History of Easter and the Easter Bunny

The origins of Easter are deep-rooted in European customs. The name Easter comes from a pagan character called Eastre who was know as the goddess of Spring by the Saxons, and the month of April was dedicated to her.  A festival called Eastre was held during the Spring equinox by the Saxons in reverence. The symbol of this Goddess was the rabbit – and the rabbit was also accepted as being icon of fertility and fruitfulness.  

For Christians, Easter signifies the commemoration of the resurrection of Christ.  But an important first question to consider is , “When is Easter”, because unlike the vast majority of holidays in the Christian calendar, Easter is a moveable feast.  There is a very long answer to the question but the short answer is, “Easter Sunday is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox”.  That means Easter Sunday can be as early as the third week in March or as late as the fourth week in April.

Easter Sunday itself comes after the period known as Lent which is a forty day phase of fasting.  The last week of Lent is celebrated as Holy Week and begins with Palm Sunday that marks the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as the crowds laid palms at his feet. Holy Thursday marks the Last Supper before the anniversary of the crucifixion on Good Friday.

Christ himself was crucified on what is now known as “Good Friday”, and the Bible states that the resurrection took place three days later on Easter Sunday.  Nowadays we roll decorated Easter Eggs which represents the rolling away of the rock from the tomb of Jesus. 

And so what about the commercialisation of Easter.  After all, what is wrong with painting and hiding eggs and having children search for them. What is important is our focus. Children can take part in all the pleasantries that Easter offers providing the true meaning of Easter is made clear to them. 

Easter Eggs

Long ago eggs were brightly decorated and were seen as the coming of spring and the emergence of life.  It is widespread in some countries for people to blow out the insides of the eggs.  The shell is then brightly decorated and hung from trees.

Eggs were also used in Roman Sports with eggs being given out as prizes in their Easter races.  Nowadays there are two common games the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Egg Roll:

• The rules of the Easter Egg Roll are simple.  Whoever can get their egg the furthest distance down a hill without it breaking it is the winner.  
• The Easter Egg Hunt involves lots of eggs being hidden around the house or garden by the Easter Bunny before the children of the house get up for the day. They are then invited to try and find all the eggs often with a chocolate egg as the reward.

Today, Easter is almost a totally commercialised holiday, with the spotlight on Easter eggs.  Big ones, small ones chocolate ones and Faberge ones.  And yes this web site carries the Easter Bunny letter – much like the Letter from Santa