Essays, Observations & Opinions

Fertility and Belly Laughs
by Mishi

The celebration of Easter marks the first holiday of spring. The symbolism of rabbits and eggs points to Easter's origins as a celebration of fertility. The word "Easter" is likely derived from the same roots as "estrus," a period of fertily and, according to Mr. Webster, "a...state of sexual excitability during which the female of most mammals...is capable of conceiving."

The fascinating web site Pandora's Wordbox suggests that Easter is taken from Eastre or Eostra, a springtime festival held at the vernal equinox. According to Holidays by Akasha, "The next full moon (a time of increased births) is called the Ostara and is sacred to Eostre the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility (from whence we get the word estrogen, whose two symbols were the egg and the rabbit)....The Christian religion adopted these emblems for Easter which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox."

In Greek mythology, this time celebrates Persephone's return from the underworld, and her joyous reuninion with her mother, Demeter, the Greek goddess of fertility. When Persephone was abducted by Hades, lord of the underworld, Demeter walked the earth in torment, searching for her daughter, and the world became cold and barren. Though her grief nearly destroyed her, Demeter found the strength to continue, and found Persephone at last. Life returned to the earth, and babies again could be born.

How did Demeter manage to go on, when all seemed lost? According to some tales, her salvation comes in the form of a funny little goddess named Baubo, the Belly Goddess. In some stories, Baubo is a crone who raises her skirt and exposes herself to Demeter, and the women laugh together. In others, she is a strange creature - a large, round belly with no head, who sees through her nipples and speaks from her vagina. She tells ribald jokes and naughty stories, and the laughter gives Demeter the strength to continue her search.

In Women Who Run With the Wolves, storyteller Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes, "...the little belly Goddess Baubo gives us the interesting idea that a little obscenity can help to break a depression. And it is true that certain kinds of laughter, which come from all those stories women tell each other, those women stories that are off-color to the point of being completely tasteless...those stories stir libido. They rekindle the fire of a woman's interest in life again."

We live in a world that urges to separate ourselves from the earth - unabashed sensuality is bad and "dirty"; living fully may cause a reputation to become "soiled." The story of Baubo reminds us that our dirtiest sexuality is sacred, and can be a cause of great joy - the kind of joy that brings growing things to the earth, and lets us continue on when our journey seems endless.