UNITED STATES, — Easter is a religious holiday, a celebration of spring and the day the Easter Bunny makes his yearly visit to bring baskets of candy and send kids on hunts looking for brightly colored eggs. For just one holiday, Easter has a lot going on but pretty much universally, the Easter Bunny has been incorporated into the celebration.
The modern-day version of the Easter Bunny has ancient origins. Aside from Judeo-Christian connotations, Easter is also a celebration of Spring and renewal, so eggs, flowers and even bunnies were used in older celebrations.
According to The Smithsonian, hares (the European word for bunny) have long been celebrated.
"Hares were given ritual burials alongside humans during the Neolithic age in Europe. Archaeologists have interpreted this as a religious ritual, with hares representing rebirth. Over a thousand years later, during the Iron Age, ritual burials for hares were common, and in 51 B.C.E., Julius Caesar mentioned that in Britain, hares were not eaten due to their religious significance," The Smithsonian stated.
Some scholars have also argued that, in Pagan times, the hare was also celebrated and connected with an Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre who was celebrated in April.
Other scholarship points to German traditions that an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws,” would bring gifts to good children.
An NBC article states the rabbit was associated with Eostre because of the animal's ability to reproduce quickly.
"Bunnies, eggs, Easter gifts and fluffy, yellow chicks in gardening hats all stem from pagan roots. They were incorporated into the celebration of Easter separately from the Christian tradition of honoring the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead," the article stated.
"Peter Cottontail" as we know him today, in either the U.S. or Europe, is basically the same. The Easter Bunny or Easter Hare brings baskets of candy and eggs to children and often has jaunty Spring attire.
However, that look also went through some changes. Early depictions of the Easter Bunny in the U.S. did not always come off as cheery and pleasant. Many older photos of the Easter Bunny induced tears in the children they were supposed to delight.
Ironically, even with the glow-up of the Easter Bunny, he's not always a hit with younger children.
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