There is a move afoot to bring the date of Easter to a regular weekend in April, so that people know exactly when they can book their Spring holidays. This would be a shame because it would be yet another way in which modern society is being disconnected from its relationship with the heavens.
The origins of Easter lie far beyond the present era – far back in pagan times when the relationship between the Sun and Moon were markers for specific annual festivals. From our earliest history mankind has celebrated Easter, the period of highest fertility for all the creatures in the Northern Hemisphere and the strengthening of the Sun’s light. This festival is associated with rebirth, the arising of life after the death of winter. The roots of most Christian festivals can be found to have pagan origins and Easter is no exception.
The culture that eventually grew into the peoples of the Old Testament celebrates Passover at the same period as Easter. In fact, in the New Testament, Jesus is tried and put to death at the beginning of Passover. Therefore, the date of Passover itself is calculated by the same rules that we use to calculate Easter.
These ancient cultures all used a Lunar calendar – and many still do today. This means that the phases of the Moon, both New and Full, form the basis for all dating of events. Passover falls on the first Full Moon in Libra – which means that the Sun has to be in Aries and the Moon in the opposite side of the sky. Lunar phases are not regular and predictable like Solar phases – we always know when the Sun will enter a particular part of the sky, for example, because it visits the same degree of the Ecliptic (or Zodiac) on a specific date of the year. This is why birthdays are important. However, the Moon changes sign every two and a half days and presents her face to the Sun irregularly.
The Moon’s complete cycle around the Zodiac is 28 days and the Sun’s complete cycle takes a whole year. Therefore the days when the Moon is either New (in the same place as the Sun) or Full (placed in the opposite side of the sky) have to be recalculated for every festival.
Another thing that’s worth mentioning here, is that many people have tried many times to calculate the exact date of the Crucifixion by the dates of a Solar Eclipse in the early years of our Common Era. The Bible states that “darkness fell over the land” when Jesus died on the cross. This is not possible historically, as a Solar Eclipse can only happen when the New Moon passes over the exact same latitude of the Ecliptic occupied by the Sun, thus extinguishing its light by coming between the Earth and the Sun. And a New Moon at Passover is not possible as it is always celebrated on the Full Moon. A Lunar Eclipse can only be seen at night.
So, each year Easter is celebrated from the first Friday after the Full Moon in Libra – which is a moveable feast that connects us with our most ancient spiritual roots. And that connection must be maintained lest we lose sight of the importance of the Cosmos in our everyday lives.
