Every Easter Sunday, Catholics celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. However, the custom of receiving chocolates from the Easter bunny comes from the pagan holiday of celebrating spring rather than being a religious holiday.
Beyond the religious symbolism of the so-called Holy Week, in many countries what most leads these dates is the custom for the chocolate eggs that the popular Easter bunny brings. However, many Catholics are aware that no rabbit was involved in the account of Jesus’ death and resurrection, so where does the tradition come from?
This is because, in reality, the custom of eggs and rabbits does not come from Judaism or Christianity, but from a pagan celebration. This is because in the northern hemisphere Holy Week fits in the calendar with the arrival of spring.
A celebration with pagan origin
According to slogan The IndependientHoly Week fits with Jewish Passover, in addition to the pagan celebration for spring, equinox and the arrival of OstaraCeltic goddess of spring and fertility.
The goddess was known for bringing different symbolism related to fertility such as storks, nests with eggs of birds and, precisely, the hares due to its great ability to reproduce.
So, the Germanic Anglo-Saxons celebrated Eosturmonath in April, that was evolving to the Ostern of Germany and to the Easter in Englishto commemorate the death of the god of winter and the arrival of Ostara.
In fact, some of the people who defended this hypothesis of pagan custom were Jacob Grimm, one of the two most popular brothers for their children’s stories. And it is that, in 1985, Grimm wrote a book on German mythology called German mythologyin which he included Ostara, as recorded Metro Peru.
In addition to the symbolism of fertility, there is a legend surrounding the goddess Ostara. In it, it is said that the goddess of spring took a long time to arrive and found a bird with frozen wings. To save his life, she decided to put skin on him and turn her into a hare. But since it was essentially a bird, it could still lay eggs.
The legend was adapted by the Germans, who told children that the hare in spring would leave them gifts and eggs colors on their hats if they behaved well.
According ABC, precisely on the eve of Resurrection Sunday, northern Germany celebrates with the so-called “Easter bonfires”. In them, neighbors, relatives and friends gather to burn branches of bushes and trees to chase away winter and bring abundance in spring.
From celebrating spring to celebrating the resurrection
According to NatGeo, the egg was a common symbolism around lifenot only in the pagan world, but also in Hinduism, in Egyptian mythology and much more.
It was so the first Christians considered the egg as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. So, during the Middle Ages, the custom was made to celebrate with chicken or duck eggs, considering them a typical feast of the date to bring joy and return to joy.
“The Easter egg represents fertility, perfection, life and resurrection, but the rabbit also does it as a fertile symbol. This embodies the ability to reproduce, the joy of living and curiosity about life”he pointed out in conversation with DW Karin Bürkert, Professor at the University of Tuebingen at the Ludwig-Uhland Institute for Empirical Cultural Sciences.
According to the expert, the Easter bunny appeared for the first time in the same regions where the Christmas tree also appearedshowing an example of how little by little the custom was mutating around the world.