Answered
In Easter
What does the Easter bunny have to do with Easter and the egg?
It has nothing to do with Christianity. The legend has it that there was a beautiful bird who loved the goddess Isis. Each year on the spring equinox would come and lay her co…lorful eggs at the feet of the goddess. The goddess promised to grant her a wish and she said she would like to be a soft cuddly bunny, but Isis loving the eggs granted her wish but continued to lay her eggs each spring.The word "Easter" is a distortion of the name "Estre," a pagan fertility Goddess. The early church in effect took over a pagan time of celebration, and adapted the name to suit its own needs. The original Christian church celebrating Christ's resurrection every week by meeting for worship on the first day of the week (upon which He rose) celebrated the Pascha, which is a celebration "of His death till He comes."This is the feast we are actually commanded to keep, then we fast on Friday, attend a vigil on Saturday and rejoice the morning of His resurrection (the Feast of First Fruits). But the Roman Catholic Church altered this practice first and centuries later by imposition developed a tradition of celebrating the Resurrection as the feast. Rabbits and eggs are pagan fertility symbols of extreme antiquity. Birds lay eggs and rabbits give birth to large litters in the early spring these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth during the spring season. Since Easter also occurs in the early spring, people brought the beloved pagan symbols into the Christian celebration of Easter. These pagan symbols have become part of the Christian tradition. They do not take anything away from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and they add to the celebration. Christianity has frequently absorbed the positive and neutral symbols of pagan religions while leaving the negative symbols behind, similar to Christmas trees and Halloween costumes.The English word Easter is from the Old English words Ēastre or Ēostre or Eoaste. Eostre/Eostra/Eastre was the name of a pagan Saxon goddess, goddess of dawn, spring and fertility. Apparently rabbits were her favorite animal. Eggs, hares and rabbits have long been symbols of fertility. Eostra's consort was the Sun god, and it is reported that the first Sunday after the first full moon succeeding the vernal equinox was sacred to her. Going further back, there appears to be a connection between Eostra and the ancient goddess Astarte, a goddess connected with fertility and sexuality. Perhaps Eostra is the European name for the same goddess. The Greeks used the word 'Aphrodite' for the goddess Astarte. And the Romans called her Venus. According to ancient myths and legends, Astarte gave birth to Eros. According to one source, the ancient German goddess Ostara (Eostre in Anglo-Saxon) had a hare as a companion, and that this may have led to the 'Easter Bunny' customs. This source adds that rabbits were part of pre-Christian fertility lore. For more information, see Related links below this box. (MORE)
