I often wondered where the Easter bunny came from but didn't look into it until there was an article in the newspaper last week with a fraktur of a rabbit carrying a basket of colored eggs. The fraktur was drawn about 1800 by a German immigrant in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It is in a museum in Wilmington, Delaware. The newspaper article said the Easter rabbit came from German folklore and was imported in the 1700s with the Germans who became known as Pennsylvania Dutch.
The old PA Dutch story involved a mythical figure known as Ostara, who was the symbol of fertility and new life in the spring. According to the legend, Ostara changed a pet bird into a rabbit to amuse children, and the rabbit laid brightly colored eggs. Ostara gave the eggs as gifts to the children.
Next question. Where did the Germans get the Easter rabbit and colored egg idea?
The only place the word "Easter" is used in the Bible is in Acts 12:4. However, the book of Acts was originally written in the Greek language and the Greek word in Acts 12:4 is pascha which means Passover. In his 1522 German translation, Martin Luther translated pascha as Oastern. When the KJV was translated to English in 1611, the translators used Easter instead of Passover. Easter and the Jewish Passover are celebrated close together.
The beginning of Easter goes back to the springtime ritual begun by the Phoenician Queen Semiramis following the death of her son Tammuz. Legend has it that through her tears, Tammuz could be resurrected in the reincarnated form of new vegetation on Earth. Ezekiel 8:14 says women were weeping for Tammuz. Queen Semiramis also came to be known as Astarte (a Phoenician goddess) and Eastre or Ashtoreth (wife of Baal and queen of heaven).
Easter was established by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. As Christianity spread, pagan practices were mixed with Christianity as a way to attract pagans to the church. The Babylonians considered the egg a sacred symbol that represented Ostera's fertility and new life (the 28-day cycle of the moon). During the Middle Ages, Europeans collected different colored bird eggs from nests to use as charms against evil and bring them good fortune. Later, the painting of eggs became more popular. In Germany, Ostera (an Anglo-Saxon goddess of rebirth and new life in spring) and her rabbit with a basket of colored eggs was mixed with the Easter celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.
The Virgin Mary is depicted with her left hand on a rabbit in the painting "The Madonna of the Rabbit" ca. 1530.
Rabbits have long been recognized as a fertility symbol and can also be traced back to the practices established by Semiramis. In the 1500s in Germany, some people believed that rabbits laid red eggs on Holy Thursday and multi-colored eggs the night before Easter Sunday. Later, the custom evolved into edible Easter bunnies made out of sugared pastry. This tradition came to America during the 1700s with the Pennsylvania Dutch and evolved into chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs. Children believed that if they were good to the "Oschter haw" (Easter bunny), he would lay a nest of colored eggs.
Like the celebration of Christ's birth at Christmas, Easter has turned into a melting pot of activities that have nothing to do with our Lord's death and resurrection. Although traditions like the Easter bunny and egg hunts seem harmless, they actually have a significant association with pagan worship and rituals from the past.
A word to the wise is sufficient. Let's keep Easter pure and a day to praise God for the resurrection of Jesus which confirmed He was the Son of God sent to be our Redeemer.
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