Easter, thy name is cornucopia, a veritable feast of traditions. Its name invokes not only religious history, but also cultural, political, and astronomical.

Early Christians did not celebrate Easter (by that or any other name). The first known record of the word is Eighth Century, in a writing by a monk called Bede in what is now England. A religious scholar, he used the term "Eosturmonath," the Anglo-Saxon word for the month of "Nisan" in the Jewish calendar. Nisan is when Pesach (Hebrew for Passover) is celebrated, this year April 14 to 22. Pesach commemorates the Biblical story of Exodus, when Hebrew slaves were freed from bondage in Egypt.

No one can be entirely sure, but one explanation for how Pesach shifted to Easter for Christians is reminiscent of so many other religious holidays throughout history: timing and transition, or takeovers, depending on one's perspective. Christmas' date moved from somewhere between January and spring to the now-settled (except for Orthodoxy's Jan. 6) date in December, originally because pagan and other spiritual feast days celebrating the winter solstice occurred at the same time.

While Easter wasn't then what it is now, and Passover celebrates something entirely different, Pesach's timing was close to when Jesus' resurrection was more simply commemorated in Sunday services. Christians in Asia and Rome observed it on different days; some coincident with Pesach, others on various dates. This created controversy.

Two Roman bishops in the Second Century argued bitterly over which tradition should be followed, declaring one or the other heresy. More than a century later, a religious council at Nicea (now Turkey), finally settled it: Jesus' death and resurrection should not be celebrated on the same day as "Pascha" (Latin), or Pesach, but according to a defined lunar calendar. The connection nevertheless persists in a way; the French word for Easter is still "Paques." In Spanish, Easter Sunday is "Pascua." Today's churchgoers still hear references to "the Paschal feast."

Back to our own etymology, Old English "Easterdaeg," derives from the Northumbrian "Eostre," and in turn from Proto-Germanic "Austron." Austron was a goddess of fertility and spring, or of the sunrise ("aus" meant "to shine"), whose feast was celebrated at the spring, or venal, equinox. A similar Teutonic (German medieval) goddess of rising light and spring was called, "Estre," also with a feast day at the vernal equinox.

There lies the astronomical connection: the equinox. The equinox is also why we see Easter's date varying by weeks from year to year. The Council of Nicea set the timing [which varies again whether one follows the Gregorian (most) or the Julian (Orthodox) calendar]: The Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (March 20 or 21). This year, it's April 20; next year, April 5.

Whether your beliefs lend you to commemorate Passover, Easter, the earth's renewal, or all of these, consider the words of poet and author of "America the Beautiful," Katherine Lee Bates:

"It is the hour to rend thy chains, the blossom time of souls."

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholeh@cdapress.com.