in Abydos which will demonstrate this to you.
Nobody tells you this.
If you dig into ancient Egyptian thought, you come across the Heb Sed festival where the pharaoh had to prove his virility to the two serpent goddesses.
What did he have to do?
He'd masturbate in front of them to completion.
It's harder than you think when you get old.
What do you think bull cults were?
They are ancient parallels to Viagra.
The ancient Egyptians were using worship of the bull and magic for power.
One of those purposes was virility.
The pharaoh needed to be able to get hard.
Why?
That defines an alpha male.
It's all about strength and virility with a man.

The pharaoh needed a harem to maintain his virility.
He always had to prove he was virile.
Festivals.
Bull cults.
He needed to get it up like Osiris or they got rid of him.
Needed strength or he was ousted.

Do you consider yourself a bull?
You mean alpha?
Yes.
I don't compete with others for recognition.
Why?
If you must compete with other males for the honour of being an alpha male, then it's clear you aren't there.
Instead, I constantly demonstrate my superiority in whatever situation I encounter.
You make a good case.
If you are the top dog, which I clearly am, I don't need others to tell me that.
I see them come for me.
What do you do?
I get out of the way.
Why don't you fight them?
Because I'll destroy them.
You mean like Pentheus?
Don't pick a fight with me.
So, you're an alpha?
I don't pick a side.
You can't be both.
Why?
You must choose.
Who says?
Society.
Society says you need a role.
You are an alpha male or a beta male.
You need to pick a side.
I don't choose.
I dominate whatever game I choose to play.
I cannot deny that.
I submit when it gives me a perverse thrill.
That's the truth.
So, you really are Dionysos.
Who did you think I was?
Some random spectre I conjured from drug use.
Could be.

axis mundi

The initial inclination upon study of the spiritual conception of the Axis Mundi is to look externally for the answer. Eventually, you circle back around and will see the answer is within; curiously, you then see internally is everything that occurs externally, and with the help of a few good friends, you can find all that you need within yourself. There's no getting away free though as the dragon is also within and we can carelessly project that wrath and greed upon the world.

Who are you? You are the whole universe expressing itself from the standpoint of you being in the centre of it all. And you are doing just that at this very moment. In a spherical shaped construct every point is the centre; so, every position becomes the Axis Mundi on this particular blue rock twirling and whirling through space. Ritually, you can create and celebrate this centre and many ancient cultures founded their national identity upon this concept.

In pre-Columbian South America at Chavin de Huantar, the confluence of the Huachesca and Mosna Rivers was seen as a naturally occurring power centre and cultures converged upon this Axis Mundi from the coast, highlands, and jungle to give rise to a great period of peace and sharing. On the temple grounds, the stone idol called by archaeologists the "lanzon", is within the subterranean labyrinth and ritually represents this centre of the world.

replica from SpiritQuest of the Chavin lanzon

The chthonic aspects of the idol within the temple esoterically demonstrates for the initiate that within you can find the god as well. The Hindu Mount Kailash in Tibet is an Axis Mundi also where the holy family of Shiva and Parvati cradling Ganesha is pictured here.

The pillar was another way in ancient civilizations to represent the world axis. The worship of the regenerative phallus in the Ancient Greek mystery cult of Dionysos is representing this central pillar and this is also seen as the raising of the djed pillar in Ancient Egypt with Osiris.

Pharaoh Seti I raising the djed pillar at his temple in Abydos

The remembering of the god and enlivening him with life force power, represented here as being ithyphallic, is also re-establishing the Axis Mundi.

Regenerative Osiris/the eternal return

Other depictions of the symbolic centre in world mythology are the world tree which unites the sky, earth, and underworld; a vine or stalk reaching up to the heavens (think Jack and the Beanstalk); a ladder such as the one visualized by Jacob in Genesis; the omphalos at the temple of Delphi used by the oracle; Jerusalem -  the city of gold, along with Mount Zion, and various rods of healing such as the the serpent entwined rod of Asclepius with the snake acting as the guide to wisdom and knowledge contained within the iconic representation of the Axis Mundi. This cosmic axis is the link between heaven and earth and is often where the four directions of the earth emanate from, such as the four rivers that flow out of the Garden of Eden in the opening of Genesis.

Many civilizations thought of themselves as embodying this centre. China means "middle kingdom" and the venerable Mount Fuji in Japan was a symbol for the world axis. Of such importance to cultures is the Axis Mundi that civilizations erected mountains of stone such as the pyramids in Egypt and Teotihuacán in Mexico plus the Mesopotamian ziggurats, all designed to capture this motif.

Ancient Egyptian pyramids on the Gizah plateau

It was not just imposing objects in nature that could represent the Axis Mundi but also within the human form can be found this centre. The Hindu chakra system, powered by the rising of the Kundalini serpent, is an expression of this belief.

The Axis Mundi contains the fount of knowledge at the heart of the journey of all those invested in the hero's journey. As all seekers eventually learn, what you had to invest great time and effort in externally to find your treasure is paradoxically found within. The knowledge of self is guarded by a dragon and there's a good chance you'll get crucified on that world axis if you are none too careful. In the ancient story of the "Hymn of the Pearl" in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas, the pearl is the knowledge you seek - grab it and don't linger or the dragon will get you!

Throughout life we establish and recognize these axes in others and society, with the capacity to become a dominant Axis Mundi ourselves. In a way, being the centre is an expression of the fullness of ego in that there is a choice in whether to use this power to be of service and to help the collective consciousness of society or to use it in a selfish manner for your own personal gain. With most, unless you were born a saint, there is a need to experience the selfish aspect of acquiring this third chakra power and hopefully you will have the good fortune to have teachers and role models in your life to steer you towards a wise and benevolent use of your influence and power. Being a node or a pillar that others feed off of is a great responsibility and as provider I have an unique opportunity to be as such. I know from my journeys with plant medicines that the world system is made up of these power nodes and they are symbols of greed and avarice however there is a choice in how you use power and when you make yourself a shining example of how to use it then it influences others within your circle to do similar. If we ever do defeat the inner adversary then it is through directly choosing to love our fellow travellers on this glorious spaceship.

Remember every point In the universe is the centre. So, ritually create the Axis Mundi and embrace the all. Live in the eternal now as the centre of all existence. Embrace the greatness, as you are it. 

i need some time

Sometimes it is hard to keep track of time or we just lose track of time. Interesting that the same thing applies to the god of time. We have lost track of him and because of it mythology has been thrown into confusion. If we could track down and harness this time, then things will become clearer and orderly.

So, who is the god of time? From Greek sources we get the god of time being Chronos and from this we have the modern words such as chronicle, chronology, and chronic. Chronos means an indeterminable portion of time. He can be depicted with wings and also in the pose of Father Time as a wise old man with a long, grey beard. Also, Chronos was imagined as an ethereal god with three heads - a man, a bull and a lion - but serpentine in form. A common alternative name for Chronos was Aeon, eternal time, and this Aeon would be depicted in Greco-Roman mosaics as a man turning a Zodiac Wheel. In this form, he was a youthful god.

Confusing this line of mythology is another Greek Titan god named Cronus who also had a connection to time. This Titan overthrew his father Uranus after castrating him and ruled over earth's Golden Age. ronus was eventually overthrown by his son Zeus and sent to Tartarus. A little side trip to Tartarus now. Tartarus is an abyss below the underworld where the sinners were sent. Keep this point in mind.
From Cicero, De Natura Deorum 2. 24 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :

"[Khronos and the Titan Kronos are identical in this passage :] By Saturnus [Kronos] again they denoted that being who maintains the course and revolution of the seasons and periods of time, the deity so designated in Greek, for Saturnus’ Greek name is Kronos, which is the same as khronos, a space of time."
http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Khronos.html

At some point in the classical world there was a conflagration of these two deities with this amalgamation further confusing the concept behind the personification of time. To even further muddy the waters would be the Roman name for the the time god which was in latin Saturnus which we know today as Saturn. Saturnus was an agricultural god that reigned over harvest time. He ruled over the Golden Age and was also connected to the concept of justice. During the time of the winter solstice the Romans would partake in a great seven day festival known as the Saturnalia. More on the Saturnalia later. If that didn't confuse enough we have today the planet Saturn. Saturn was named after the Roman god of time, Saturnus. It is important to remember that the planet Saturn was named after, not because of, the god of time. That concept already existed and was applied to a planet afterwards. You will find numerous well intentioned references in books and on the internet that conflate the mythology of Saturnus with the dim, slow moving planet we call Saturn. You will be told that Saturday was named by the Romans after the planet Saturn - not true - they named it after their god of time, Saturnus. Get this planet out of your head and you can start to make sense of and unravel the whole huge edifice.

Now, time to switch gears. As Plutarch tells us, the story of Osiris and Isis in ancient Egypt is a story of the love of these two as they ruled over an age where all was good and pure in the world. They educated man in the use of agriculture and tamed the barbarian so that mankind could enjoy civilization. This Golden Age or as the ancient Egyptians called it, Zep Tepi (The First Time), ended upon the death of Osiris at the hands of his jealous brother Set.

Isis revives Osiris long enough to be impregnated by his seed and from this union she gives birth to Horus. Among other allusions to the dying and resurrected god man Osiris, the ancient Egyptians would see this aspect of Osiris in the the cyclical vegetation cycle where a seed (Osiris) is buried in the earth (Isis) at the end of the previous threshing season and from this is born the fruit in the following growing season. Inside the tomb of Tutankhamun was found seeded dirt or corn mummies in the shape of Osiris that would germinate in the darkness to help with Tutankhamun's resurrection.

"...Effigies made of vegetable mould and stuffed with corn were buried in graves or placed between the legs of mummies. In a representation at Philae we see the dead body of Osiris with stalks of corn springing from it, watered by a priest. There is an inscription: 'This is the form of him whom one may not name, Osiris of the mysteries, who springs from the returning waters.' A religion then of the earth and its fertility; but at the same time, a promise of resurrection for the dead."
John Ferguson, An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Mysticism and the Mystery Religions

The foregoing survey of the myth and ritual of Osiris may suffice to prove that in one of his aspects the god was a personification of the corn, which may be said to die and come to life again every year. Through all the pomp and glamour with which in later times the priests had invested his worship, the conception of him as the corn-god comes clearly out in the festival of his death and resurrection, which was celebrated in the month of Khoiak and at a later period in the month of Athyr. That festival appears to have been essentially a festival of sowing, which properly fell at the time when the husbandman actually committed the seed to the earth. On that occasion an effigy of the corn-god, moulded of earth and corn, was buried with funeral rites in the ground in order that, dying there, he might come to life again with the new crops. The ceremony was, in fact, a charm to ensure the growth of the corn by sympathetic magic, and we may conjecture that as such it was practised in a simple form by every Egyptian farmer on his fields long before it was adopted and transfigured by the priests in the stately ritual of the temple.
The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazier, pages 377-378.

From the representations we have of the more public Mysteries, it can be concluded that their fundamental theme is that of the permanence of life, even in face of the death inherent in every creature: there is no ultimate death, but only changes of state throughout an ever-renewing genesis from seed to the fruit which is the new seed. When the king himself cut the sheaves with his golden sickle in the harvest season it represented the death of Osiris. The threshing evokes his dismemberment by Seth, while the sowing is his entombment, and at the same time the posthumous fecundation of Isis (the earth) by Osiris (the grain).
Egyptian Mysteries - New light on ancient knowledge, Lucie Lamy, page 86.

Keep in mind that by corn what is meant in modern day parlance is grain.

A symbol of the latent reconstituted Osiris is the Djed pillar.

Osiris as the Djed pillar speaks of the permanence of the soul. It can be torn asunder, scattered but not destroyed. It is eternal. The fourfold nature of the pillar also symbolizes Osiris' dominion over the four corners of the earth. As we can see, Osiris is an agricultural deity as well as a symbol of permanence all in addition to his celestial role as Orion.

From the book Gods and Men in Egypt, we can get a better understanding of Osiris' role as a time god:

 
But we know otherwise that the theologians made an immense effort to make of Re and Osiris two indissociable aspects of the divine, representing the course of the sun in its diurnal and nocturnal aspects, symbolizing yesterday and tomorrow. Neheh and djet are thus con-substantially associated. This double aspect is summarized with great concision in two complex but extremely evocative signs that were used in the Ptolemaic texts. The sun disk, appearing in the horizon and containing a falcon, an image of the sun god, represents neheh, while a serpent wrapped around a mummy, or better still, around Osiris himself, served to write djet, the prototype of the ouroboros. Time, in its form of neheh and djet, time that cannot be quantified, which is counted indefinitely in millions and millions, nevertheless had a beginning and undoubtedly an end.
Gods and Men in Egypt, by Françoise Dunand and Christiane Zivie-Coche, page 70.

Once again, we see the concept of the serpent associated with the time god, this time with Osiris and his role as an eternal god of time.

In the Pyramid Texts, Osiris is described as a time god:

Utterance 577
1520a. To say: Osiris dawns, pure, mighty; high, lord of truth
1520b. on the first of the year; lord of the year.

Okay, let's start making some connections: from Richard Hinckley Allen's book, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning we get this from his chapter on the constellation of Orion:

 
Saturnus has been another title, but its connection here I cannot learn, although I hazard the guess that as this divinity was the sun-god of the Phoenicians, his name might naturally be used for Uruanna-Orion, the sun-god of the Akkadians.
Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (New York: Dover Publications, 1963), page 308.

...Cronos had a Latin counterpart, Saturn, whose name probably came from that of an Etruscan god but is traditionally supposed to come from the verb 'serere', to sow. This folk etymology is worth taking seriously, simply because those who took over the worship of Saturn did so. It then becomes clear that we inherit the notion of time as both reaper and sower, which makes Cronos the god of harvest.
Hamlet's Mill, Santillana and von Dechend, page 332.

Saturnus was so named because the completed act of sowing in latin is "satus." Eusebius of Caesarea, known as the "Father of Church History" has claimed that El, which is used as a name for God in the Old Testament, was also the name for Saturn or the Greek Cronus. This he got from reading Philo of Byblos, a Greek writer who gives an account of this El in a tract called Sanchuniathon. In this account, the Phoenician El is the son of the sky and earth, which is the parentage of Egypt's Osiris with the difference here being the sky is male and the earth female. Osiris' mother was the sky goddess Nut and his father the earth god Geb. El attacks his father sky with a sickle and castrates him to in order to force the sky and earth to remain apart so life could flourish. To appease his father sky, El offers his only begotten son as a burnt offering and circumcises himself.

Many ancient sources do compare Saturnus to the sun. In Babylonian astrological texts Saturnus is referred to as shamash - the sun. In Chaldean astronomy Saturnus was called alap-shamas - the star of the sun. Phaenon was a word used by the Greeks for Saturnus which means "the shining one". These appellations have confused scholars for years because they have never made the connection of Saturnus to Orion but held to the beliefs it referred to the planet Saturn. Staring them right in the face is the Roman festival called the Saturnalia, a seven day festival for Saturnus that ended with the birth of the new sun at the winter solstice. This false dichotomy spawned many incorrect assumptions that at some point in our ancient past the planet Saturn must have been as bright as the sun. It is strange to me that no one has ever bothered to look into the ancient Egyptian texts that clearly state that Osiris is the nocturnal sun.

 
The body of Osiris also played an important role in some of the New Kingdom Underworld Books. In the darkest hour of the night, the soul of the sun god Ra reached the cave where the body lay and became one with the soul of Osiris. This allowed Osiris and all the dead to awake and live again.
Egyptian Mythology, Geraldine Pinch, page 179.

A complex and particularly important relationship existed between Osiris and the sun god Re. Although Osiris was incorporated into the Heliopolitan theological system at a relatively early date, the god continued to grow in importance and by New Kingdom times his stature as an independent god was considerable; as is seen in titles which were applied to him such as 'lord of the universe', 'ruler of eternity' and 'king of the gods'. Osiris' position became, in fact, comparable to that of the sun god himself. He came to be regarded not only as the counterpart of Re in the netherworld, but also in some cases as the sun god's own body - so that Osiris and Re came to be considered as representing the body and soul, respectively, of a single great god. The solar cycle was thus imagined as the ba of Re descending into the underworld to unite with Osiris as his own corpse.
The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Richard H. Wilkinson, page 120.

As I have mentioned many times before, Orion is the constellation that represents Osiris. Richard Hinckley Allen claims Saturnus is an appellation for Orion but he does not know why. If he was still alive I would personally tell him.

Alright, now that we have made the connection of Osiris to Cronus to Saturnus to El and by inference Orion, I'd like to add in a few more bits of knowledge that will give you pause for thought. The god of time's day is Saturday and it is the seventh day of the week. Here is Cronos as Saturday:

http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/Z50.1G.html

Saturnus always had a snake wrapped around its body seven times and sometimes you see the signs of the zodiac in the spaces between the snakes coils. Orion's belt in antiquity was known as the L or Ell.
Seamen have called it the Golden Yard-arm; tradesmen, the L, or Ell, the Ell and Yard, the Yard-stick, and the Yard-wand…
Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (New York: Dover Publications, 1963), page 316.

It has been said dead men don't lie but also it seems the stars don't lie either. The ancient semitic Phoenicians called their great god El and we know this was Orion. We find Orion in the bible as Nimrod:

 
Later on the Jews called Orion Gibbōr, the Giant, considered as Nimrod bound to the sky for rebellion against Jehovah.
Richard Hinckley Allen, Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning (New York: Dover Publications, 1963), page 309.

The belt of the giant in the sky, el Jabbar, is replicated on the Gizah plateau as the three great pyramids. The celestial Orion as Osiris.

Next blog will start looking for this time god in unexpected places.

the ancient egyptian story of Anpu and Bata

A story exists in papyrus dating back to the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt, which was probably existent long before, about two brothers known as Anpu and Bata. It is a story of the betrayal of Bata by the wife of Anpu and subsequently Bata's misfortune that eventually leads to Bata becoming Pharaoh and ruling as the living Horus for thirty years. I'm interested in the name Bata, as I believe it fits into what I have tried to articulate in my blog entry "where do babies come from." Reading through the story, it is apparent Bata is the combination of the ba and ta as I have detailed in the aforementioned blog entry. It is the great ancient motif of the soul as the ancient Egyptian "ba" enjoining with matter which is "ta." The parallels in the story of Bata to Osiris are plentiful. Osiris' myth is the ancient Egyptians' story of the ba soul and its incarnation into matter. Bata's incarnation into a sacred bull with specific markings, representing the life force as "ka", is comparable to the Apis bull of Osiris. Bata's dismembering of his phallus, which is subsequently devoured by a fish, is well known in the story of Osiris. Anpu's wife's attempt to seduce Bata is a common motif concerning the virility of the ba and especially the role of Osiris who brings the abundance of life into the world. The wife of Anpu in this story is representing matter, the great harlot, and her desire to mate with the higher power Bata, who represents the immortal soul. After the incident with Anpu's wife, Bata flees to the valley of the acacia where he bides his time hunting wild beasts in the desert. Recalling Osiris and his connection to the constellation Orion in the zodiac, I'm reminded of the greatness of the hunter Orion and the many wild animals he hunts in the metaphorical wilderness of the sky. Eventually in the the story, the acacia tree in which Bata has incarnated is chopped down causing Bata to enter into the sleep of death. In the story of Osiris and Isis, we have the fragmented soul of Osiris becoming encapsulated in a tamarisk tree that is cut down and made into the great pillar of the King and Queen of Byblos. This also parallels the imagery of Osiris manifesting within the djed pillar and the importance of the raising of the djed pillar as biological life is constantly renewed.

As well, Bata incarnates into the sacred persea tree whose red heart shaped fruit is a great symbol for the heart that must be transformed in order to awaken Osiris from the sleep of death and engender a new life.

http://carrington-arts.com/AEnew.html

Eventually, the persea tree is cut down; however, a chip of wood from the trunk flies into the royal wife's mouth and once again Bata incarnates through the pregnancy, this time as the heir to the throne of man. These repetitions reveal Bata is constantly becoming entombed within matter, much like Osiris, and left for dead. Through successive incarnations, Bata finally succeeds in becoming reborn as the heir to the throne and eventually he becomes Pharaoh of Egypt, ruling as the living Horus. This is the greatest parallel to the story of Osiris and the rebirth into Horus which I have detailed in previous entries of this blog space. In addition, I want to point out the successive incarnations of Bata into different life forces which were known in ancient Egypt as the "ka". Bata incarnated as the flower of the acacia, the bull, the fruit of the persea tree, and finally as the crown prince. Though Bata appears in multiple and differing manifestations, it is important to realize he is always the same essence of Bata within these differing forms. This reincarnational model illustrates the oneness of our individual ba signature, our immortal soul, and how it will repeatedly incarnate into matter, experience the joys, tribulations, and cleansing of material existence, until finally the soul becomes born again as Horus the enlightened one ruling mightily over his lower self. The quest is complete and no longer will the ba have to reincarnate!

easter, eggs, rabbits and you

Springtime is certainly glorious with life re-appearing from what seemed dead in the winter. The sun grows stronger and the concentration of light increases with each passing day. Heralding in this change is Easter, my favourite of our modern religious festive celebrations. A quick perusal of the late March and early April calendar this year is of no use. I can't find Easter. What's up with that?

April 24 is the anointed date this year for Easter. Easter is determined by a few factors; the first one being the vernal equinox, which is the solar demarcation of spring here in the northern hemisphere. The second factor is the moon, specifically when it is full for the first time after the vernal equinox. The third and final determining factor is Sunday. Easter is always celebrated on a Sunday in the Christian Church so if the moon is full on a Tuesday you still have to wait until Sunday to pay homage to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This year the first full moon is actually on a Sunday, that date being April 17. However, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon so we have to wait as long as possible this year which is why the calendar shows April 24 as the day in 2011 that we celebrate Easter.

Well that's all good and everything and I'm sure there's a Catholic explanation for the above determination. Yet I have lots of question to ask about this. I'm going to list them off now:

Where does the name Easter come from? I can't find it in the bible and I can't find any commandment from Jesus or Yahweh to celebrate this day.
What's with connecting Easter and Jesus to solar phenomenon?
What's with connecting Easter and Jesus to lunar phenomenon?
Why is the Christian Church big on Sunday and not the Old Testament traditional day set aside for worship, which is the Friday sunset to Saturday sunset Sabbath?
What's up with the rabbit in the mythic pagan lore that we can't seem to separate from the Christian resurrection story? Last I checked a rabbit doesn't lay eggs.

Why does this rabbit wander around giving out eggs? That makes little sense. Where does this come from?

Some of those questions are quite difficult and to answer them would fill up a few chapters of a book so I'm going to just answer a few of those questions.

Easter is a name that just about everyone can agree comes from pagan lore. The Online Etymology Dictionary gives the history of the word Easter as such:

Easter
O.E. Easterdæg, from Eastre (Northumbrian Eostre), from P.Gmc. *Austron, a goddess of fertility and spring, probably originally of sunrise whose feast was celebrated at the spring equinox, from *austra-, from PIE *aus- "to shine" (especially of the dawn). Bede says Anglo-Saxon Christians adopted her name and many of the celebratory practices for their Mass of Christ's resurrection. Ultimately related to east. Almost all neighboring languages use a variant of Latin Pasche to name this holiday. Easter egg attested by 1825, earlier pace egg (1610s). Easter bunny attested by 1909. 
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=easter&searchmode=none

So, that confirms the pagan origins of the name but I think we can go even further than that. I was given some really good advice about four years ago - that advice being all roads lead to Egypt. However, it is true that historically all roads have been said to lead to Rome. If you take the path to Rome you do so at your own peril! Anyway, this goddess I can link with ancient Egypt. Most of the cursory knowledge that we have of ancient Egypt and what is taught to us in school comes by way of the Greeks. Therefore, we tend to be given the hellenized names of the gods and goddess of Egypt. Because the hieroglyphics have been deciphered, we can and should use the proper Egyptian names and not the Greek translations with their inherent corruption when the sound could not be properly transposed. This goddess is Isis, her Egyptian name being Aset. In the Egyptian tale of Isis and Osiris, Isis eventually revives Osiris so that Osiris can impregnate her and from this union is born the child Horus. Osiris' proper Egyptian name is Asar and Horus was known as Heru. Digging deeper into this myth, the story tells us about a child who is waiting to be born within all of us. Osiris is the spark of light, the spirit, who is inserted into the metaphorical womb within all of us known as Isis as this passage from the temple walls explains.

From Karnak there is an inscription calling Osiris 'he who resides in the house of conception' alluding to the impregnation of Isis and the consequent birth of Horus.
The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, by George Hart, pg. 120

Osiris becomes inert, mummified, due to the journey into the womb of matter. The myth fingers the murderer as his brother Set, the personification of the animal/beast life force within us, who tricks Osiris into going to sleep in a coffin and leaves him for dead. Isis labours to revive Osiris, all the while having to avoid her brother Set, who aims to make sure Osiris stays dead. Ultimately, Set represents our carnal desires which when we follow them never allows the development of our higher self; however, the ancient Egyptians also knew the importance of satisfying these desires of the Ka and did not leave that to chance. In this great myth, Isis perseveres and resurrects Osiris so that our greater spiritual self, Horus, is born from the union of spirit and matter. This new life is then tended to by the great mother Isis until it is strong enough to take on Set. Set is going to keep leading us into temptation regardless of our spiritual attainment which will once again bury the light within. In the ancient Egyptian myth of the "Contendings of Horus and Set" he is determined to murder Horus and reclaim the kingship for himself.

The ultimate message from the story is that the spirit that comes to earth must die and be resurrected in order for the greater spirit to be engendered in us. God is within us and must be awakened. I'm reminded of Saint Paul's teachings in the New Testament such as in 1 Corinthians 3:16 (King James Version):

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"

and in Ephesians 5:14:

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

It seems quite clear to me that Easter comes from the story of Isis and Osiris. The designation Easter is pretty close to Aset with the er part meaning light or rays of light, specifically coming from the ancient Egyptian image of eternal light known as Re or Ra.

Not convinced yet? I went to Egypt a few years ago a took a lot of pictures. Here's one I took in the temple of Seti I in Abydos:

Aset is on the left and in the upper left you will see Aset spelled out in hieroglyphics. Reading from right to left the AS in denoted by the chair or throne. T is represented by the top half of the half circle and symbolizes land or matter. So, you have Aset as the queen of matter. The E in Aset is something we moderns have placed in the name to help with pronunciation as vowels were not used in ancient languages. The sound was implied by the use of the glyph. We can only take educated guesses at to what the sound was but in many cases it can be discerned from the Greek or Coptic use of the name. Below the half circle glyph is an egg. The egg was usually included when writing out Aset's name on the monuments. To me, the egg symbolizes the potentiality that resides within Aset, which is Heru. It is analogous that within each of us is the seed or egg that will become the enlightened soul. You need to rouse Asar from his sleep of death in order to enact the process. Looking at this photo again, the pillar they are raising is called the Djed pillar and is a symbol of Asar. They are raising the pillar so Aset can be impregnated by Asar's seed, allowing the egg to quicken.

So, we now have Easter and eggs connected with Isis but what about that cute little bunny rabbit? Rabbits have long been known for their prolific ability to procreate but have also been observed burrowing into the ground and then springing forth from the ground like they have been resurrected. This is much like a seed buried in the earth or matter would do in springtime. Well, it just so happens that an epithet of Osiris was "Unnefer". Unnefer means to manifest, open, or appear in beauty. In this guise Osiris was portrayed with the head of a hare.

So, when you wake up on Easter remember Osiris is giving everyone of us an egg he has quickened through his union with Isis. That egg is your ticket to immortality. Don't drop it.