What does the Easter Bunny have to do with Easter?
342527
edit - \nGerman Protestants wanted to retain the Catholic custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, but did not want to introduce their children to the Catholic rite of fasting. Eggs were forbidden to Catholics during the fast of Lent, which was the reason for the abundance of eggs at Easter time.\n\nThe idea of an egg-laying rabbit came to the United States in the 18th century. German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase" (also: "Oschter Haws"). "Hase" means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare, not a rabbit.\n\nOnly good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter. Presumably, the Oschter Haws laid them when the children were not looking.
957546
First, it is only called Easter in Germanic language countries, in the rest of the world, it is called pascha which means passover from pesach.  Oestara had a celebration during the equinox and Pascha tends to fall near the equinox.  Gradually Christianity destroyed the religion of Oestara but the name remains as a vestige.\n\nSecond, eggs have nothing to do with Christianity, however eggs are a sign of life.  The original Easter eggs were called pysanki and had Christian images on them.  All animal products were banned during the Christian fast to replicate the pre-Noah period.  Easter was the first day Christians could eat eggs so they dedicated them to Christ through art.  The practice of decorating eggs preceeds Christianity but Christianity coopted it.  In fact, Easter basked with eggs, cheese and meat are blessed every Easter morning following the Resurrection services for the first meal of the day.\n\nRabbits reproduce at extraordinary rates, they are a symbol of life and innocence.  It also is the case that a handful of societies worshipped animals and Easter falling near the solstice happens to overlap many other observances.  Christianity co-opted other people symbols to destroy their religion.  They took the bunny over in the process.
174412
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention   The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre   The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.\n\n The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America   It was widely ignored y other Christians until shortly after the Civil War   In fact, Easter itself was not wide y celebrated in America until after that tim \n\nThe Easter Eg\n\n As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates the Christi n holiday of Easter   The exchange of eggs in the springtime is a custom that was centuri s old when Easter was first celebrated by Christian\n\n From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures   Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf o , if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flower\n\n Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real East r eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate cand
315830
Here is all kinds of info about the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs....\nhttp://001egreetings.com/1F/D/AB/index.shtml
419428
the bunny was considered by pre-christians as a symbol of spring due to its fertility. why the bunny has eggs? no clue...
350758
Yep. And Easter is a pagan celebration of spring.
477079
I will do an Irish jig and go look for this rabbit\n\n\nhttp://www.daylon.com/easter/
329486
:{\nIve heard that the Easter bunny is an unfortunate hold over from previous pagan religious celebrations of birth, it goes well however with the concept of Christian rebirth
445663
eggs are the sign of new life. And Easter is the day Jessus rose from the dead.
470794
The easter bunny is a mythological belief to the goddess of fertility.  In ancient Asyria, the Assyrians believed in the goddess of fertility, things like bunnies and birds who lay many eggs or had plenty of children were used as symbols to their gods.  They believed that these things would assure them prosperity in having kids.  Many Asian and Eurasian cultures revere the rabbit (or hare) as a sacred messenger of the Divine; to the Chinese, he is a creature in the moon, pounding rice (the staff of life) in a mortar.\n \nTo the followers of Buddhism the rabbit was placed in the moon as a result of his self-sacrifice in offering himself as food. In a second version, the rabbit cooks himself in Indra's fire since he had no food to offer her and the deity placed him in the moon as a reward. To the Egyptians, the hare (as opposed to the rabbit) was known as un, which meant "to open," or "the opener." This was because the hare, unlike his cotton-tailed cousin, is born with his eyes open. "Un" also meant "period" as it was a symbol for both lunar and human cycles. \n \nThese traditions undoubtedly spread to the indigenous tribes of Western Europe much as the Indo-European language base developed through encounters between these two groups. This also blended well with Celtic tradition, which viewed the hare as a symbol of fertility and new life, and the Germanic tradition that the hare brought new life each spring.\n\nAccording to the story, the goddess Eostre found a wounded bird in the snow. To help the little bird survive the winter, she transformed it into a rabbit, but the transformation was incomplete and the rabbit retained the ability to lay eggs. In thanks for its life being saved, the rabbit took the eggs and decorated them and left them as gifts for Eostre\n\nGoddess of Fertility\nEaster got its name from Ostara, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and rebirth. European tribes celebrated the beginning of spring at the vernal equinox, when day and night are equal in length, by blessing seeds for growth and placing colored eggs on an altar. They believed that this ceremony would bring them fertility for the upcoming year. \n\nChristian missionaries noticed that this pagan celebration took place around the time of the resurrection of Christ, so they adopted Easter as a Christian holiday to increase conversions to Christianity. \n\nEaster Hare\nThe Romans believed that all life proceeded from an egg, so the egg came to symbolize birth and rebirth. Christians regarded eggs as the seeds of life and attributed them with the symbol of Jesus' resurrection. \n\nThe rabbit was used in early Easter celebrations to symbolize fertility, perhaps because these animals give birth to multiple offspring at a time. Anglo-Saxon mythology says that Ostara changed her pet bird into a rabbit to entertain a group of children, and the rabbit laid brightly colored eggs for them. \n\nEaster was once celebrated by giving colored eggs to children and later evolved to hiding them in the grass, where they had supposedly been laid by a hare. Children referred to this Easter mascot as the "Easter Hare," which later became known as the "Easter Bunny." \n\nEaster Bonnet\nWhen Christians adopted Easter, they paired this festival of springtime with a sermon. Following the tradition of dressing up for church, Easter Sunday became a special occasion to wear your very best clothes. In fact, many regarded Easter as the first time to wear a new dress and "Easter bonnet". In the early 1900's families would to stroll to church and home again on Easter to show off their "Sunday best." \n\nEaster Basket\nThe Easter basket evolved from a Catholic tradition, where each family brought a basket of food to mass on Easter Sunday to have it blessed for the evening meal. Later, children would use Easter baskets to gather colored eggs and candy. \n\nVisit the following sites to learn mo
340753
Easter is based on a lunar calendar.  It has to do with a specific Sunday after a number days following a full moon.  That's why the date moves around.\n\nI found a good article on www.wikipedia.org that goes into a great deal on the subject.
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I circumvent the problem with the Easter Bunny because I own a pet rabbit and I named him Easter just for this reason.  Therefore I can say to them THAT BUNNY IS THE EASTER BUNNY and it's not a lie and I hide the bunny in the dresser drawers on easter with some candy and then when the kids find him I say that he has been hiding candy and they caught him in the act!  Well I guess the second part is a little lie.  But they love it.  Ignorance is bliss and the dumber you are the happier you are, it's true.  We'll have to go back to our bible quotes and remember that:\n\n"And yea I gave my heart to no wisdom\nand to no science or folly\nAnd I perceived that all is vanity \nand vexation of spirit\nFor in much wisdom,\nis much grief\nAnd he that increaseth knowledge\nincreaseth sorrow."\n\nTherefore I say if it brings them joy lie away.  You wouldn't tell your 5 year old they were adopted would you?
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The true meaning of Easter has nothing to do with Jesus. Some Christians decided that's when they were going to have one of their festivals because they thought that stealing Pagan dates, etc. would encourage more Pagans to convert to Christianity. Easter, or Eostre, is a Pagan godess of fertility. That's what the eggs and bunnies are all about.
420919
Easter is derived from an ancient Germanic name for the month of April, Eostremonat--or rather Eostre Month, in dedication to the goddess Eostre. Eostre, or Ostara was a German goddess of fertility and her return was marked by the coming of spring and the sun. The Ost in her name refers to the East--the rising of the sun. The rebirth of the day and the rebirth of the spring were her specialties, and her celebrations occured during the vernal equinox--the first day of spring. Of course calendar dates have gotten juggled about for quite a few different reasons over time and now April is no longer where it once was on the calendar at what is now March 21st.\n\nThe rabbit was a traditional symbol of the goddess because of its great fertility, and the fact that the coming of spring marked the time when all of the little bunnies were seen starting to be born.\n\nWhen Christianity became the predominant religion it was an easy transition to introduce the rebirth of the Christ figure into the already extant birth and rebirth tradition. Old ways die hard, and the bunny stuck around. \n\nAlthough there are several explanations for the eggs the Easter bunny brings, (other than eggs are another traditional symbol of birth/rebirth) the most likely is that eggs were forbidden during the fast of lent, and were decorated and eaten in abundance to mark the end of the fast.\n\nGerman protestants, although breaking with Roman Catholocism and the tradition of the lent fast, liked the egg tradition and kept it. And when German immigrants came to America, they brought with them the traditions of the Osterhase (Easter hare) and his eggs.\n\nInasmuch as Christianity has stolen the ancient goddess' name for their own holiday, it seems only fitting that its original mascot still puts in an appearance each year.
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I always get asked if the Easter bunny is real.\n\nI always tell the children to go ask their parents.
338325
Rabbits and Easter eggs have about as much to do with easter as christmas and easter have to do with christianity. Absolutely nothing.On December 25 Tammuz was born, the son of Nimrod (who I believe to be Satan)& Semiramis the sun goddess. Tammuz was killed by a wild boar thats why people eat their easter ham.The sun worshipers would weep over his death every year it was celabrated the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring. Eggs and rabbits were used to celibrate new life. Christmas and Easter never were Christian holidays to begin with neither is Sunday a sabbathday. Saturday is the Sabbathday.Most of the world will follow after the beast.
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The name Easter, used in many lands, is not found in the Bible. The book Medieval Holidays and Festivals tells us that “the holiday is named after the pagan Goddess of the Dawn and of Spring, Eostre.” And who was this goddess? “Eostre it was who, according to the legend, opened the portals of Valhalla to receive Baldur, called the White God, because of his purity and also the Sun God, because his brow supplied light to mankind,” answers The American Book of Days. It adds: “There is no doubt that the Church in its early days adopted the old pagan customs and gave a Christian meaning to them. As the festival of Eostre was in celebration of the renewal of life in the spring it was easy to make it a celebration of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus, whose gospel they preached.”\n\nThis adoption explains how in certain lands the Easter customs, such as Easter eggs, the Easter rabbit, and hot cross buns, came about. Concerning the custom of making hot cross buns, “with their shiny brown tops marked by a . . . cross,” the book Easter and Its Customs states: “The cross was a pagan symbol long before it acquired everlasting significance from the events of the first Good Friday, and bread and cakes were sometimes marked with it in pre-Christian times.”\n\nNowhere in Scripture do we find mention of these things, nor is there any evidence that the early disciples of Jesus gave them any credence. As the book Curiosities of Popular Customs says: “It was the invariable policy of the early Church to give a Christian significance to such of the extant pagan ceremonies as could not be rooted out. In the case of Easter the conversion was peculiarly easy.