The Venerable Bede, who lived in the 7th century, was the first to record her name as the source of the new Christian festival. Like many other pagan traditions, the festival of Eostre was adopted by the early Church in an attempt to convert followers of the old religions to their ways.
Other goddesses traditionally celebrated at this time include:
Aphrodite, in ancient Greece
Ashtoreth, from ancient Israel
Demeter from Mycenae
Hathor from ancient Egypt
Ishtar from Assyria
Kali, from India
Ostara, a Norse Goddess of fertility
The story of Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess, is quite striking in its similarity to Christian mythology.
Gerald L. Berry, author of "Religions of the World," wrote:
"About 200 B.C. mystery cults began to appear in Rome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele cult centered on Vatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis (the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name). He was a god of ever-reviving vegetation. Born of a virgin, he died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection."
This is the reason why Easter was condemned during the Protestant Reformation as a ‘pagan’ celebration, and was banned by many religious movements including the Baptists, the Quakers, and Congregational Protestants.
THE PAGAN ROOTS OF EASTER