![]() (Yes, kind of like Santa Claus.) The Easter bunny would either put the baskets in a certain place, such as a "nest" the children would prepare, or he would hide the gifts as a game. Easter hare or spring bunny) judges children by their good or bad behavior, then brings little baskets filled with colored eggs, candy, and even toys to good little boys and girls on the eve of Easter. Neat! Some regions in Germany used to associate a fox with Easter, but Germans also had an interesting legend about a bunny named Oschter Haws. Did you know that different countries associate different animals with Easter? For example, Switzerland uses the cuckoo bird as their Easter symbol. The Easter Bunny LegendĮven though we don't know WHY bunnies are associated with Easter, we do know where in the world this idea originated. Truthfully, no one really knows for sure why bunnies or eggs are linked to Easter. Or maybe because rabbits and eggs are associated with fertility and Easter is in the spring, it's all tied to the emergence of new life at springtime. Maybe the eggs thing comes from the old Orthodox custom of fasting from eggs during Lent to keep the eggs from going to waste, they were first boiled, then consumed when breaking the fast weeks later. Maybe the bunny thing goes back to a belief that the word "Easter" originated from the name of the pagan goddess of spring, Eastre (or Eostre) and that her favorite animal was a bird which she turned into a hare when she got mad at it. Just as the origins of Easter itself are rather obscure, so is the reasoning behind associating bunnies and eggs with Easter celebrations. But wait-isn't Easter about the resurrection of Christ? What do bunnies and eggs and candy have to do with the return of Jesus? Well, nothing. These things are all indicators that Easter is coming. Not to mention the bags and bags of candy. retail and grocery stores seem to experience an invasion of pastel-colored eggs, painted wicker baskets, and little furry bunnies. Sometime between Valentine's Day and the beginning of spring, U.S. What is the origin of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs? ![]()
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