Who is the Easter Bunny? We know he keeps good company with the likes of Santa Claus, and we know he brings baskets of goodies to kids at Easter. But do we really know why? Or how it was this generous bunny came to be?
History: Why a Rabbit Who Lays Eggs?
The notion of an Easter bunny predates Christianity. Symbolically, eggs, hares, and rabbits have all represented fertility in a variety of cultures. Somewhere along the way wires got crossed as traditions and beliefs merged and an egg-laying bunny was created. One who bore colored eggs no less.
A Little About the Eggs
For Catholics celebrating Easter, eggs were an off-limits food during Lent. This might explain the proliferation of eggs at Easter. But perhaps this derived from earlier religions, when eating eggs at spring was a symbolic form of prayer for fertility and plentiful crops.
As for the coloring, different cultures colored their eggs differently. Greeks chose red to symbolize Christ’s blood and renewed life. Some cultures favored green, as a symbol of the newly forming leaves on trees and plants. The United States made many-colored eggs popular.
”Oschter Haws” Comes to America
German’s settling in Pennsylvania Dutch country introduced the notion of the Easter bunny to American Folklore. These early settlers had a different take on welcoming the bunny and preparing for his visit: the children would build nests using their bonnets and caps for the Easter Bunny to deposit his colored eggs into.
Also interesting to note is that Germany was the home of the first edible Easter Bunny. It wasn’t made out of chocolate, but it was sweet pastry treat.
So Who’s This Peter Cottontail Everyone’s Singing About?
Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin’ down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Easter’s on its way!
He was featured in a 1971 Rankin Bass television special called Here Comes Peter Cottontail. The TV special was based on a song composed by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins. And allegedly Peter Cottontail came to be so named because of characters (Cottontail and Peter Rabbit) in “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter.
Easter “Bunnies” and Customs in Other Countries
Australians consider rabbits pests so instead of the Easter Bunny, they’ve made a push for the Easter Bilby to represent the season. (Bilbies are marsupials indigenous to the country.)
Flying Easter bells, not bunnies, drop eggs from the sky in France.
Eggs, Chocolate, Even Money
As time has a way of doing, the Easter Bunny has taken on a life of his own, depending on the times in which he’s invoked. Now baskets are more popular than nests, but Easter bonnets and dresses still endure. As do colored eggs, but now egg hunts are popular ways of collecting them. And sometimes plastic eggs filled with candy and/or money are used rather than real ones.
The Spirit of the Easter Bunny
Like Santa, the Easter Bunny represents tradition, but also something else.
No matter what religion you follow, no matter if you believe in the Easter Bunny or not, his spirit lives in us all. Who doesn’t look forward to being rewarded with a treat –sweet or otherwise? But the true joy is not in the receiving. It’s in the giving and watching the pleasure those gifts bring.
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