The roots of Easter - The Vedic Universe.

Happy Easter!

I have done some research about Easter and I have found the Vedic connection which is quite interesting. {Monday post}.

Easter was originally the celebration of Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess. The egg symbol was sacred to the Babylonians.

They believed that a Cosmic Egg fell from the heavens into the Euphrates river, from which the goddess Ishtar ( Venusian goddess) was hatched. For this reason, the egg came to symbolize the spring celebration of Austrõn, Ôstarâ, Ēoster or Eástre, a later Saxon goddess descended from Ishtar.

In Rome, the egg was also part of the sacred ceremonies of the Mysteries of Bacchus, who incidentally is associated with the Green Man carved throughout Rosslyn chapel.

Under the Roman Empire, Christianity adopted the pagan rituals integrating these celebrations. In 325CE the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.

The tradition of coloring and hiding Easter eggs actually originated in the fertility rites associated with many Venusian goddesses.Northern Europe, China, and Japan, eggs were colored for their sacred festivals.

The Sanskrit term for the Cosmic Egg is Brahmanda, Brahm meaning “cosmos” and Anda meaning “egg.” In the Vedic Upanishads (appendices to the Vedas), the Hiranyagarbha or “golden fetus” was believed to have floated around in emptiness for a while before breaking in half to form the Dyaus (Heaven) and Prithvi (Earth). In the Hindu scriptures, with Dyauṣ if Father Sky, &and Pṛthivī is Mother Earth.

In Induism, Brahman splits into male (Parashiva) and female (Parasakti) and manifests as the universe. The parashiva has 5 faces:

Sadyojata — west-aspect that propagates manifest Brahman; associated with Vishnu; represents water.

Tatpurusha — east-aspect that reveals; associated with rudra, Rishi, Muni, Jnani, yogi; represents light.

Vamadeva — north-aspect that sustains manifest Brahman; associated with Ishwara; represents air or vital life force.

Isana - Upper- aspect that conceals; associated with all that exists; represents ether(space).

Aghora — south-aspect that rejuvenates manifest Brahman; associated with brahma; represents earth.

Adhomukha — lower-aspect that enjoy manifest Brahman; associated with shanmukha; represents fire.

You can see how the cardinal points relate to the Elements (hence there is a specific direction for the rooms in the house).

Brahm is Cosmo which is deeply studied in Vedic astrology {Jyotish} and is represented in Yantra symbolism.

Sri Yantra {the red colorpicture} is an abstract representation of the Mother (and Father too!) as Cosmos. Every Yantra is a symbolic representation of both a deity as well as the universe, as the mother goddess not only permeates the substance of the universe; she is, literally, the Universe itself. Abstract geometric representations of the universe, which do not represent a deity, are called mandalas, however. Thus every Yantra is a mandala, though not all mandalas are Yantras.

Together, the Cosmic Egg and Venus symbolized renewal and everlasting life at the top of the World Mountain of Meru. 

The video link shows the Vedic tour of the Universe (Jyotisha - Vedic Astrology).

https://youtu.be/88mCIlrfLN4