Most of us celebrating Easter Holidays, are also curious, wondered to know-how in the world did the Easter Bunny’s origin and its connections to Christianity. The origin of Easter Bunny traces back from the Anglo- Saxon period, where the idea of the Easter bunny evolved mainly from a pagan deity to a rabbit that leaves treats for all the good boys and girls.
So is it Easter bunny a secular attempt to distract people from the real meaning of the Easter Holiday or are there Christian symbols mixed in this strange twist on the holiday?
When and Where Did the Easter Bunny Tradition Begin?
Easter Bunny is one of the popular and also the only odd traditions celebrated with a lot of joy during the Easter season. It is on Saturday, before the Easter holiday, people from Greece throw pots out of their windows and on the Easter Monday Boys from Poland will try to wet people by splashing buckets of water on them.
It is believed that that the origin of the Easter bunny can be traced back to the pre-Christian Anglo- Saxon era where pagans would worship a deity that took the form of a rabbit.
Eostre (also known as Eostra or Easter is known as the goddess of springtime or dawn. The day is associated with rabbits, pastels and mainly as a springtime celebration. In Ancient Rome cultures and even before that, rabbits are known to be rebirth or new life. Because of this belief, people would include rabbits on their gravestones. In Christians traditions, they attempted to mix the pagan religion with that of the Christian religion, the main aim was to spread the message of Christianity among other religions.
The monks however in the late fourth century went to convert the Anglo- Saxons to Christianity. So they blend elements of the pagan holiday with their Christian calendar. The tradition of the Easter bunny existed in America through the German immigrants. Similar to Halloween, the tradition mainly evolved into the candy-themed festivities for children.
The history of Easter Egg evolved through the fertility and bringing of life through eggs. So it is seen that statues of the fertility goddesses, such as statutes of Ishtar from Babylon, are often covered with eggs.
Also, people on Easter day dipped dye eggs on Easter, which are likely consumed at the spring festivals. Christians looked upon the Easter Eggs as a symbol of life and thus included it into this auspicious holiday of Easter celebrating eternal life.
What Does the Easter Bunny Have to Do With Jesus?
Easter Bunny does not have any direct connection or to do with Jesus. Also in the Bible, it is nowhere narrated about a rabbit and also we don’t see any rabbit imagery in the Bible. The Jews were not allowed to consume rabbits due to their unclean nature.
It is still unrevealed the origin of the Easter Bunny and is a topic of mystery, however, it is believed to have pagan roots with the goddess, the Eostre.
It is found in many articles that the Christians have considered biblical truths. In the Capital of Greece, the goddess encounters a statue to the unknown god. The Grecians decided to erect this to pay homage to a great god that they didn’t understand or know.
Paul applies this pagan symbol to point them towards Christ. He explains to them about the god they unaware of.
Similarly, other holidays having pagan origin or traditions like Halloween, Christmas, and Easter, Christians found ways to assume the Gospel’s understandings to cultures by using symbols and traditions.
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