Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ has become widespread in Europe and the United States, but why the Easter Bunny is part of Easter is unknown to most people. There are parades, parties and elaborate egg hunts. While Easter traditions vary, one report says the Easter Bunny brings treats to lucky children before sunrise on Easter morning. For children in the West, this iconic figure has become one of the most recognizable symbols of this Christian holiday. Where does the Easter Bunny tradition come from? To find out more about it, there is some interesting information to read here.
If you want to know why Easter Bunny belongs at Easter
What does the Easter Bunny have to do with Easter? There is no story in the Bible about a long-eared creature known as the Easter Bunny. There is also no passage about small onesChildren painting eggsor look for baskets overflowing with delicious Easter treats. In addition, real rabbits do not lay eggs. Why are these Easter Sunday traditions so deeply rooted? And what do they have to do with the resurrection of Jesus? The answer is: actually nothing.
Bunnies, eggs, Easter gifts, and fluffy yellow chicks wearing garden hats all come from pagan roots. They were accordingly separated from the Christian tradition of honoring the day on which Jesus Christ rose from the dead and incorporated into the Easter celebration.
According to the University of Florida Center for Children's Literature and Culture, the origin of the celebration and the Easter Bunny can be traced back to pre-Christian Germany in the 13th century. Back then, people worshiped multiple gods and goddesses. The Teutonic deity Ostara (Ēostre) was the goddess of spring and fertility. Festivals were held in her honor on the spring equinox. The symbol of this goddess was the hare because of the animal's high reproductive rate.
The roots of tradition
Spring also symbolized new life and rebirth, while eggs were an ancient symbol of fertility. According to experts, Easter eggs also represent the resurrection of Jesus. However, this association came much later, when Roman Catholicism became the dominant religion in Germany in the 15th century, merging with already deeply rooted pagan beliefs. The first legends explaining why the Easter Bunny is part of Easter were documented in the 1500s. In 1680, people published the first story about a rabbit that lays eggs and hides them in a garden. These legends were brought to the United States in the 17th century when German immigrants settled in the Dutch country of Pennsylvania.
Soon followed the tradition of building nests for the rabbit to lay its eggs. Eventually, nests became decorated baskets and colorful eggs were exchanged for candy, treats, and other small gifts. So while you snack on chocolate bunnies this Easter Sunday, think fondly of the holiday's origins and maybe even impress your friends at your local Easter egg hunt.
As tradition says, the Easter Bunny was welcomed by Jesus
Over the last two hundred years, the Christian holiday has increasingly developed into a secular folk festival. By the 1890s, the pagan and folk aspects of Easter as a celebration of spring were fully established and commercially exploited. New clothing, parades, candy, and egg hunts have become important cultural expressions, although the number of people celebrating this religious significance of the holiday declined in the last half of the 20th century. After all, the Easter Bunny has nothing directly to do with Jesus.
There is nothing in the Bible or Christian tradition that connects the two. Nevertheless, the hare and rabbit's pagan associations with fertility, life, death, and rebirth remained close enough to the cultural surface to find expression alongside the powerful religious claim that Jesus conquered death. If art, legends, and myths from the past teach us anything, it is that humans long to live, to love and be loved, to reproduce, and to live beyond death. The resurrection of Jesus – the central element of Easter – reflects these longings and affirms a dramatic claim: one day death will be swallowed up by victory.
