Ostara, Who, What, When?

This is but a brief overview to whet your appetite.  As we approach Easter this time in the Celtic calendar is called Ostara, many have presumed that Easter was named for the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.  While there may be some validity to this it seems that Ishtar’s primary legacy from the Sumerian tradition is the role of fertility figure.  The Akkadian Ishtar is associated with the planet Venus.  Her popularity as a goddess of erotic love was univ resale in the ancient Middle East.  In later myth she became known as the Queen of the Universe as she takes on the powers of An, Enlil, and Enki.

But in the Celtic calendar this time of year is called by the name Ostara.  Historical linguists have traced the name to a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn, from which may descend the various names  that we recognize in Ostara.  The earliest Proto-German name is Austro indicating dawn, or daybreak from an ancient word root meaning “to shine, glow”; and austero indicating east, eastwards, or towards the dawn.

The name of this “dawn-goddess” was lent to naming a month in her honor at springtime – Eastermonth the rough equivalent of April.  In Germany they similarly had Ostaramonth suggesting that the “dawn goddess” Ôstara was also recognized there.

A Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn is supported both by evidence of  names and the similarity of mythic representation of the dawn goddess among various Indo-European groups leads to a conclusion that a Proto-Indo-European goddess of dawn, a Euosos, who was characterized as a 'reluctant' bringer of light’ for which she is punished. This 'goddess of the dawn' is given additional linguistic support in that she is designated the 'daughter of heaven'."

In 1958, over 150 Romano-Germanic votive inscriptions to the matronae Austriahenae, a triad of goddesses, were discovered near Morken-Harff, Germany. They are datable to around 150–250 CE.  Some of these inscriptions refer to the Austriates. The name of these goddesses certainly derives from the stem austri-, which, if Germanic, would be cognate with the Old English Eostre.  

If we accept that the month name combines two elements meaning 'east' or 'eastern' and 'month', then the appearance of the equinoctial sunrise and its nearest full-moonrise, in their most easterly positions on the horizon, provide a logical explanation for both the timing and etymology of Eosturmonath – Ostara’s Month.

Eostre (Ostara) the goddess of the dawn of spring.