"What do bunnies and eggs have to do with Easter and Jesus' Resurrection?" one of our first grade boys asked in religious education last week. Good question!
Historically, Eastre (traditional spelling) is a pagan festival that existed even before Jesus walked the earth. The Saxons of northern Europe celebrated the coming of spring in a festival devoted to Eostre, the goddess of dawn, spring and fertility. Eostre was viewed as the Mother goddess, who existed in balance with the Father in the heavens.
As the Christians moved into northern Europe in the second century, they attempted to convert the peoples to Christianity. As Christians have done throughout the centuries, these missionaries drew upon the existing pagan traditions and integrated them into Christian belief. The celebration of Christ's Resurrection was celebrated around the same time as the Eastre celebration, so there was a natural blending of the two traditions.
Eastre's symbols were the hare, eggs, and newly hatched chicks, all signs of new life and fertility. Since rabbits are more common than hares in most places around the world and rabbits are notably fertile, they came to replace the hare as an Easter symbol.
Eggs have been a symbol of rebirth since ancient times. Egyptians and Greeks would bury eggs in the tombs of the dead to symbolize resurrection into the next life. During the pagan festival of Eastre, the peoples would color and decorate eggs, a tradition that continues to this day.
So as your family participates in the traditions of egg hunts and stuffed bunnies this Easter, celebrate these symbols as signs of new life and rebirth rather than competition with the feast of Jesus' Resurrection.
