"Easter is a sacred day which symbolizes the culmination of the process of initiation. This sacred day is universal and is not limited to the Christian dogma; it is a day for all human beings who march on the path of the Self-realization of the Being." - Samael Aun Weor

On the Easter holiday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead, yet most Christians do not realize that the name Easter is derived from Ostara, a Pagan goddess of spring, fertility, and the rising sun, whose name comes from the even older name Ishtar, a Babylonian / Assyrian goddess of fertility, love, and sex. These goddesses represent fertility, love, and sex at the divine, angelic level, not the animal level that humanity is trapped within. The sacred mysteries symbolized by these goddesses are the gateway to the birth of Christ. Without the pure, chaste sexuality taught by the virginal Divine Mother, the Sun-Christ cannot be born within us to save us from suffering.

Easter symbolizes the return of the Sun-Christ (Apollo), who during winter descended into the underworld (our mind) to liberate us from the darkness, and upon his return restores light and life to the world, freeing us from the grip of the cold, dark winter (Saturn, death). In synthesis, Easter symbolizes real initiation: how the soul is created, and then afterwards, the Christ is born inside of us.

...finally the spring equinox—Easter, the Holy Week—arrives, which is the moment in which he has to cross from one end to the other—that is, the moment of the crucifixion of the Lord on this our world.

The Sun Christ crucifies himself on our planet Earth in order to give life to everything that exists. After his death he resurrects within all creation in order to ripen the grape and every grain. The law of the Logos is sacrifice.

This is the cosmic drama that is repeated from moment to moment throughout the infinite space, in all of the worlds, in all of the suns. This is the cosmic drama that is represented in all the temples of Egypt, Greece, India, Mexico, etc. This is the cosmic drama that is represented in all the temples of all of the worlds of the infinite space.

The second aspect of this great cosmic drama corresponds with complete exactitude to any sacred individual who by means of the revolution of the consciousness attains the Venustic Initiation and therefore becomes a solar hero... - Samael Aun Weor, Light from Darkness

Learn More About Easter

The mysteries of Easter are profound and beautiful, and are touched upon in lectures like these:

• Mysteries of the Gnostic Easter, a lecture by Samael Aun Weor
• The Perfection of the Human Being on the Tree of Life of Kabbalah, a lecture by Samael Aun Weor
• Anastasis
• Gnosis of Easter

Learn More About Christ and Esoteric Christianity