You might have wondered where the traditions of the Easter bunny and coloring eggs originated, and what they have to do with the Christian origins of the holiday, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, the holiday also has Pagan ties as well. Read on to learn more about the origins of modern Easter traditions.
Long before Christianity, ancient peoples celebrated the advent of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere with feasts and festivals. People lived by the changes in seasons. The oncoming spring season represented a rebirth from the cold and darkness of winter. Fields were replanted, buds were blooming, and animals were birthing babies.
Oftentimes, ancient people worshiped a goddess of spring, and Pagan celebrations of spring and spring goddesses were absorbed into the Easter celebrations we know today. In Germany, the goddess of spring was named Eostre, which is where the English name for Easter came from.
Easter’s date has changed for hundreds of years, ever since the first major church council, called the Council of Nicaea, in 325 AD. The council decided that Easter should fall on the Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. Also known as the vernal equinox, the spring equinox occurs when there is an equal amount of sunlight and darkness everywhere on Earth.
We usually mark the first day of spring on the same date as the spring equinox. Because Easter’s date is determined by the spring equinox, it can occur between March 25 and April 25 on a given year.
Much of the symbols we see in Easter traditions today come from Pagan celebrations of spring. Eggs were a symbol of new life and came to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus. As early as the Middle Ages, people decorated and ate eggs following mass on Easter Sunday. There is evidence that egg hunts began in the 18th century in Germany.
What about the Easter Bunny? Rabbits were associated with fertility and linked to goddesses of spring and fertility.
Today we see the symbols of ancient celebrations in our modern ones. While Easter is traditionally seen as a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, it can also be seen as a celebration of spring and new life.
