On Easter morning, you’ll find hordes of kids searching for
treats from the moment their eyes open. The prospect of finding scads of treats
left behind by the Easter bunny, including the ever-important Easter egg, spurs
this early-morning enthusiasm.
No matter what your religious orientation, the bunny and the
egg manage to crop into the Easter celebration somewhere along the line. But
there’s no mention of an Easter bunny or an Easter egg in the Bible, so how did
these symbols become important to Christian and secular families alike?
Secular symbols
Kids from non-religious families can easily accept that the
bunny is a symbol of fertility and the egg represents renewed life. Both
fertility and renewal of life are natural parts of the celebration of
springtime. The Earth, which seemed dead for a season, reawakens and teems with
greenery and growth. Barnyard babies and budding trees demonstrate nature’s
ability to create new generations of life. The earth takes care of all its
creatures and we celebrate the cycle with Easter.
Religious reasoning
To Christian families, Easter marks the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. During the three days of Jesus’ death, it’s believed that He unlocked
the gates of heaven, redeeming humans of their sinful behavior. Because Jesus’
life and death gave believers access to heaven, Easter is the single most
important celebration of the calendar year for Christians to celebrate! Although
no doctrine mentions marking the occasion with a bunny or an egg, many branches
of the church have made at least one of these symbols a part of their annual
ritual.
Christian Egg History
In Greece,
the Easter celebration begins before midnight on Holy Saturday. After the
services, people go home and crack colored eggs while repeating the phrases
“The Christ is resurrected" and “He truly is resurrected." One story claims
that egg traditions stem from a visit by Mary Magdalene to the Emperor of Rome
after Jesus’ resurrection. She allegedly presented the emperor with a red egg
while proclaiming Jesus’ miraculous rising from the dead. The red coloring
represented the blood of Jesus, and the egg represented Jesus coming forth from
his tomb; it’s contents signifying new life coming from the seemingly dead
shell.
Where in the word?
The etymology of the word Easter reveals that it was probably
developed from the word “Eastre," which was the name of the Teutonic goddess of
spring and dawn. This etymology also maintains that spring celebrations took
place in honor of Eastre long before Jesus ever lived. Eastre’s two most
prominent symbols were the hare and the egg because of their obvious link to
fertility and renewal. The similarity of this Teutonic tradition to Christian
traditions makes it easy to understand why Easter celebrations take place all
around the world. Secular and Christian kids may in fact be celebrating the
same symbols for the same reason.
No matter whether you’re into Easter to celebrate springtime
or dogma, it’s easy to see why this celebration is popular worldwide. And it
seems that, at least as far as Easter is concerned, the egg and the bunny
arrived in concert.
Chloe Matthews is a
writer for the number one online Easter resource CelebratingEaster.com. Chloe’s expert knowledge on crafting such as Easter
Eggs Decoration and Easter Cooking make her a popular resource around holiday
times.
