Easter in the Time of Coronavirus

Flower garden at the La Madeleine Church in Paris

The Passion and Resurrection stories associated with Christianity’s Easter have been around since ancient times and are found in many cultures and religions across the world. When looked at metaphorically, they show the need for sacrifice in order to raise consciousness. This requires true suffering and the death of aspects of our ego or our belief systems that we often hold so dearly, perhaps even dogmatically. It seems that Easter in the time of Coronavirus is a time of suffering and sacrifice. There has been an unbearable loss of loved ones and the death of some cherished ways of life, including a sense of freedom and security. Perhaps in this difficult time, we are being provided an opportunity to do the difficult task of reflecting on our own belief systems allowing those thoughts and ideals that don’t serve us or the greater world to be sacrificed, so that we may be reborn with a new perspective.

Although often considered a Christian holiday, celebrations of Easter existed long before the death and resurrection of Christ.  The word Easter originated from the ancient German and Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre or Ostara, who was the Goddess of the Dawn and Spring and whose symbol is the hare. 

The Easter symbol of the egg as a source of rebirth is also found in ancient, pre-Christian times. Marija Gimbutas, one of the most prolific archaeologists and anthropologists in the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of Old Europe, found that the egg was a significant symbol in Neolithic times and was associated with the mysteries of the ancient Greek Gods, Dionysus and Orpheus. Scholars and historians have noted the ties between these two gods and Jesus himself, as all of their myths involve resurrection from the dead. Perhaps, this isn’t surprising as all of the new testament gospels were originally written in Greek.

Even the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, Greece, which holds much of the history and artifacts of the transition time from paganism to Christianity, notes the similarities between the Orpheus myth and the biblical story of the resurrection of Christ. Some scholars believe that the Easter story may go back as far as 2100 BC to the Sumerian myth of Inanna and Damuzi and their descent into the underworld where they are dismembered and reborn. It isn’t surprising that all of these figures are associated with Easter as the story of someone overcoming the powers of darkness and becoming reborn is archetypal, meaning it exists across all times and cultures. 

The story of Christ dying and being resurrected when looked at metaphorically or archetypally, is often considered a time when our way of being, our ruling consciousness, is sacrificed, suffering is endured, and we are then reborn at a higher level of consciousness.  This can happen individually or collectively, groups or nations suddenly find that their way of life is ending, difficult sacrifices must be made, and ultimately we are renewed ideally with a clearer way of understanding ourselves and the world around us- we move further towards enlightenment.

We may be living this metaphor globally right now in the Time of the Coronavirus as we seem to be in a time of dismemberment. Our normal way of being is disintegrating. Along with the physical passing of so many loved ones, there also appears to be the death of a way of life for many.

There is some tentatively hopeful contemplation about how we will re-emerge, resurrect, after this. What will life look like post-Corona?  With any luck, like the archetypal view of the resurrection of Christ, we emerge with higher consciousness.

If we consider our current situation aligned with this archetypal process, perhaps the question to contemplate is what sacrifices need to be made?  We are being asked to give up some things that are important to many.  There is a sacrifice of the extroverted, busy lives as people are sent to their homes, perhaps having to live a more interior life. There has been a sacrifice of freedom for the health of those more at risk.  Many people risk their own safety to care for those who are sick and to fulfill the needs of essential businesses.  

Are there other psychological sacrifices that we are being asked to make in order to attain higher consciousness?  Perhaps there is a re-awakening to the power of Mother Nature and the fragility and the necessity of the human body.  Here we have to sacrifice the idea that we are all powerful and all-controlling.  Our ego is being forced to see our vulnerability and lack of omnipotence.

And what about the metaphorical role of Mary Magdalene in our process of rebirth and renewal? It seems that in a story dominated by the masculine God and son duo, that Mary might illuminate the necessity of a feminine type of consciousness in the mystery of transformation from darkness to light.  Her ability to witness and communicate the new consciousness is critical to it being understood and experienced by others.

So, as we celebrate this Easter, this archetypal time of death and resurrection, through whichever god or goddess resonates with us- Dionysus, Inanna, Eostre, Christ, or Orpheus- perhaps we should also consider the sacrifices that are being asked of us in order to increase our own consciousness as part of our rebirth.