Ēostre is attested by a single extremely brief mention in the treatise De Temporum Ratione (On the Reckoning of Time), written in Latin in around 725 AD by the English monk Bede the Venerable (lived c. 673 735 AD).
In chapter fifteen, Bede claims based on nothing more than a guess that the name of the English month Ēosturmōnaþ came from a pagan goddess named Ēostre who had a festival during that month in olden times. In the original Latin, Bede wrote
Eostur-monath, qui nunc Paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit: a cuius nomine nunc Paschale tempus cognominant, consueto antiquæ observationis vocabulo gaudia novæ solemnitatis vocantes.
Ēosturmōnaþ is the name which is now used "Paschal month", and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name
This is the only surviving mention of the goddess Ēostre in any surviving ancient text. There are no inscriptions with her name, no other texts that mention her, and no known surviving temples to her. This one passage from Bede is the only concrete evidence we have that Ēostre was ever worshipped.
Ēostres name appears to be derived from the Proto-Germanic word *Austrǭ, which is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root word *h₂éwsōs, meaning dawn. or "east" -- hence the term "Oster-reich" - Eastern land
So buddy boys - feel free to use this to show that Pasqua has nothing to do with Ishtar, nor with a fake deity called Eostre
AND easter bunnies date to post-Reformation German tradition - just like the Easter Fox, Easter Stork.
A “Teutonic goddess of the rising light of day and spring” ?
Well, yes, but much, much more than merely a pagan goddess of the rising light of day and spring.
She was, in the demented minds of superstitious pagans, a goddess of sex and fertility; of fecundity and procreativity.
Her symbols were, most importantly, the egg, and, secondarily, the rabbit.
Of course, rabbits don’t lay eggs, but many a child does not learn this until a later age.
Bunnies are cuddly to little children.
So are tiny chickens, and gaily-colored eggs.
Concerning Easter eggs, the Catholic Encyclopedia somewhat reluctantly admits,
Dozens of “quaint” customs derived from ancient superstitions and myths.
Most revolved around cupidity, and had suggestive fertility rites obvious in their execution.
The same source admits,
These, and many other rituals, were pagan fertility rites, derived from worship of the sun.
For example, the same source says,
Note that admission carefully, for it lies at the very heart of the matter.
Now, notice the origin of the name “Easter.”
Hislop says,