#easter is based on ostara

[cat0fmanyc0l0rs]

Happy first day of spring! I have a $5 accessory base for that btw ;3 - https://ko-fi.com/s/c2f3a30d6f

[specialagentartemis]

#hey does anyone know what the deal was with the claims that Friday the 13th and Easter are actually pagan feminist fertility holidays #that were appropriated by the patriarchy/Catholic church? #because I feel like I'm going crazy seeing cnn quote that tumblr post from years ago #like which one came first (bc I can't find that post) and how true are those claims

@assclarinet Wh... what do you mean CNN is quoting tumblr posts. What.

Anyway. These claims go around constantly and they are just as sourceless as anything else in that post.

And as it is Easter Season, let's address them:

Was Easter actually a pagan feminist fertility holiday appropriated by the Catholic Church?

Short answer: No.

Long answer:

Easter is the theological core of Christianity. There is no Christianity without Easter. Easter is the holiest day of the Christian calendar, because it is the theological crux of the entire religion: that Jesus died, and then three days later he rose from the dead, his sacrifice having redeemed the world of sin and his resurrection ushering in a new age. Easter is a very Christian thing.

That's not typically what people who say this mean, though. They don't mean the Christian holy day of Jesus's resurrection Easter Sunday, they mean the hegemonic spring holiday in the culturally-Christian world that is pseudo-secularized Easter.

Was placing the central element of Christianity in the spring a way of co-opting pagan spring fertility festivals? No. It's fairly central to the Last Supper-crucifixion-resurrection narrative that it happened at Passover. The Gospels pretty well agree on this part, though there's conflict in the scholarship of whether the Last Supper was a Passover meal proper or happened a day before. (The seder as it is understood today wasn’t performed the same way back then, so it wasn’t properly a seder, either.) In early Christianity, the association of Easter with Passover was theologically significant--Jesus was (and is) called the Paschal lamb, equating Jesus's sacrifice with the sacrifice/slaughter of a lamb for the deliverance of the people from death. The timing of Easter is one of the few Christian holy days calculated based on the logic of the Jewish luni-solar calendar. It's not the same exact calendar, and they don't always directly coincide, but it's the same basis.

Early Christianity grew out of Judaism, and its relationship to Judaism, its self-view as the culmination of Judaism, remained significant to figures like Paul who have defined Christian thought and Church organization ever since. (Here’s a standard view on this presented from a Jewish perspective.) (This is a super interesting perspective from a Congregationalist Christian theologian with a keen interest on the Jewish roots of early Christianity.) (Here’s also a really interesting interview with provocative Jewish philosopher Daniel Boyarin about it.) Christianity and Judaism probably started really developing in different directions sometime after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, with the next few centuries seeing the rise of Rabbinic Judaism as well as the influx of pagan gentiles adopting Christianity and bringing their theological and philosophical backgrounds into it.

The upshot is: Easter is in the spring because Passover is in the spring.

Does the name "Easter" come from Ostara or Ishtar? No. These are the etymologies I see proposed to say, see! "Easter" steals the name of a pagan fertility goddess! And that's a super English-centric way of looking at the world. In most European languages (and let's be real, when people talk about Christianity stealing pagan holidays, they usually are thinking about, like, Celts), the name of Easter comes from the Latin "Pascha" which was adopted from the Greek "Pascha" which, wow, sounds an awful lot like Pesach, the Hebrew name of Passover. Because Easter was associated with Passover. Even in English, the formal, liturgical word for "pertaining to Easter" is "Paschal". So only in Germanic languages like German and English does the name of Easter come from non-Paschal origins.

Also there is no connection to Ishtar.

The etymology of "Easter" is super obscure, though.

Well, there was an Eostre, right? And the Easter bunny tradition was stolen from the pre-Christian Germanic pagan festivals for Eostre or Ostara? Ehhhhh. Dubious. This Library of Congress folklore blog post by a folklorist who has studied Middle English has a lot of well-cited information suggesting that most "received wisdom" about the pagan festivals or Eostre/Ostara that featured a hare derive from the Brothers Grimm in the 1800s. Jakob Grimm cites a single source for the evidence of a goddess Eostre, an 8th century Christian monk's writing.

Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated "Paschal month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her/its name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.

Definitely possible, even likely, there was some syncretism in the celebration activities there, but it's hard to prove what, and to what extent.

Grimm is the one who postulates the existence of Ostara based on this, using the methods of historical linguistics to derive a cognate with the old German oster-month. Note that the Grimms were 1) linguists as well as folklorists, and the idea of Ostara appears to come from linguistic hypothesis moreso than actual gathered folklore, and 2) very invested in nation-building through their folklore project. No other sources for Eostre or Ostara exist, though modern linguists have hypothesized a connection to the Vedic Ushas and Greek Eos as Indo-European dawn-goddesses. (Also hence the word "east.") So Eostre and Ostara may certainly have existed as Germanic goddesses/personifications of the dawn, but probably not fertility. And the month around April, as the return of spring, was associated with the dawn goddess. If so, Eostre gave her name to Eosturmonath ("Eostre-month"), which is when Easter fell (see above re: the timing of Passover), and so Eoastremonath became Easter-month became Easter. "Easter" then likely derives from the name of the month, not the goddess directly.

The story of Ostara and a hare was, as best I can tell, invented in the 1800s during a time of renewed interest in European paganism as, again, nation-building projects.

Hares, eggs/chicks, and flowers are all perennial symbols of spring and new life in Europe, so it wouldn't be surprising if older celebrations in springtime used them, and those got transferred onto Easter celebrations because, hey, spring, dawn, sunrise out of the night, new birth, resurrection, new life, it all kinda goes together. But it wasn't a holiday that was "appropriated by the patriarchy/Catholic Church,"; at most it was traditional spring festivities transferred onto the new spring festivity. This happened a lot.

As for the second question...

Was Friday the 13th a pagan fertility holiday and that's why it's been made unlucky now?

Short answer: No.

Long answer:

No one really agrees on why Friday the 13th is unlucky, but it probably also comes from Christianity. Friday is the unlucky day because it's the day that Jesus was crucified. 13 is the unlucky number because that's the number of people at the Last Supper. I've also seen several people online reference that Loki was the 13th guest at the feast where he caused the death of Baldr, but I can't find an actual source for that, and it feels very Christianity-influenced. The most influential records of old Norse/Icelandic mythology were written down in the 1200s, well after Christianity was the primary religion of the region, and Christian influences on Norse mythology as we know it now cannot be wholly discounted. So I'm somewhat skeptical Loki is the origin, either.

But also, and this is where I get more into personal hypothesizing, 12 is a very strong and auspicious number in a lot of cultures. There are (typically, approximately) 12 full moons in a year, so lots and lots of calendars split the year into 12 months. 12 is a good number for timekeeping and subdividing: Ancient Egyptians were the ones to develop 12-hour days/nights, and Mesopotamians the ones to split time into units of 60. There were twelve tribes of Israel, twelve disciples, twelve Olympians, twelve labors of Hercules, twelve constellations in the Greek zodiac and twelve years in the Chinese zodiac cycle. English has unique number-names up to twelve before we start going three-ten, four-ten, etc. We like twelves! Particularly in cultures influenced by the Mediterranean sphere. So I can imagine prime thirteen is ungainly, awkward... unlucky.

(Also, the idea of splitting the week into a cycle of 7 days originates from Judaism in the Biblical book of Genesis, continuing into Christianity and Islam from the same origin. The whole concept of "Friday" is inextricable from Abrahamic religions.)

There's no evidence it was ever a sacred pagan day for sex or anything like that. It just wasn't.

[dionysianivy]

𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𓇢𓆸

Peony: Asclepius, Aion, Apollo, Leto, Aphrodite

Crocus: Hermes, Brigid, Tyche, Zeus, Persephone, Hekate, Mercury, Aurora, Eos, Artemis

Asphodel: Hades, Persephone, Hekate

Columbine: Aphrodite, Venus, Freyja, Baldr

Flowering Quince: Aphrodite, Venus

Hellebore: Dionysus, Helle, Saturn, Loki, Hekate

Henbane: Hekate, Apollo, Artemis, Saturn

Pansy: Thoth, Hermes, Zeus, Venus, Aphrodite, Persephone

Dandelion: Brigid, Aphrodite, Hecate, Loki, Belenus, Hermes, Helios, Artio

Grape Hyacinth: Dionysus, Hyacinthus

Snowdrops: Brigid, Persephone, Freyja, Aphrodite, Nanna

Forget-me-not: Zeus, Freyja, Aphrodite (named „mouse ear” by her), Adonis

Magnolia: Artemis, Selene, Aphrodite, Kala

Bluebell: Selene, Hermes, Hekate

Lily of the Valley: Apollo, Asculapius, Maia, Mercury, Ostara, Skadi, Baldrr, Artemis

Primrose: Bertha, Brigid, Freyja

Hyacinth: Apollo, Zephyrus, Tyche, Hyacinthus, Quetzalcoatl, Yemaya, Dionysus

Anemone: Aphrodite, Adonis, Blodeuwedd, Artemis, Loki

Lilac: Pan, Venus, Sigyn, Dionysus

Chamomile: Tyche, Hermes, Ra, Helios, Mercury, Hestia, Oshun, Baldr, Hephaestus

Iris: Persephone, Iris, Hera, Juno, Horus, Isis

Easter Lily: Áine, Ostara

Azalea: Persephone, Artemis, Aphrodite

Tulip: Flora, Dionysus, Anahita, Eros, Lilith, Nyx

Gardenia Morpheus, Athena, Artemis, Selene

Lily: Persephone, Morrigan, Hera, Cybele, Artemis, Lilith, Thanatos

Daffodil/Narcissus: Apollo, Narcissus, Persephone, Tyche, Hades, Thanatos

Foxglove: Freyja, Flora, Juno, Dionysus, Áine, Cernunnos, Saturn

Jasmine: Lakshmi, Aphrodite, Vishnu, Selene, Morpheus, Tyche, Hermes, Hel

Wisteria: Dionysus, Hermes, Kanayago, Mercury

Larkspur (Delphinium): Apollo, Persephone, Zephyrus, Freyja, Aphrodite, Poseidon

Phlox: Eros, Demeter, Hestia, Dionysus

Poppy: Thanatos, Demeter, Ceres, Morpheus, Ares, Dionysus

Violet: Ares, Aphrodite, Io, Orpheus, Venus, Attis, Persephone, Priapus, Polukleitos , Dionysus

Carnation: Artemis, Diana, Zeus, Odin

Daisy: Brigid, Aphrodite, Freyja, Venus, Selene, Cernunnos, Hermes, Ostara

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠄⠄⠂⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁

Note about this post! These aren’t all the spring flowers, just the ones I have more knowledge about and personal experience with. This list is mostly based on my own interpretation and how I’ve come to associate certain flowers with specific deities throughout my journey as a pagan witch. I’m aware there are many other deities connected to flowers, but these are the ones that came to mind while I was taking notes. I also want to mention that color is probably one of the most important aspects when it comes to associating flowers with deities. For example, Lady Athena is connected with all white flowers, Lady Aphrodite with pink ones, and Dionysus with any purple flower. Elements also play a role, flowers carry elemental energy that can deepen their symbolism or connection to a deity. There are goddesses from different religions who are patrons of flowers and vegetation, like Flora, Chloris, and others, and they’re basically associated with all flowers, so I didn’t include them here since it felt kind of obvious. Whether a flower is traditionally associated with a deity or not, I just want to say, flowers make beautiful offerings, and your deities will absolutely appreciate any plant you choose to give them :D

[arwendeluhtiene]

Happy Ostara/Easter/belated Spring Equinox 😊🌸🌿 🐰🥚🍫! . ✨Valar and Valier series (late 2000s)✨ - 🌳🌿Yavanna Kementári🌿🌳 Initial practice sketch, the final painting and a couple of details. . I now prefer to headcanon Yavanna as dark-skinned, but I quite like how this watercolour turned out - especially the gradation of the different greens in the dress and mantle, and the trees in the background. I also love Alan Lee's original drawing on which this painting is based 🌿💚 (swipe for the comparison! Original is black and white, coloured by me as a guide for the painting). . Some years ago I started a 'Valar and Valier' project in which I took an existing painting/drawing as reference/inspiration to draw/paint one of the Valar. So far, I've done Varda, Yavanna, Nienna, Mandos and Aulë, and I also have some sketches of Nessa, Vána and Estë. Hope to get back to this project sometime! . . 🎨Media: Graphite, watercolours, inks, ink wash . 🌱References: Alan Lee's drawing of the Celtic fae Ladies of the Land of the Young, for the book Faeries.

🎨ArtStation

🎨Instagram

🎨 DeviantArt

[witches1111]

The Wheel of the Year

While most practitioners follow along with their beliefs and depend on which pantheon to focus on, there's a universal understanding that there's seasons and seasonal changes that happen within the year. Whether they would call it Persephone returning to her mother Demeter as the start of spring, or her departure to the Underworld as the beginning of colder days, there's many ways of looking at the seasons and their transitions.

Universally in the realm of practitioners is this calendar called "The Wheel of the Year". Each season and peak of that season is celebrated by a "Sabbat" and on each of these sabbats, practitioners would celebrate in accordance to these seasons/transitions in between seasons. In this blog, we will be looking into each of these 8 sabbats and what practitioners/witches do on these special days.

Yule (Dec 21 - Jan 1): The first of the 8 sabbats is Yule, which aligns with today’s holiday of Christmas. This holiday was observed by Germanic peoples and welcomes the winter solstice. It is celebrated by burning a yule log, decorating a pine tree with berries, pinecones, etc., along with observing the sun’s short rising and setting. Witches and practitioners would practice Yule by lighting yule logs, decorating evergreens, creating an altar, and feasting. They would also make a wreath, perform blessing rituals for donations, light candles, and give gifts.

Imbolc (Feb 1 - Feb 2): The second is Imbolc, which is based on worshiping the Celtic fire goddess Brigid along with the coming of spring. White flowers, white candles, a corn husk doll, and a bowl of milk are used at altars to worship Brigid. Practitioners and witches would light candles, do spring cleaning, create an altar, craft Brigid's cross, perform divination, plant seeds, purify their spaces, and feast with grain and dairy dishes.

Ostara (March 20): Ostara is the third sabbat. It is the celebration of the spring equinox for by now the flowers have bloomed and fertility has returned. The goddess celebrated on this holiday is Eostre of the Anglo-Saxon pantheon. The painted eggs seen all throughout today’s holiday of Easter originates from the myth that Eostre turned a bird into a rabbit who laid colorful eggs. Witches and practitioners would decorate eggs, plant seeds, do spring cleaning, perform healing rituals, meditate, connect with nature, and set intentions for the coming spring season.

Beltane (April 30 - May 1): The fourth sabbat is the Gaelic holiday Beltane, which commences the beginning of summer. A large bonfire is held as people dance around a maypole and reenact a god and goddess confirming their love for each other. In ancient times farmers would walk their cattle between bonfires as prayers for a bountiful harvest. Practitioners and witches would light bonfires, dance around a maypole, make flower crowns, have spa days, plant seeds, and connect nature with the union of God and Goddess.

Litha (June 21 - June 22): The fifth sabbat is Litha, also known as Midsummer. It is celebrated on the summer solstice and worships Earth’s growing fertility as the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. Origins of the holiday come from Anglo-Saxons for “Litha” was the old word for June. Witches and practitioners would light bonfires, create a Litha altar, connect with nature, go for a picnic, go swimming, and watch the sunrise. They would also meditate, make flower crowns, and enjoy the beginning of the summer season.

Lammas *AKA Lugnasadh* (July 31 - August 1): The sixth sabbat is Lammas, or its other name Lughnasadh. This holiday comes from Anglo-Saxon origins and in Old English means “loaf mass”. By this point in August, the days are getting slowly shorter but there’s a bountiful harvest on the way. As for now, the wheat is ready for harvesting. Practitioners and witches would bake bread, create corn dolls, have a feast with seasonal ingredients, and give thanks for the abundance of the season. They would also craft Lammas wreaths usually out of wheat, give harvest offerings, visit a farmers market, and collect seeds.

Mabon (Sept 21 - Sept 23): The seventh sabbat is Mabon, which welcomes the fall equinox. This is the major season of the harvest. Believers will dress and eat lavishly to celebrate the bounty of life. The days are getting shorter and the nights become longer by this point. Witches and practitioners would set up altars with Mabon symbols, express gratitude, and consider sharing their bounties with others, while also reflecting on balance and the changing of longer/warmer days to shorter/colder days. They would also meditate, go apple picking, donate, and have walks in nature as autumn sets in.

Samhain (October 31 - November 1): The eighth and final sabbat is Samhain. This holiday aligns with present day Halloween, and the traditions of today were present in Halloween’s ancestor, Samhain. In Gaelic origins, the veil between the profane world and the spirit world becomes thin and spirits of loved ones along with malicious spirits emerge from the veil. Worshipers disguise themselves with animal masks, going door to door asking for gifts, turnips were jack-o-lanterns, and a bonfire was lit to celebrate the end of summer. Essentially, Samhain was a celebration of the dead. Not only that but it was also the end of the Pagan year so Samhain was essentially the first New Years Eve. On this day, practitioners and witches would honor their ancestors, perform divination, host bonfires, feast, carve and light pumpkins, give out treats, and engage in releasing/renewing rituals. They would also commemorate the dead and disguise themselves as they go out for all spirits from the other side have come out, both good and malicious. This holiday coincides with All Hallows Eve, where the themes of costumes, giving treats, and carving/lighting pumpkins are passed down to present day Halloween.

And then we go back to Yule to start all over again! Thank you for coming along and reading this blog to educate yourself on the 8 Sabbats of the wheel of the year! It's a really fascinating way to celebrate the seasons and while some witches/practitioners may do things a little differently depending on their practices or beliefs, this wheel is sort of a universal use that can go any which way! As was seen, this wheel of the year came from Pagan beliefs, ranging from Celtic to Anglo-Saxon to even Germanic. Of course while this wheel is universal, different cultures celebrate the seasons and their peaks in different ways. I definitely encourage researching on those topics!

Thanks again for sticking long enough to read and learn more about witches! Blessed Be!

[stereopticons]

On This Day in Schitt's Creek: March 30

2019

Language of Love: Part 1 (Season 3) [david/patrick, NR, 67,708] by PandorasDaydream

Patrick Brewer just moved to town. David has an idea for a new business and needs help.

Remodeling the bathroom [david/patrick, M, 1,776] by DearBalladeer

A little moment from s04 e02 that fills in some of the building blocks leading up to the need for a sleep over at Stevie's.

2020

Drabble Day 2020 [multifandom, T, 1,400] by winterlover

These were drabbles written in 24 hours for multi-fandom Drabble Day 2020, "Quarantine Edition", so be warned for fun, crack and feelings.Check out the Insane Journal for the funny prompt-posts: Drabble Day

Getting Over Getting Older All the Time [david/patrick, E, 68,939] by @distractivate

“Well I’m going to run some errands,” David says, brushing a stray bit of fuzz off his navy blue sweater. “But we’re still on for birthday dinner?” “Yeah,” Patrick nods. He’s pretty sure David knows the annual birthday surprise party stopped being a surprise after year two or three. David doesn’t even inflict fictional catastrophes on the café as a decoy anymore. But Patrick plays along anyway. In some ways their whole partnership is built on playing along. OR David and Patrick have been business partners for a decade until, on Patrick's 40th Birthday, everything changes.

Tea-Kettle Love [david/patrick, G, 5,078] by ArabellaStrange

Patrick thinks about New York. How do you plan to be unhappy? How can you avoid it? (coda to "The Pitch"—because why not, all the kids are doing it.)

2021

India [gen, G, 300] by Rosey_Peach

Power of Touch [david/patrick, G, 1,692] by @pine67

The feelings of home, comfort and warmth rouse David from his sleep. A happy sigh escapes him as he snuggles closer into his husband. Mmm, that's nice, it's not every day that he gets to wake up before Patrick.

Summer Vacation...in Schitt's Creek? [buck/eddie, G, 12,023] by artbyweb86

Buck and Eddie go on Vacation. They end up in Schitt's Creek. They meet David and Patrick. Form new friendships. The usual chaos. Some mild injuries/hurt/comfort.

sway with me [david/patrick, NR, 5,490] by @maxbegone

“Okay, fine. Yes, I’m thinking. I have my ‘thinking face’ on.” David makes a noise in triumph, pressing his face back into Patrick’s neck. It’s warm there against the tense muscle. He moves to stand upright and to massage it. “What about?” He asks, digging into a knot. “Additions to your little garden?” “Maybe.” Patrick sighs, head lolling to the side as he keeps his gaze trained on whatever point it’s on in their yard. “I was thinking about putting up a hammock.” “Sure, honey, but it’s raining.” “Not right now,” he replies lightly. “We have to buy one first, anyway.” “We?” David freezes. “I’m sorry, but I’m convinced those things are seconds away from snapping at any given time.” Patrick smirks at him. “That sounds like a rational fear.” “Yes it is, what’s your point?” Or, Patrick wants a hammock and David wants nothing to do with it. the Hammock redux.

this must be rare, 'cause nothing else can compare (not that we're aware of) [ted/alexis, T, 11,770] by @turningtimeinthetardis

It all starts because of a pun. Two puns, if you really wanna be precise.

You can turn me on with just a touch [david/patrick, E, 1,519] by @kiwiana-writes

Patrick knows he’s not great at giving up control. Not completely. Even when he ostensibly does, there’s still that tiny part of him that’s trying to direct things — with varying degrees of success, depending on David’s tolerance for it. But now, with no visual or audible context clues for what David is planning, all he can do is just… wait, and trust. And he’s never had a problem trusting David.

2023

Gold & Glitter [david/patrick, T, 160] by @wearpersistencewell

David loves that Patrick loves his family. Based on a schittscreekdrabbleblog prompt.

2024

A Mood Book to Fashion & Passion: I Carry These Heart-Shapes Only To You [david/patrick, M, fanart] by LovePreciousLove101

Happy Easter/Ostara long weekend all. In celebration of the festivities I have a special #fanart experience for those who love #Heart-Shapes by LadyFlowDi and ShipstoSail. (And FairManor’s accompanying #podfic) It’s my first ever Mood-Book to Fashion & Passion. What started out as a few sketches & watercolours of scenes I loved, to distract me from a boring bout of COVID19 in Feb, has turned into a project 80 images strong. A combo of illustrations, AI-mishmash, Canva-esque arty-fartyness and repurposed pics of our fav gang. There are 🐣 Easter Eggs 🐣 in each of the ten chapters and an Epilogue for those obsessed by this fic as much as me to enjoy. Dig into the details. If you haven’t read it - Warning - Spoilers ahead. (Also - why not? Get onto it now. Its genius) I’ll keep posting throughout the weekend for those looking for something to do while bingeing chocolate. I am in awe of this fic and Podfic. To the talented artists behind them - thank you for your generosity & inspiration. I dedicate my #fan-art to all the peeps in the Schitty Book Group who write & read & have brought me joy. Big love x

Stats:

No fanworks for 2017, 2018, or 2022 2019: 2 fics/69,484 words 2020: 3 fics/75,417 words 2021: 6 fics/32,794 words 2023: 1 fic/160 words 2024: 1 fanart Total: 13 fanworks (12 fics, 1 fanart)/178,174 words

[hearthandheathenry]

All About Ostara

In this context, Ostara is simply the name for the modern pagan celebration of the spring equinox, celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere around March 19th, or by some on the first full moon after the spring equinox. It is considered a Germanic holiday, but we'll talk a little about the different Goddesses associated with the holiday Ostara, as well as the history and where we're at today with our findings.

Unfortunately, there is not much historical text about the holiday Ostara or the associated ancient holiday Eostre, with the earliest known text being from an English monk from the 7th century, Venerable Bede. In his texts, he states that the rough equivalent of the month of April was dedicated to the Goddess Eostre and called Eosturmonath, but that was about all it mentioned.

Monks like Bede back in the day had orders to Christianize pagan traditions in order to slowly convert pagans to Christianity in the least-resistant way, which often meant adopting their festival dates, names of feasts, and whatnot, which was the purpose of mentioning this holiday in his texts in the first place.

Back in the day, the written reoccurant date of Easter had been debated since it began, as the Ressurection date was hard to nail down. Everyone just knew it happened in spring, so different regions celebrated it at different times. But, scholars believe the Christian church most likely saw that there were date overlaps in pagan celebrations, the Ressurection, and Passover as well, and decided to announce Easter Sunday would always fall on the sunday after the first full moon of the spring equinox, following popular pagan lunar traditions. They also adopted the new name from Eostre, cleverly combining the current pagan celebrations around rebirth and the sun into their own holiday traditions, in order to convert people to their religion, while also uniting their own people to celebrate on one date.

Although at one point these were all different celebrations, the Christian church did a very good job of combining and converting the pagan celebrations into their own, enmeshing them for life in history books and making it hard for modern day scholars to distinguish the origins of the pagan holidays seperate from the Christian church's.

After that, the next set of text with a reference to the holiday Ostara or Eostre came over a thousand years later during the Romantic period in 1835, by one of the Grimm brothers, Jacob, while he talked about mythology. In his work, he bridged Eostre with it's Germanic counterpart, Ostera or "Easter" as we know it today, and with the Goddess Ostara. In medieval Germany, they celebrated Ostarun in the month of Ostarmanoth, which gave way to the modern feast of Ostern ("Easter") today. He used these overlaps and more to claim that the two holidays and even Goddesses were most likely one historically

Just like with Grimm, there is mostly just speculation based on language, names, celebrations, etc. In modern-day society, it seems the holidays and Goddesses/Gods of Ostara, Eostre, and Easter have all been mashed up together from bridging multiple pagan religions with Christianity and struggling to seperate it again when we have almost no historical texts to help, since everything way back in the day was based on oral tradition.

As for the Goddess Eostre, who was supposedly a Goddess of fertility and light, she was so rooted in the region surrounding her that it was easier to adopt her namesake for the new Easter holiday (that enmeshed the series of Christian holidays) rather than rebrand under something Christian. According to Bede, her feasting was held in the month of April and celebrated spring. But that's all he mentioned, so her actual traditions have been lost to time, with only speculation to go off of.

After that, Grimm tried to link her with the Goddess Ostara, but we have no historical texts saying she is the same. Nowadays, the only mentions of the Goddess Eostre is with new-age pagan Wiccan practices where they, too, seemed to have linked her with the Goddess Ostara. Historically, it is most likely that the Goddess Eostre is a region-specific Goddess, as she was worshipped in Southeastern England by Anglo-Saxons, and that's where we see the oldest versions of her name referenced in text.

As for the Goddess Ostara, according to Grimm, she seems to have been the more wide-spread form of the Germanic Goddess Eostre, instead of region-specific, and he was the one who first translated her name to Ostara. This is the first historical text we have mentioning Ostara as a Goddess and not just a holiday, which means they (Eostre and Ostara) are technically one in the same, since Grimm was the one who translated the Goddesses name to German in the context that we use today.

In terms of associations with the newly translated Goddess Ostara, the first known reference of rabbits with Ostara in writing was mentioned in a mythology text written by Adolf Holtzmann in 1874 where he related the German tradition of the Easter Hare with Ostara by claiming the symbolism of 'the hare' was also probably sacred to the Goddess.

Afterwards, In 1889, an issue in the Journal of American Notes and Queries talks about the Germanic Tradition of the Easter Hare (gifting cotton stuffed flannel bunnies to children along with Easter eggs) and the story behind it, stating that "The hare was originally a bird, and was changed into a quadruped by the Goddess Ostara; in gratitude to Ostara or Eastre, the hare exercises its original bird function to lay eggs for the Goddess on her festal day." But that is as far as we've gotten in tracing it in texts.

Most likely, oral tradition has reigned supreme throughout history, and different narratives have surfaced about the origins of the symbolism with Ostara and rabbits and eggs and other things, so it's hard to know for certain what is "true" to celebrating the Goddess and holiday Ostara and what isn't.

In summary, based on the limited evidence that we have surrounding history on this holiday and deity(ies), you should feel free to celebrate Ostara in a way that is meaningful to you, especially since there is much overlap with multiple religions and practices. I did my best to round up the most commonly accepted ways to celebrate, the symbolism, and more related to the holiday and Goddess Ostara/Eostre.

Ostara Associations:

Colors - white, green, yellow, pink, purple, pastels

Food - eggs, fresh greens, dairy products, hot crossed buns, lamb, asparagus, honey, berries

Animals - hares/rabbits and song birds, baby animals, snakes

Items - decorated eggs, lillies, daffodils, tulips, crocuses, dandelions, lavender, other flowers, lemongrass, thyme, red clover, birch trees, seeds

Crystals - aquamarine, amethyst, rose quartz, moonstone, fluorite, amazonite, clear quartz

Other - fertility, renewal, dawn, spring, balance, joy, growth

Ways to Celebrate Ostara:

hold a feast, especially on the full moon after the equinox

plant seeds

connect with nature or go on a walk

decorate eggs

prepare your altar for spring

make a cotton stuffed flannel rabbit

decorate for spring with greenery and flowers

cleanse and clean your home

welcome the dawn and sunrise

bake hot crossed buns

create something

[grrrrrrrbarkbarkbark]

*grips you by the shoulders*

Since spring is coming up soon.

Please understand Ostara is a "modern" holiday and please do not wish me a good one just because I'm pagan.

The name "Ostara" was mentioned once in a medieval manuscript that the Brothers Grimm picked up and made into a whole goddess in the 1800s. They also took aspects of her, made up a fake holiday based around it, and declared It 'pagan Easter'. It was repopularized by wiccans wheel of the year.

[11salem-spirit11]

Ostara: Ancient Tradition or Modern Creation?

*Hint: it’s somewhere in between

Today as part of my exploration into pagan holidays (see my brief summary on Imbolc) I’m gonna do a deep dive on Ostara — the pagan Easter.

~The primary source I have used for my research is Stephen Winick’s blog post which is full of sources from 19th century texts and newspapers~

First of all: What is Ostara?

“Ostara is a Pagan solar holiday honoring the spring’s warmth, light from the sun, and the awakening of the earth. Pagan celebrations during this holiday have themes of balance, renewal and rebirth. The symbols of Ostara are spring flowers, fairies, butterflies, rabbits and eggs. The colors of Ostara are pastels, yellow, orange, lavender and green.” — Canton Public Library

You may have seen claims that Ostara is the Wiccan equivalent of Easter, or that it is the pagan tradition in which Easter celebrations are rooted in. Some people will also claim that it is the traditional story of Ostara in which the practice of the Easter bunny comes from.

However, the claim that any ancient pagan groups celebrated Ostara is not sufficiently backed up, furthermore the origins of the Easter bunny are still highly debated.

Historical Accounts

The name Ostara comes from a Germanic goddess of the same name, according to Jacob Grimm, a German folklorist, who made this claim in his 1835 work Deutsche Mythologie (he is one half of the brothers Grimm). Grimm claimed that Ostara was the German equivalent of the English goddess Eostre.

Eostre herself has interesting origins however. She is first cited as a pagan goddess by Bede, a monk, author, and so called “father of English history”, in the 8th century. There is no previous text that cites any goddess by the name of Eostre. Bede however, when explaining the Anglo-Saxon names of the month, explained that Eosturmonath (modern day April) which was named for Eostre.

Grimm called the goddess Eostre, Ostara due to the old high Germanic name for April which was ostermonat, the old high German name for Easter being Ostera. Grimm made the claim that Ostara was the Germanic equivalent of the Anglo Saxon goddess Eostre based on the similar etymology between the Anglo Saxon and old high Germanic names for April.

This isn’t to totally dismiss the existence of the goddess Eostre, in fact plenty of scholars believe in her existence! However, this post is about Ostara in particular, the holiday not the goddess, so for the rest of this post I will break down the origins of the so called “ancient pagan tradition”

Origins of Ostara Traditions

Todays Ostara celebrants celebrate Ostara on the Spring Equinox (around March 20th). This is intriguing bc the linguistic origins of Eostre, according to Bede, link her to the month of April. It could be, similar to how Easter is celebrated today, that the traditional celebrations of Eostre in pagan practice, if there was one, followed the lunar cycle. (Source)

Now to the fun part, the Easter bunny! The Easter bunny or as it was traditionally referred to as Easter hare (Osterhase in German) came to the US through German immigrants in the 19th century.

The first claim that the goddess Eostre, referred to as Ostara, is linked to hares comes from the 1874 text Deutsche Mythologie by Adolf Holtzmann (different author same title). He claimed that the hare was a sacred animal of Ostara.

In 1883, English writer H. Krebs cited a German text also from 1883, that made the claimed that the goddess Ostara turned a bird into a hare, and the hare laid eggs for the Easter Festival.

Confusing bit of information ahead:

The German author who made this claim, that the Easter hare was once a bird turned into a hare by Ostara, based his claim on the Holtzmann text I previously mentioned. In that text, Holtzmann says “the hare must once have been a bird, because it lays eggs”—this was interpreted by Oberle, the German author, as a claim that the hare was a bird according to tradition. However it could also be read as a statement saying that in previous traditions the Easter hare may have been a bird because it lays eggs. Notice how this claim is simply saying that the traditional story was of a bird, while the former statement is saying the bird got transformed into a hare.

Oberle, the author who made this claim and founded this interpretation, did have a bias. He was writing a book that aimed to prove the pagan origins of Christian traditions. Naturally then, he was trying to connect every Christian belief and tradition to a similar pagan one.

Oberle’s 1883 claim about Ostara, and the origins of the Easter hare, had a great influence in folklore beliefs. It is after this time that many stories of Ostara, the goddess, and her association with spring rituals began. As Winick states this tale is an example of “an example of folklore that arose from the work of folklorists”

Wiccan origins

Ostara as the holiday we know of today, originated in 1974 and the name was coined by Wiccan Aidan Kelly (who also named Litha and Mabon). (Source)

Conclusion:

- Ostara as a celebration of the spring equinox is a purely Wiccan concept.

- Ostara/Eostre as the goddess of spring in Anglo Saxon and Germanic cultures is heavily debated when it comes to her origins. The earliest record we have of her is from Bede in the 8th century. Her Germanic roots come from Grimm in the 19th century, and his conclusions about her are to be taken with a grain of salt.

- if Eostre was a real pagan goddess, as some scholars do believe, it is likely her holiday/feast was in April, not on the spring equinox in March, but perhaps, like modern Easter, followed the lunar cycle.

- the Easter hare is largely a folklore tale of Germanic origin, its connection to Ostara the goddess was penned in 1874, and has developed over time, creating more modern folklore about the creature.

- Bede’s mention of Eostre did not include any characteristics about her, so any traits associated with her are modern interpretations.

- In summary: Ostara as a holiday is largely based off of Germanic folklore from the 19th century. It does not have the ancient origins like other pagan holidays have and its credibility as a real pagan holiday are up for debate. Despite that, it is still enjoyable to celebrate the spring equinox so do as ye may.

[shaftking]

What you're saying about Eástre isn't entirely correct, though. The eggs and rabbits were indeed related to Eástre, and directly, too, as stated in the Edda (or basically the original poems relating to the gods) and they are much, much older than the 1700s.

Christians used pagan holidays as a means to more easily convert them to Christianity, which is why some Christian holidays don't match up to Orthodox and Judaic ones.

The Gods, Eástre included, had several names depending on the region and even country. Freya herself is known under over five names, and it is completely different in Germany than it is in Norway or Sweden for example.

I don't have my book on me right now, but if you'll allow me, I'd love to transcribe the part about Eàstre and hear your thoughts!

Any connection to other religious practices is probably due to the fact that these are also common symbols and foods.

Based on what I know, Christianity was already prominent in Iceland in the 10th century, and the Edda was written in the 13th, despite having some sources as early as the 9th. So it’s a little more complex than I might have properly explained.

My point wasn’t that Christianity has taken absolutely zero inspiration or trickle down from previous pagan practices, but that it’s insincere and not based in truth to claim that Christians are “actually pagan” when they have bunny or egg themes in their Easter celebrations, because Christians have been using these symbols for the holiday for centuries with no real clear origin as to where exactly they came from outside of vague folk traditions and practices that aren’t documented further back than 16th century primary sources.

A lot of what is discussed as far as the origins of many folk traditions is a whole lot of speculation. The existence of Ostara is documented earlier than the 8th century, but there isn’t a concrete connection to Easter the simple 1:1 way you see perpetuated by pop history. It’s not as if the Christians showed up one day and told the resident pagans to change the holiday to a Christian one. The connection as far as we are aware is that the there was certainly a celebration in the month of Eostre (the Anglo-Saxon name for April) and a feast in the honor of the goddess the month was named for, but the only tie it has to Easter is the month in which it takes place, and from which it adopted it’s name linguistically. Eostre was depicted with a hare, but because she was a hunting goddess, not because the hare necessarily had any significance itself. If English speaking Christians decided to start calling it Passover/Pascha/Paskha/Pesach then I doubt the myth would have a foothold at all.

Again, this is just my understanding, I’m not a historian and I haven’t taken a medieval history course in a hot minute, but there seems to be far more evidence that the connection is tenuous than there is otherwise.

[easterelf]

" Doodle ! Hey, Doodle !! " calls out the little girl in the forest, looking for any suspicious bunny holes.

" Could you give the easter bunny this gift from me? I heard Ostara's his birthday, and um ... Jack told me he's real, like ... for real. So I wanted to say happy birthday ... "

It's a bouquet of little dandelions, most of the stems are bent from where she held them too tight, the bunch held together by a little yellow ribbon with her name written on it in sharpie. 'Fly'.

@cliippedwiings

"Juu sticks juur head down lots random holes juu knows that?" the elf giggles at the child, his own head peeking out of a magically formed hole in the base of a tree. With a 'HAP' and a hop the little elf lands in front of her and claps at the sight of the small offering. "Awwwwww - thaz so nice nice of juu Fly! I es happies ta gives ta hims!"

Doodle pauses, gently patting the delicate dandelions with a fond look. "Juu puts lotsa heart en et, I can tells. I bets Easter One will too."

[misspjsuperior]

Ostara vs Easter: A Different Place in Time

Around this time every year someone asks me, “Why is Easter on a different date every year?” I feel honored to be known as the kind of nerd to go to. This is how Easter is calculated: it is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. 🌕 

Easter, being a lunar based holiday, changes its dates on the solar based Gregorian calendar but the pagan holiday known as Ostara is associated with the Spring equinox happening annually on March 21st except for leap years when it occurs on March 20th.

Easter is said to be a Christianization of the pagan holiday of Ostara, an ancient Northern European goddess of spring. There is only very scant evidence of Ostara in historical text sources. The sole ancient citation comes from a single sentence written by colonizing British clergy historian Bede in the 8th century who documented what little of folk customs he could find out from wary locals whose traditions, passed down orally, were being eradicated. 

It was The Brothers Grimm, famous fairy tale historians, who wrote broader theories of Bede’s brief mention of Ostara, popularizing her/it as “the real Easter” in the early 19th century.

In striving to reconnect with ancient pagan roots long suppressed, syncretism of Ostara with various seasonal goddesses of different mythologies is popular among pagans today. Such as Persephone of the Greek pantheon and Freya of the Norse. This practice seems rather full circle if you consider Mary to be a goddess figure (accepting Christianity as mythos) also syncretized with the season via Easter. In turn, reverence including imagery of the Virgin Mary has preserved ancient pagan/indigenous practices as much as forces of power attempted to use her to obscure those same practices. In this spirit I share this post with my iconic Maria Rosa art. I’m also pleased to let you know that altar sized vulva goddess prints are back, now at misspjsuperior.etsy.com

This is an edited version of a longer piece of writing with more historical details that you can access by supporting my Star Gazer level on Patreon. If you find these kinds of musings of mind especially interesting or educational, they get sent directly to you via email as a Star Gazer

[coyoteprince]

How do fae celebrate other holidays like do they have a Christmas/Yule celebration, spring/Ostara, Beltane, midsummer?

I've given a summary here, with the addition of the fae's year wheel.

Widderwood's Earth is obviously based on real world things, but a little to the left. Fae year is based on Pagan sabbaths but split into two major times: Sandman & The Maere/time of sleep (cool months), and Our Lady & The Bully-Bock/time of waking (warm months)

I haven't done a segment on the Darlingtonite's version of holidays cuz im still feeling some of it out, but it's a bit more similar to Gregorian months/time, just slightly different holidays. Long ago they adopted goats and horses as a symbol of the warm and cool seasons just as fae did, but in current day they don't quite realize the origin of the connection anymore and ascribe different things to them now. For example, for their spring holiday goats would be the dominant animal symbol instead of the Easter bunny or whatever.

[hedgewitchgarden]

Ostara vs Easter; or Let's All Just Colour an Egg

March 11

This piece was originally written in 2016 and has been updated - *(An updated version (free) of my 2016 article debunking common misconceptions about the alleged pagan history of Easter) Every year there's a lot of commentary that floats around the pagan community claiming several things about the holiday of Ostara, most of them untrue. So lets take a look at the urban legends and the realities, shall we?  Firstly the idea that Easter is related to the Goddess Ishtar, that the word and name sound the same, and that Ishtar's symbols are identical to popular Easter symbols: Ishtar is not pronounced 'easter'; it's a pretty straightforward name actually and is pronounced 'ishtar' just like it looks.  Ishtar is an ancient Assyrian goddess whose name is connected to the related goddess Astarte; the word easter comes from old English, likely rooted in the proto-Germanic word for dawn (Harper, 2024). Ishtar was a goddess connected to love, fertility, and war. Her symbols were not rabbits or eggs but rather storehouse gates, lions, and stars with different numbers of points (Ishtar, 2016).  

original meme author unknown: "bullshit" label courtesy of Ian Corrigan So that's that one.

Was the date of Easter stolen from Pagans? No. The Christian holiday itself was not stolen from or dated based on the pagan holiday; it developed on its own based off of the Jewish holiday timing for Passover and was originally known as Pascha in Latin, only later becoming known as Easter; as late as the 8th century the holiday was still known as Pascha in England. 

Did the 4th century emperor Constantine invent it all? This is another idea that I see floating around this time of year. I can say conclusively that the idea that Constantine in the 4th century C.E. speaking Latin was calling the holiday Easter (for the record it still isn't called Easter in most languages that aren't English) is false and he didn't invent the holiday itself. As a Christian holiday Pascha (Easter) seems to have been well established by the mid second century (Melito, 1989).This is at least 200 years before Constantine's lifetime.

Now the other main idea that get's tossed around is that Easter is stolen from or based on a Germanic or Anglo-Saxon holiday or Goddess named Ostara/Eostre. I can't even give an example of this meme because honestly most of them are blatantly offensive in the way they are worded but the gist of it is claiming that Ostara/Eostre was an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess celebrated in spring whose symbols were rabbits and eggs and Christians stole it all, etc., etc.,

The name of the holiday is likely derived from a word that means "east" and may be related to the name of an obscure Germanic or Anglo-Saxon goddess about whom we know virtually nothing. The name of the goddess - Eostre to the Anglo-Saxons and Ostara to the Germans - is probably related to the same root as the word east: both etymologically come from the proto-Indo-European root aus- meaning 'to shine' and likely relating to the dawn. Our only source of information on Eostre is the Venerable Bede who wrote in the 8th century: Eostur-monath, qui nunc Paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit: a cujus nomine nunc Paschale tempus cognominant, consueto antiquæ observationis vocabulo gaudia novæ solemnitatis vocantes (Giles, 1843) [Eostre-month, which is now interpreted as the Paschal month, which was formerly called Eostre and celebrated in that month: now the Paschal season is called by this name calling the joys of the new festival by the ancient name of the old]     From this we know that there was an Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre who had a holiday celebrated for her around the same time as Easter/Pascha but basically nothing else. And we already know that Pascha as a Christian holiday was well established long before this. So we appear to have a case of the new religion's holiday being called by the name of the old one in part due to a coincidence in timing.   About a thousand years later Jacob Grimm would go on to write about a hypothetical German goddess he called Ostara who he reconstructed based in part off of the German name for the Christian holiday of Easter, Ostern, and a name for April of Ostermonat (Grimm, 1835). He elaborates on his ideas based on this idea of a connection between the name and the direction of the east and the idea of dawn and spring, as well as widespread connections between Ostara [the goddess] and contemporary Christian Easter celebrations including bonfires and drawing water at dawn which had special properties (Grimm, 1835). Although it is possible that Grimm was noting genuine pagan folk practices that had survived his connection of these practices to a goddess named Ostara are impossible to prove* On to the rabbits and eggs because that keeps showing up in all of these memes. The concept of "Easter" bunnies (originally hares, "Osterhase") cannot be dated before the mid-1500's and the eggs appear to have started in the 1600's, both in Germany (Bauer, 2016). The eggs were originally called 'pace' or Pascha eggs explicitly connecting them to the Jewish Passover and the Christian holiday. In 1682 Georg Franck von Franckenau is the first to explicitly mention the rabbit bringing eggs in De Ovis Paschalibus where he describes the folk practice and the way people get sick overeating the eggs. This appears to have been because eggs - like meat and milk - were on the Lenten 'don't eat' list and so eating them on Easter was a treat (Newell, 1989). Unlike milk and meat however eggs could be preserved more easily and a hard boiled egg played a role in the Jewish Passover meal making eggs both abundant, desirable, and symbolic at Easter (Newell, 1989). Coloring eggs was also a widespread folk custom in many cultures, and while it was surely used by pagans it was easily adapted to Christian symbolism as well. There doesn't seem to be any certainty of exactly where the idea of hiding eggs for kids to find came from, but there is evidence that it began in Germany and spread from there to England and America.

To summarize: Easter is a Christian holiday, based on Christian mythology, and timed based on the Jewish Passover. The traditions involving rabbits and eggs come from 17th century German folk practices, partially based on Lenten food restrictions. Colouring eggs is found across a wide array of cultures. We know basically nothing about the goddesses Eostre or Ostara, historically, and what we do have about them is largely modern speculation or innovated pagan belief.

So in the end we have the name of a goddess which is etymologically connected to the word east as well as the dawn, and likely related to other Indo-European dawn or spring goddesses. But basically there is no real information about her, no known symbols, no myths**.  We can say that this holiday was not taken and turned into the Christian Easter, which as we've mentioned already existed many centuries prior and with a different name. It is true that English and German speakers use a name for the Christian holiday based on the pagan one and it is possible that some pagan folk practices were maintained but that was not a matter of intentional theft by the Church - rather it was the people converting to the new religion themselves refusing to give up certain things.

While these practices may or may not be originally pagan,  why does it matter? These are fun folk custom that we can practice today, pagan or Christian, whose origins are more or less lost to history. So lets stop arguing over whose holiday is whose and what traditions belong to who - color an egg, make a little nest for the Osterhase and put the eggs in, jump a bonfire, and have a great holiday whichever one you celebrate.

*that story about Ostara and the bird getting turned into a rabbit which then laid eggs is entirely modern

**I am not however arguing that Eostre/Ostara never existed, just that Grimm's evidence of her folk customs in 19th century German is pretty shaky.

References

Ishtar (2016) Encyclopedia Britanica

Melito of Sardis (1989) "On the Passover"  http://www.kerux.com/doc/0401A1.asp

Bauer, I., (2016) Der Osterhase

Giles, J (1843) The Complete Works of the Venerable Bede

Newell, V., (1989) Eggs at Easter; a folklore study

Grimm, J., (1835) Deutsche Mythologie

Harper, D., (2024) 'Easter'; Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved from https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=easter 

[primeministerofantarctica]

smurfs worldbuilding/ headcanon stuff

language

the original smurf language was a purely tonal language system with hundreds of varieties in pitch and inflection that could only be understood by the smurfs.

for example: "I ate a pie yesterday" in ancient smurf would be "Smurf smURf *smurf* sMurF SMurf" (italics indicate higher pitch, bold indicates lower pitch. asterixs also indicate an increased pitch, so *a* is higher than a while *b* is lower than b.)

as they spread out, they adopted the lingua franca of their respective places so they could communicate with the others, which triggered a gradual shift in their own language.

most notably was the addition of tense markers (smurfed, smurfing) and other affixes (smurfy, unsmurfy)

pronouns, determiners, cardinal numbers, conjunctions, and prepositions switched to the pure lingua franca

nouns are still very tonal, but verbs are losing their tone and becoming more context-dependent

"i smurfed a pie yesterday" could mean "i ate a pie yesterday" or "i baked a pie yesterday", it depends on the context. "i smurfed a pie yesterday, it was delicious" vs "i smurfed a pie yesterday, do you want a slice?"

the only adjectives that carried over were the positive "smurfy" and negative "unsmurfy". neutral descriptions (size, color, etc) are now based on the lingua franca

certain smurfs (brainy) are a stickler for making sure people are pronouncing the tones exactly right. certain smurfs make an effort to get close if the sentence would be ambiguous otherwise.

also, because it's so tonal, it's hell on smurfs with hearing loss or other diffilculties deciphering pitch or intonation. brainy (autistic) got by because he studied hard and now he's kinda mad the others aren't taking it seriously. clumsy (also autistic) and harmony (tone deaf) just have very strange accents.

religion

ancient smurfs were pagan and worshipped the moon as their primary deity (the phases of the moon are tied with the strength of a smurf's magic, so the connection makes sense)

most modern smurfs consider themselves irreligious - they'll still practice the traditions and rituals, but they see it as more of a cultural thing than anything else

today, smurf religion is more concerned with humanistic utilitarianism, aka respecting others and nature

a handful of smurfs are abrahamic-monotheistic (this is the middle ages), in their beliefs "God" is a transcendent deus absconditis and nature spirits like mother nature and father time were created by him to take care of the earth

(also since this is a world that actually has magic and fairies, i imagine the above religions would be more accepting about incorporating those things than the real life "witchcraft will send you to HELL" versions)

traditions and festivals

ancient smurfs used a lunar calendar. modern smurfs have adopted the solar calendar, but the dates of certain holidays are still decided by the moon's phases

new year's, for example, is the first new moon in january, while ostara (easter) is the first full moon in april

the firefly festival takes place in late february and is akin to groundhog day (fireflies only appear when the weather is warm); the imitate festival takes place mid-march and descends from a tradition of trying to scare/ confuse winter spirits away so spring will come

smurfs have also adopted human holidays like christmas, halloween, and valentine's day simply because well, it's fun, and they're not going to pass up a chance at a good party are they?

more modern holidays they've invented are rainbow day (may 8, meant to celebrate hope, life, and new beginnings, SO many colorful decorations), friendship day (march 14, the month after valentine's day), smurfer upper day (october 21, trying to get all the last-minute repairs in before winter really hits), and plant a new tree because the humans just dug one up for their own holiday day (august 9, google it ^^)

smurfdays are equivalent to birthdays, but they don't occur on their actual date of birth (stork delivery?). since baby smurfs only get delivered on blue moons that'd mean celebrating thirty or so birthdays simultaneously which. can get messy real fast. so their "smurfdays" are really just random dates they either chose or were assigned as smurflings

physical characteristics/ natural vs "artificial" smurfs

all smurfs are the same shade of blue, but they all vary in height, weight, freckles and moles, etc.

natural smurfs all have blue eyes, whether they're light, dark, grayish, teal, they're all shades of blue

the concept of gender is inherently meaningless to a smurf, a human called them male a thousand years ago and they just rolled with it

"artificial" smurfs were mostly created as homonculi, servants and assistants to wizards, however since this raised multiple ethical issues the spell was eventually banned

artificial smurfs are born fully-grown (with enough clay, at least), but their minds are like super-sponges and they absorb information at an incredibly fast rate in the first few weeks of their existence

a ressurection/ reincarnation spell is inherently baked into the formula (wizards didn't wanna make a whole nother smurf if their current one tripped into the fireplace), so when they die they just flash-bang-regenerate. like the doctor, but they don't retain their memories, they have to start life all over again. they usually have about 25 regenerations, and their past versions are seen more as "parent who went out shopping before i was born and never came back" than "Me from 500 years ago"

the "descendents" of those artificial smurfs that didn't make their way to a village still live around humans, albeit in hiding since they're technically not supposed to exist. they're like house spirits. brownies. they'll live in your walls and find your lost keys if you leave out some sarsaparilla tea and bread. (the humans know fairies exist, but they don't know the specifics.)

the quickest way to spot an artificial smurf is the eye color, while natural smurfs have blue eyes artificial smurfs have brown or black eyes that match the color of the rock used to make their heart

artificial smurfs have very dry skin that's prone to cracking and flaking (thanks, being made of clay)

to determine a smurf's "human age" simply divide by five. a hundred-year-old smurf is twenty in human terms.

papa smurf did NOT get 100 babies at once omg that would be insane. however since blue moons only occur once every few years he did get them in batches (3 of them, 33 at a time)

economy/ government

the closest thing to an "economy" the smurfs have is best described as "anarchist communism with an authoritarian power figure". it's oxymoronic, but accurate :T

papa smurf does have absolute power but like...this is middle ages europe, it's not exactly known for democracy. maybe in a generation or two they'll implement a parliament/ voting system

there's no written law, the only rule is "don't cause harm or grief to others or society". they need a lawyer smurf new oc just dropped

smurfs don't get money. they tried it and they understand how it works but they don't get it. you're just going to let another person die because they don't have enough shiny things? wack.

general/ other

ancient smurfs lived in giant hollowed-out mushrooms. modern smurfs live in wattle-and-daub houses designed to look like mushrooms. (they're easier and faster to build.)

the ground floor typically has a living room, kitchen, and dining room (rarely used but at least they still have it). the second floor has a bedroom and study.

it's...pretty established that they don't have running water. they have washbasins in the living room for bathing. a lot of times they'll wash themselves and their clothes at the same time.

smurfs who work from home are encouraged to work in their study, but. it really depends? poet will work in his study, but tailor will work on the ground floor since other smurfs are constantly stopping by to drop off and pick up clothes.

no hvac. in the winter they bundle up in blankets and put hot stones in bed. in the summer they open the windows and drink a lot of water. also no electricity either, they have candles and lanterns.

in general, most of the technology is medieval, but handy has invented some more "modern" things like iceboxes

"la la la lalala, la lala lala" is a work song! it's a way for smurfs to identify and locate each other in the forest, since "la" is easy to produce/ settle into a rhythm.

there's a magic barrier around the village. not like a physical barrier that you'll smack into, but more like. a mental barrier. the closer you get, the more your mind tells you you should turn away, there's nothing here, turn back now. that's why gargamel's always walking in circles around the village.

you can't have a party without dancing, and you can't have dancing without music, so music is important to them! everyone knows how to play an instrument or two.

there's multiple villages around the world, but since most smurfs don't travel they rarely (if ever) get in contact with each other.