Happy Easter! Photo credit: Simply Viola via Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-SA
Don’t panic, but Easter is right around the corner.
I was abruptly reminded of this on the weekend when I visited our local mall.
It seemed every store featured fine displays of brightly coloured spring clothing, toys, Easter baskets filled with dyed eggs, and chocolate bunnies.
On the drive home, I was thinking about these things and came to the realization that I had no idea why our Easter celebration involved rabbits and eggs.
So I set out to do a little research and this is what I learned.
I call it, An Easter Story About Rabbits and Eggs.
A very long time ago, in a land far away (unless you happen to live in Europe), there was a group of people known as Pagans.
These Pagans were not wealthy, but material things were not important to them.
They loved the natural world, even named their gods after the seasons of the year, and so it was, “Eastre”, their goddess of Spring, who became the namesake of a great festival held every Spring around the time of the equinox.
In due time, the festival was adopted by early Christians for the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, and our Easter was born.
But what does that have to do with rabbits?
OK, the Easter Bunny is believed to have originated with German Lutherans. Their “Easter Hare” was said to have been a “judge” of children’s behavior, you know, “bad or good”.
Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it?
Anyway, this “Hare”, carried a basket of coloured eggs, to hand out to children on the eve of Easter.
Lexi’s Easter Eggs ~ Photo credit: RichardBH via VisualHunt / CC BY
The giving of eggs may have been more practical than anything else. It seems that Orthodox religions abstain from eating eggs during the fast of Lent.
With all of those eggs piling up, they were probably boiled, to preserve them, and not have them go to waste.
When the fasting was over, and it was time to celebrate, they had an abundant supply of handouts, ready to go.
It certainly wouldn’t be too difficult to imagine them decorating or colouring the eggs, in some fashion, to add to the festivities of the day.
So there you have it. Easter rabbits and Easter eggs. Who knew?
Do you have an Easter story? How do you and your family usually celebrate Easter?
All these years and I did not know that! Thanks for enlightening me….. oh, and Happy Easter!
Honestly, before researching it, I didn’t know about many of these things either Pat. Hope you have a great Easter!
Monica recently posted…Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Hmm,learn something new every day! My family attends church, but when I was younger we would attend a sunrise service on Easter Sunday. It was always at the top of a steep hill, the trumpet would sound as the sun rose and it was just beautiful. I hope to take my own kids someday.
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Suzanne, the sunrise service sounds so beautiful, I would love to see it! Hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter!
Monica recently posted…Pistachio Cupcakes
HECK I just finally learned when and why Easter is all over the place on the calendar (full moons and all that)
It’s quite a fascinating story isn’t it Sabrina! Hope you have a great Easter!
Monica recently posted…Pistachio Cupcakes
We celebrate with an epic Easter egg hunt with all the “kids”. I am 33 and still considered one of the kids so it is LOTS of fun with all my cousins that is for sure.
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Sounds like lots of fun and hey, you’re never too old for a great Easter egg hunt!
Monica Parlee recently posted…How to Easily Read the Nutrition Facts Table {w/$100 GC Giveaway}
Love this! I had no idea either! I was just telling my hubby that this was the first time we really celebrated with easter egg hunts and bunnies and whatnot. Usually, as a family – especially as a child – it was all about “preparation” and being solemn. And then on Easter Day it was just about family and food and happiness – new life. But now with my own child, we’re integrating the bunny and eggs – and NOW I know why! Thank yoU :)
Thanks so much DeBalino. It’s really quite fascinating, isn’t it, to discover how customs, such as an Easter bunny, have come to be.
Monica Parlee recently posted…Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie Bowl {w/ #PCInsidersCollection GC Giveaway}
It’s always interesting to hear why we have the customs we do! Thanks for doing the research!
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I had a paper written on the Germanic goddess Ēostre back in university, that alluded to her ties to Easter… I don’t remember much of what I had researched then, but if I’m remembering correctly, Ēostre was a fertility goddess (something that is connected to spring, and renewal and birth/rebirth;) and the hare was one of the goddesses animal symbols, mostly believed to be because of this animal’s abundant proclivity to procreate during the spring.
Aeryn Lynne recently posted…Three Simple Steps to Appreciate the Moment
This makes perfect sense Aeryn, I love learning more about how these present day traditions originated.