Easter, Bunnies, and Eggs

[Columbia]

Why the heck do bunnies and painted and boiled chicken eggs have to do with the resurrection of Christ?? Anyone have any idea??

[smirkymonkey]

1. They were pagan symbols of fertility in

the rites of spring before Christianity co-opted them for it's Easter holiday.

[Ricdude]

4. Spring, renewal, resurrection...

... embrace, extend, extinguish.

And when was the last time you saw coniferous trees in Israel?

At least the ideas of spring renewal and resurrection have something in common, that whole coming back from the dead (of winter) idea...

[smirkymonkey]

5. ???

What?? I don't think I know what you are saying.

[polmaven]

2. A little seasonal humor?

What do you get when you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole?

Hot Cross Bunnies!!

[Nailzberg]

3. Bill Hicks on Easter... (profanity)

I was over in Australia during Easter, which was interesting. Interesting to note they celebrate Easter the same way we do: commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus.. by telling our children a giant bunny rabbit left chocolate eggs in the night.

Now, I wonder why we're fucked up as a race. Anybody got any clues out there? Where do you get this shit from? Why those two things? Why not goldfish left lincoln logs in your sock drawer? As long as we're makin' shit up, go hogwild, you know? At least a goldfish with a linkin log on its back going across your floor to your sock drawer has a miraculous connotation to it. "Mommy, I woke up today and there was a lincoln log in me sock drawer!"... "That's the story of Jesus!"

Who comes up with this shit? I've read the Bible, I can't find the word 'bunny' or 'chocolate' anywhere in that fuckin' book. Do y'all have different books of the Bible than I do?

I miss you Bill.

[smirkymonkey]

6. Here you go....

"Eastre (earlier, Eostre, derived from the Saxons' Germanic heritage) was the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of dawn, spring and fertility... Rites of spring were celebrated in her honor at the vernal equinox (first day of spring). The first Sunday after the first full moon succeeding the vernal equinox was also sacred to her, and this pagan holiday was given her name -- Eastre. The full moon represented the "pregnant" phase of Eastre -- she was passing into the fertile season and giving birth to the Sun's offspring.

Eastre's symbols were the hare and the egg. Both represent fertility and, consequently, rebirth. Since rabbits are more common in most lands than hares, over time the rabbit has been substituted -- not without merit, since rabbits are notorious for their fertility. Thus was born the "Easter Rabbit" tradition.

Dyed eggs were already being used as part of pagan rituals at the dawn of history in the Near Eastern civilizations. These were the first "Easter eggs." As the traditions of the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs evolved, they were lumped together -- somewhat incongruously.

Later, the new Christian religion, with its emphasis on rebirth (through the Resurrection), found it expedient to continue celebrating Eastre's holiday. The focus simply switched to Christ -- and the spelling, eventually, to "Easter."

[Columbia]

7. Excellent analysis

Thanks, smirky!