where did the easter bunny come from?

[Karby]

i'm talking about the myth. what is the myth behind the easter bunny, and what does a bunny have to do with easter? why not a deer or a bear or something else? and whats with the eggs?
i've heard myths explaining the stories behind most of the other generic holiday symbols, but never heard of one behind the easter bunny. was the bunny just created by some shmo who wanted to observe the holiday, but didn't want to have any religious ties to it? and when exactly did the bunny become the official spokesperson...or spokesanimal of this holiday? most of the other holiday symbols still have their 'religious' ties, although loosely(St. Nick, St. Valentines, St. Patrick), but Easter is the one that still baffles me.

[Annabella]

Sorry to say but I don't belive in it..!

[feelgood]

It's not really a myth, just a symbol. Most holiday have a myth behind it but in this case, the whole easter bunny day is just a symbol.

The Holiday
Easter was originally a pagan festival. The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with a large festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and spring time, Eastre. A group of second-century Christian missionaries came upon the tribes of the north with their celebrations and attempted to convert them to Christianity.

The early Christian converts were unable to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not concide with celebrations already existing. The missionaries decided to spread their religious messages slowly throughout the population allowing them to continue celebrating their pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.

The pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of the year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It therefore made sense to alter the festival itself to make it a Christian celebration os converts were slowly won over. The festival's name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling of Easter.

The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny symbol originated with the pagan festival of "Eastre." The goddess (Eastre) was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.

The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter bunny to America but it was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War which was in fact, when Easter itself slowly started to be celebrated in America.

The Easter Egg
The Easter Egg predates the Christian holiday of Easter, much like the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself. Eggs were exchanged in the spring time, which is a custom centuries old, before Easter was ever celebrated by Christians.

The egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold or colored brightly (if you were a peasant) by boiling them with leaves or petals of certain flowers.

The Cross
In AD 325, the Council of Nicaea decreed that the Cross was the official symbol of Christianity. The Cross is not only a symbol of Easter but is more widely used as a year-round symbol of their faith, especially by the Catholic Church.

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[pappymojo]

I heard that rabbits and bunnies were also symbolic of fertility. Something about being able to tell if a woman is pregnant by injecting her blood into a living bunny. If it lived, she was pregnant, if it died, not. or something like that.

[aarchaon]

Originally posted by feelgood
It's not really a myth, just a symbol. Most holiday have a myth behind it but in this case, the whole easter bunny day is just a symbol.



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This sounds about right to me.

[mikeysj]

it didnt come from donnie darko?

[InTeGrA77]

Originally posted by mikeysj
it didnt come from donnie darko?

Heh, I think that Frank would make one helluva scary Easter bunny, and I know that I, for one would be terrified of having him in my house at night, hiding eggs...

[sbscout]

both rabbits and eggs bring to mind fertility (for obvious reasons) and the Pagan festivals around the Spring solstice were a celebration of nature regenerating.

That it coincides with Passover and Jesus' resurrection just made it easier to meld it into part of the holiday celebration.

[santafe5000]

Like a lot of holiday's, Easter was a minor religous celebration. Then in the 20th century, some person in an advertising position started an AD campaign to increase sales. The rest is history. Most holiday's now do not represent the original intent.

[Sleepyjack]

Bill Hicks said
I've been travelling a lot lately. I was over in Australia during Easter. It was interesting to note that they celebrate Easter the same way as we do - commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus by telling our children a giant bunny rabbit left chocolate eggs in the night.

Now.....I wonder why we're so messed up as a race? You know, I've read the Bible - can't find the words "bunny" or "chocolate" in the whole book.

Where do we get this stuff from? And why those two things? Why not "goldfish left Lincoln logs in our sock drawers"? I mean, as long as we are making things up, why not go hog wild?