Why is Easter represented by Rabbits and Eggs?

Question

i don't want to hear what happened on easter i just wanna know why!

Answer 1

Because in the spring the birds migrate from the south and lay eggs, they are the first fresh protein of the year. Rabbits are known for being prolific so they're symbols of fertility. Easter was celebrated long before the mythology of Jesus took it over. The first Easter was celebrated in 2400 BCE. Jesus never actually existed.

Answer 2

Before the Christian festival of Easter, there was a pagan festival called Oestre. It was a fertility festival in spring time and the word 'Oestre' derives from the same root as the female hormone 'oestrogen'. Rabbits and eggs are both symbols of fertility (rabbits because they breed like rabbits and eggs because they contain new life).

In the Middle Ages in Europe, the Christian Church wanted to stop people celebrating pagan festivals. One way to do that was to replace the pagan festivals with Christian ones. (As well as Easter replacing Oestre, Christmas replaced the Midwinter Festival). In historical terms we know that Jesus was a real person and he was crucified but we don't know his exact date of birth or death, so the Church had some choice in when it chose to celebrate its festivals. If they had held the fest at a different time, the general public would quite likely have celebrated both festivals, which was not what the church wanted. But if one replaced the other, then they could get rid of the paganism altogether.

The pagan fertility symbols of rabbits and eggs were retained because they were also symbols of rebirth and new beginnings - just as the Resurrection of Christ is the biggest signifier of rebirth and new beginnings in the whole of the Christian religion.

Please note, I am not making any judgements on either Paganism or Christianity and I am not saying that the events of Christian Easter did or did not happen. That comes down to personal belief and I respect everyone's right to make that choice for themselves. I am simply talking about the historical reason for the rabbits and eggs.

Answer 3

Cuz bunnys and eggs are happy and Easter is for kids and familys. Most people use Easter for joy and not give out the real reason to celebrate easter. When I was young, I didn't want to hear about Jesus dieing and coming to live again. That was too scary. Any way, dieing is for Halloween.

Answer 4

those 2 symbols are actually not embedded in ANY old pagan custom. there is not any historic evidence to help this concept in any respect. the two got here particularly late to Christianity. The eggs signify the occasion of the tip of the Lenten rapid whilst, historically, they weren't eaten. adorning eggs is a basic practice the two secular and non secular and so has no specific which skill different than occasion and (each and every so often) showing off - an English King as quickly as served eggs lined in gold and silver leaf at certainly one of his banquets. The rabbits do not signify something to Christians, nor to everyone else. they arrive from a German persons fantasy with reference to the eu hare - that it lays eggs. the myth arose because of the fact hares make nests to advance their youthful that are purely like some fowl's nests. The meant pagan symbolisms of eggs and rabbits (or hares) has all been invented in the final one hundred years or so.

Answer 5

I THINK Easter was originally a holiday having to do with celebrating fertility (the rabbit and eggs kind of make sense now, huh?) :-)

The Catholic church chose to celebrate the Ressurrection of Christ to coincide with the existing fertility holiday (most Christian religious holidays coincide with pagen ones). Now, the fertility holiday has been downgraded to Easter baskets, Easter egg hunts, and pictures of kids taken with adults in bunny suits at the mall.

Answer 6

The rabbit: Possibly because since these animals live in burrows they were considered to act as go-betweens for the living on earth and the dead down below.

The egg: a symbol of rebirth, new life, new beginnings, etc.

Christians see Easter as a time when life overcame death thru the Resurrection. It is important to them. And important events, whether you have faith in them or not, give rise to myths and pretty stories. Consider Christmas or Chanukah.

Answer 7

Because it is based on the pagan holiday Ostara (or Eostara... there are several different spellings). Ostara is a holiday that celebrates the time of planting and sowing, rebirth, and putting plans into action. It's celebrated on the spring equinox, which happened to be only a few days ago ^_^

Answer 8

It all has to do with fertility that the Pagans believed

Eggs, Egg Hunts and Easter

Eggs have always been associated with the Easter celebration. Nearly every culture in the modern world has a long tradition of coloring eggs in beautiful and different ways. I once examined a traveling display of many kinds of beautifully decorated egg designs that represented the styles and traditions of virtually every country of modern Europe.

Notice the following: “The origin of the Easter egg is based on the fertility lore of the Indo-European races…The egg to them was a symbol of spring…In Christian times the egg had bestowed upon it a religious interpretation, becoming a symbol of the rock tomb out of which Christ emerged to the new life of His resurrection” (Francis X. Weiser, Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, p. 233). This is a direct example of exactly how pagan symbols and customs are “Christianized,” i.e., Christian-sounding names are superimposed over pagan customs. This is done to deceive—as well as make people feel better about why they are following a custom that is not in the Bible.

Notice: “Around the Christian observance of Easter…folk customs have collected, many of which have been handed down from the ancient ceremonial…symbolism of European and Middle Eastern pagan spring festivals…for example, eggs…have been very prominent as symbols of new life and resurrection” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333).

Finally, the following comes from Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought, James Bonwick, pp. 211-212: “Eggs were hung up in the Egyptian temples. Bunsen calls attention to the mundane egg, the emblem of generative life, proceeding from the mouth of the great god of Egypt. The mystic egg of Babylon, hatching the Venus Ishtar, fell from heaven to the Euphrates. Dyed eggs were sacred Easter offerings in Egypt, as they are still in China and Europe. Easter, or spring, was the season of birth, terrestrial and celestial.”

What could be more plain in showing the true origin of the “Easter egg”? An “Easter” egg is just an egg that pertains to Easter. God never authorized Passover eggs or Days of Unleavened Bread eggs, but there have been Easter eggs for thousands of years!

It naturally progressed that the egg, representing spring and fertility, would be merged into an already pagan springtime festival. Connecting this symbol to Christ’s Resurrection in the spring required much creativity and human reasoning. However, even highly creative human reasoning has never been able to successfully connect the next Easter symbol to anything Christian, because there is not a single word about it anywhere in the New Testament!

The Easter Bunny

Here are two additional quotes from Francis Weiser about the origin of the “Easter bunny”: “In Germany and Austria little nests containing eggs, pastry and candy are placed in hidden spots, and the children believe that the Easter bunny, so popular in this country, too, had laid the eggs and brought the candy” (p. 235) and “The Easter bunny had its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore…The Easter bunny has never had religious symbolism bestowed on its festive usage…However, the bunny has acquired a cherished role in the celebration of Easter as the legendary producer of Easter eggs for children in many countries” (p. 236).

Here is further proof of the origin of Easter eggs and rabbits. It demonstrates how no one has ever been able to connect the Easter bunny to anything Christian, let alone to the Bible: “The Easter bunny is not a true Christian symbol” (John Bradner, Symbols of Church Seasons and Days, p. 52), and “Although adopted in a number of Christian cultures, the Easter bunny has never received any specific Christian interpretation” (Mirsea Eliade, The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 558).

None of this will stop scores of millions of professing Christians from decorating their lawns and houses with Easter bunnies each spring.

Consider this last quote: “The hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a symbol that was kept later in Europe…Its place has been taken by the Easter rabbit” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1991 ed., Vol. 4, p. 333).

Even in modern times, rabbits have remained common symbols of fertility. While their rapid rate of reproduction is well known, another problem arises with rabbits—they do not lay eggs! While both are clearly fertility symbols, there is no logical way to connect them. In a world filled with pagan tradition, truth and logic can be lost. Merging these symbols with Christianity makes an already idolatrous practice worse.

There is nothing Christian about any of these symbols. The true history of these fertility symbols, rabbits and eggs, is completely unknown to all the unsuspecting children who have been led by adults to think them so special.

The entire concept that these are Christian is a lie foisted on innocent children who will believe that “the moon is made of cheese” just because someone tells them so. While these are shocking facts, they are true nonetheless.

Answer 9

No outright religious significance, it's just spring, so they're symbolic of life, birth, and fecundity and Easter is the celebration of Christ's "rebirth".

Answer 10

because most animals are born in the spring..I think chicks and bunnies are the largest born in spring time