where did the idea of the Easter Bunny come from?
The history of this tradition comes from a few different places, but at the center of each tradition is a recognition of spring as a time of fertility and rebirth. The Goddess and the Rabbit Easter itself is an adapted holiday that was based on the themes and timing of two pre-Christian Pagan traditions. The Anglo-Saxon goddess Ostara was the goddess of fertility. Each spring Pagans would place seeds and colored eggs on their altars in her honor. These symbols represented the new life and beginnings associated with the vernal equinox. According to Anglo-Saxon legend, the Goddess Ostara turned her pet bird into a rabbit for the vernal equinox. The rabbit would lay colorful eggs to entertain the children. The word “Eostre” was modified to “Easter.” In Northern Europe, the goddess Eostre ruled over fertility. Her consort was a rabbit, whom she cast into the heavens to create the constellation of Lepus the Hare. Once a year, Eostre allowed Lepus to come back to earth and have the ability t
It probably originated with a European folk tale/joke/saying. The bunny was not a rabbit but a hare (a bit like a rabbit but bigger). Hares live in the open and, when having young, make nests in the fields (called forms). These bear a superficial resemblance to birds nests from which observation it is a short step to the notion of “hare’s eggs” – as a saying or tease – sending someone to search for hare’s eggs is sending someone on a futile quest. It then transformed into a game for children – send them out to seach for the hare’s – or bunny’s – eggs and plant real ones for them to find.. The eggs are, of course, given at Easter as a sign of the end of the lenten fast.
