Easter will sneak up on you before you know it. It lands on March 23rd this year, so if you want time to prepare for the Hippity Hop fun with the Easter Bunny, better get started. The next time Easter will fall on an early date won't be until March 25th 2035.
For those of you who have always wondered about Easter, and how it relates to the Easter Bunny, The Resurrection of Christ, and the Celebration of the return of Spring, this article is geared towards clarifying some historical facts, and the story of how it all came together.
According to my research, the Easter Bunny is as old a tradition, as Easter itself.
With today's commercialized products, and advertising guru's focusing on the Easter Bunny, the reasoning behind it all seems to have been lost, the original meanings haven't been taught for a very long time, and through the passage of time, we seem to be lost in the translation of who is the Easter Bunny, and how he became to be such a cherished icon for Easter.
First of all the Easter Bunny, is not a boy. He is a woman. A Goddess Infact. And her name is Eastre.
As most recognize, Easter is a religious Holiday. The marking of Resurrection of Christ, in Christianity, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday being the official Holliday.
But how did modern Easter traditions come to be?
When Christians had set out around the world, to seek people to convert to their religion, and preach the gospel, they had encountered many strange and different cultures. To keep peace, and to maintain their teachings on God and his ways, they adapted some of the rituals of other cultures into their own traditions. Easter being one.
The Saxon's, where a strange and wonderful culture, who were free spirited, and very strong in their own religion. They were Pagans, and had a yearly celebration that erupted quite a stir. It was the celebration of the return of Spring, and fertility. They threw an enormous festival to celebrate the Goddess of Spring, and her name was Eastre. As the Christians merged their religious beliefs with the Saxon's, they changed the spelling of Eastre, to Easter.
Of course, for Christians, they do not worship Idols, and certainly not a Goddess. They celebrate Christ, the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. The resurrection of Christ is what the Christians based their faith on, and Easter, being a Holiday of rebirth, was the perfect Holiday for Christ, and his rebirth.
The annual date of Easter, wasn't always like it is today. Infact, it wasn't until Emperor Constantine, had initiated a committee, known as the Council of Nicaea, who set the rules of schedule for Easter. It had previous to that, fallen on Tuesday, or a Friday, or any day of the week. With much thought put into the exact dating, this is what they came up.
Easter Sunday, traditionally falls on the first Sunday, after the full moon, (full moon-the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation), on or after the equinox. The full moon, in the ecclesiastical full moon, not what we normally consider as the astronomical full moon. In other words, the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation, where one day corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon.
If none of that makes sense, think of it this way. What this means, is that the date of Easter, doesn't fall on the same day every year, like Christmas for example. We all know, and expect Christmas Eve to fall on December 24th, and Christmas Day the 25th, no matter what year it is, or day of the week it falls on. Easter, however, is a little different. Easter dates run under the rule of the ecclesiastical venal equinox, which always falls on March 21st. So, Easter is celebrated on a Sunday, between the dates of March 22, and April 25th.
To take it one step further, we need to know how they figure out which Sunday.
That's when the Lenten Season comes into the equation.
Lent, is celebrated by Christians. It marks the period where their Savoir Jesus Christ had fasted for 40 days, resisting temptation, and repenting of sins. Christians are not obligated by the Bible to practice Lent, it is a time honoured tradition that Christians do when following the path of Christ, and have been doing it for over two thousand years. They give up something of value to them, for the duration of 40 days prior to Easter Sunday.
You see, Lent, is a 40 day period, which falls prior to Easter Sunday, and it begins on Ash Wednesday. Valentines Day, or the Mardi Gras, translated as Fat Tuesday, which is dependant on the equinox, and is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday. As discussed in my article on Where Valentines Day Comes from, the Mardi Gras is an ancient tradition dating back to the Pagan times, originating in France, where they held a yearly celebration, which originally came from the Egyptian tradition of the Lupercal Feast.
As a recap.
Paris (France) was inspired. The Mardi Gras, as legend will tell, was a part of the Lupercalia, which was a circus themed festival, which the people gave themselves up to Venus, in seeking fertility. The Romans when in their strong conquering stage. As with Claudius II, who executed Valentine, had brought the Lupercal Feast Celebrations into the France Culture, and as it evolved, it turned into the Mardi Gras. It is said that in the year 1699, a French Explorer named Iberville, came to the United States, and feeling bored, and being on the eve of the Mardi Gras, he introduced the Mardi Gras to the town of New Orleans, and the Mardi Gras in Louisiana and New Orleans traditional celebration is now known world wide today.
Another reason for the Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, goes a little deeper. It is a day of release. A way to get everything out, before the 40 day Christian Lent period began.
Why is the Easter Bunny apart of Easter?
The Goddess Eastre, who as mentioned above, was the Goddess of Spring.
The symbol of the rabbit is actually a Pagan symbol, for the ancient Pagan celebration of Eastre. The Goddess, Eastre, was worshiped by Anglo-Saxons, and was known by her unique symbol, of the rabbit. The Germans were actually the first country to recognize the rabbit as an Easter symbol, and spread Bunny Cheer throughout the world, including America. The Christians didn't recognize the Bunny as the Symbol of Easter for a long period after Easter was celebrated.
If you'd like to know who the Tradition of Easter Eggs fell into the Easter Holiday, check out my other Easter Articles.
Happy Easter
Article by: Sacreeta
