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David S asked in Society & CultureHolidaysEaster · 1 decade ago

How come Easter got associated with rabbits/bunnies?

8 Answers

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  • KC
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Rabbits and eggs are both symbols of the fertility goddess Eostre/Ishtar/Ostara. Her symbol is also the moon, in which some cultures see a rabbit instead of a face. Eggs also symbolize the moon and are the ultimate symbol of creation and new life. The basket is a symbol of the womb in which this new life is carried.

    The feast day is pagan and was widely celebrated way before the time of Jesus. Like pretty much all holidays, it was adopted by Christians to help get more converts. However, since the point is to celebrate new life and the hope of continuance, Christian symbols of a Resurrection day and the old pagan symbols mean the same thing. Just like Christmas, we are all celebrating the same thing, just using different symbols.

  • 1 decade ago

    Rabbits and eggs are pagan fertility symbols of extreme antiquity.

    Birds lay eggs and rabbits give birth to large litters in the early spring these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth during the spring season.

    Since Easter also occurs in the early spring, people brought the beloved pagan symbols into the Christian celebration of Easter.

    These pagan symbols have become part of the Christian tradition. They do not take anything away from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and they add to the celebration.

    Christianity has frequently absorbed the positive and neutral symbols of pagan religions while leaving the negative symbols behind, similar to Christmas trees and Halloween costumes.

    With love in Christ.

  • 1 decade ago

    Because Easter gets it's name from the pagan celebration of Eostre. The biblical anniversary of Jesus's death is the Passover of Nisan 14. This means that the true 2009 anniversary Jesus died was Thursday 9th April and anniversary of his resurrection would be Saturday 11th April.

    Easter and the Passover this year are by coincidence quite close. I observe the biblical anniversary which is happening in the evening of every kingdom hall at sundown all over the world on 9th April with over 17 million other observers.

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    shall we initiate with the neo-pagan mythology. in the 18th and nineteenth century, romantic writers needed to create a mythical previous for Britain to rival the Norse sagas and so on. They created an entire load of mythology based on the thought any individuals custom which became no longer of course and explicitly Christian must be a pagan remnant. They have been helped in this via puritanical protestants who objected to something that smacked of Roman Catholicism deriding it as "pagan practices". those myths are particularly much completely with none historic commencing place. there is no historical Celtic fable a pair of goddess with eggs and rabbits as her image. no longer something on the record in any respect. So: Eggs: maximum in all threat a custom derived from the Catholic prepare of fasting in the time of Lent - the era ideal as much as Easter. human beings could supply up eggs, meat and dairy produce. Eggs have been subsequently given as a latest to symbolise the tip of the quick and the Easter dinner occasion. The bunny maximum in all threat became initially a hare. Hares make nests in the open field to rear their youthful. those nests have a resemblance to three birds nests. for this reason the tall tale arose that hares lay eggs - deliver somebody out to locate hare's eggs - it is, on a wild goose chase. So the Easter hare brings eggs for little ones - previous due transmuted into chocolate eggs and candy. Its in user-friendly terms a individuals custom that arose around Easter,

  • 1 decade ago

    Because like just about every christian holiday it has it's basis in older pagan rituals that the early christians adopted to try and convert others. Open a mythology book that's not the bible and it becomes fairly obvious.

  • 1 decade ago

    Read this short article it should answer your question.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    fertility

  • 1 decade ago

    idk

    God RockZ!!!!

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