The Easter Bunny
Created | Updated Feb 6, 2007
‘DO RABBITS LAY EGGS?’
As Easter fast approaches and symbols of chicks, eggs and rabbits abound, have you ever wondered what the rabbit has to do with Easter and why he is often depicted carrying a basket of eggs?
History actually points to the fact that the Easter bunny was originally a hare. In Pagan mythology the hare represented love, growth and fertility. The hare and the egg were also the symbols of the spring and lunar goddess Eostre, from whose name it is generally believed that the word ‘Easter’ is derived.
In some ancient cultures the hare was a symbol for the moon. Hares feed by night and have been observed staring at the moon when it is full. Their gestation period was also believed to be 28 days the same as a lunar cycle. The lunar cycle, which represented the victory of life over death or spring over winter, was celebrated around the vernal equinox. The date for Easter changes each year and this is because it is based on the lunar cycle. The Council of Nicea in 325AD set the date for Easter to fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox on March 21st.
The rabbit has taken over from the hare, as it is far more common in many countries, and due to its sexual proclivity is also regarded as a symbol of fertility. Eggs are also symbolic of new life and fertility and were associated with the Goddess Eostre, hence one of the reasons why the rabbit carries a basket of eggs. However there are other myths giving reasons for this.
Neither hares nor rabbits lay eggs, but hares bring up their young in ‘forms’. These forms are to be found in fields and are hollows in the ground. As they make more than one form, so that they can distribute their offspring in them for safety, it has been known for plovers to take a form over in which to lay its eggs. One legend states a woman saw a hare leaving a form and when she arrived there she found a ‘nest of eggs’, which were consequently believed to have been ‘laid’ by the hare.
According to another myth, originally Eostre’s hare was a large, handsome bird which she one day magically changed into a hare. Because the hare was still a bird at heart, it continued to build a straw nest in which to lay its eggs.
A German legend states that according to custom, a poor woman hid some coloured eggs in a nest for her children to find. As the children approached the nest, a hare hopped away and thus it was believed that the hare had brought the eggs!
The ‘bunny’ as a symbol of Easter was first mentioned in German writings in the sixteenth century and introduced to American folklore in the eighteenth century. Children would build a nest using their caps and bonnets and if they had behaved, would be rewarded with a nest of coloured eggs.
Although nowadays the real reasons for Easter have become masked in commercialism, it is interesting to delve deeper and become familiar with some of the ancient traditions behind the confectionery symbols presented to us in modern society.
AURIOL PEACOCK
As Easter fast approaches and symbols of chicks, eggs and rabbits abound, have you ever wondered what the rabbit has to do with Easter and why he is often depicted carrying a basket of eggs?
History actually points to the fact that the Easter bunny was originally a hare. In Pagan mythology the hare represented love, growth and fertility. The hare and the egg were also the symbols of the spring and lunar goddess Eostre, from whose name it is generally believed that the word ‘Easter’ is derived.
In some ancient cultures the hare was a symbol for the moon. Hares feed by night and have been observed staring at the moon when it is full. Their gestation period was also believed to be 28 days the same as a lunar cycle. The lunar cycle, which represented the victory of life over death or spring over winter, was celebrated around the vernal equinox. The date for Easter changes each year and this is because it is based on the lunar cycle. The Council of Nicea in 325AD set the date for Easter to fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox on March 21st.
The rabbit has taken over from the hare, as it is far more common in many countries, and due to its sexual proclivity is also regarded as a symbol of fertility. Eggs are also symbolic of new life and fertility and were associated with the Goddess Eostre, hence one of the reasons why the rabbit carries a basket of eggs. However there are other myths giving reasons for this.
Neither hares nor rabbits lay eggs, but hares bring up their young in ‘forms’. These forms are to be found in fields and are hollows in the ground. As they make more than one form, so that they can distribute their offspring in them for safety, it has been known for plovers to take a form over in which to lay its eggs. One legend states a woman saw a hare leaving a form and when she arrived there she found a ‘nest of eggs’, which were consequently believed to have been ‘laid’ by the hare.
According to another myth, originally Eostre’s hare was a large, handsome bird which she one day magically changed into a hare. Because the hare was still a bird at heart, it continued to build a straw nest in which to lay its eggs.
A German legend states that according to custom, a poor woman hid some coloured eggs in a nest for her children to find. As the children approached the nest, a hare hopped away and thus it was believed that the hare had brought the eggs!
The ‘bunny’ as a symbol of Easter was first mentioned in German writings in the sixteenth century and introduced to American folklore in the eighteenth century. Children would build a nest using their caps and bonnets and if they had behaved, would be rewarded with a nest of coloured eggs.
Although nowadays the real reasons for Easter have become masked in commercialism, it is interesting to delve deeper and become familiar with some of the ancient traditions behind the confectionery symbols presented to us in modern society.
AURIOL PEACOCK
