The most appropriate useless fact of the week

The Most Appropriate useless fact of the week


As I was driving around today I had a thought – Where does the Easter bunny come from?

I am a Catholic and Easter has always been one of the most important holy days celebrated, so when and why did this rabbit come into the picture?

I did some research online and found out that really the Easter bunny does not have too much to do with the day of Easter; rather it is a symbol of the springtime fertility of the earth and all its beings.

As anyone who has ever had a bunny living in their yard knows, rabbits are one of the most fertile animals on the planet. I can see the connection between rabbits and fertility but still wondered about the colored eggs and so forth…

Here is what I learned:

Back in pagan times,

Brightly colored eggs were the symbols used to represent the new life spring came to represent, there was a goddess known as Ostara who was the goddess of fertility and each spring the colored eggs would be placed around in her honor.

There was another European goddess known as Eostre who controlled the fertility in northern Europe, and the word Eostre was later changed into the word Easter.

Now comes the part where the Christians got involved – according to this article, Christians began using the colorful eggs to entice the pagans to give up their beliefs and join the Christians in their worships. Germans used to celebrate the annual visit of the Easter Hare by leaving the eggs in the nests children would construct on their own.

In all cases, rabbits were the central symbol because of the spring time fertility and renewal of life.

I am not quite sure how I feel about this historical tid-bit; I think I am going to stick with my previous thought that “Cadbury” came up with the idea of the Easter Bunny as a market ploy for those killer Cadbury Cream Eggs they sell this time of year.

Happy Egg hunting everyone!



Reference:

Ramirez, C. (2010). Where did the idea of the Easter bunny come from? Life 123. Retrieved March 31, 2010, from http://www.life123.com/holidays/easter/easter-traditions/easter-bunny.shtml