What's up with Easter?

Question

Is not Easter a holiday about Jesus?
Where did all the chocolate and bunnies and stuff come from?
Here's what my friend says:
"Silly rabbit, Easter is for Jesus!"
What do you think?

Answer 1

Yes, Evil Genius, Easter is about Jesus rather than candy or treats. But, along with the Rabbit and the Hare Christian stories, chocolate and bunnies make the holiday more kid-friendly, I think.
Funny, I've heard that quote before somewhere...

Answer 2

Rabbits and eggs are both symbols of the fertility goddess Eostre/Ishtar/Ostara. Her symbol is also the moon, in which some cultures see a rabbit instead of a face. Eggs also symbolize the moon and are the ultimate symbol of creation and new life. The basket is a symbol of the womb in which this new life is carried.

The feast day is pagan and was widely celebrated way before the time of Jesus. Like pretty much all holidays, it was adopted by Christians to help get more converts. However, since the point is to celebrate new life and the hope of continuance, Christian symbols of a Resurrection day and the old pagan symbols mean the same thing. Just like Christmas, we are all celebrating the same thing, just using different symbols.

Silly Christian, Easter is for pagans! It's the name of a goddess, for pete's sake! If that bothers you, call it Resurrection Day.

Answer 3

Christians have been celebrating Easter for hundreds of years earlier they started calling it "Easter." How did that take place, precisely? And "Eoster" wasn't a holiday, it replaced right into a goddess. Now, for you history buffs, the Celts called "break of day" "eastern," because of the fact the sunlight rose interior the east. Centuries later, they talked relating to the Christian paschal provider as a "break of day" provider, or "Easter." It had no longer something to do with paganism. Rule #one million of historic study: by no ability confuse causation with correlation.

Answer 4

The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season.
The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. And were made of pastry and sugar

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests . The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country.

This is directly taken from a website.......and jives with what I have found through other searches.

The celebration of Easter as a Christian holiday stems from the Catholic churches efforts to over shadow and get rid of pagan holidays during their efforts to convert Europe and elsewhere (in no way am I against that).

(taken from yet another site)
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine manner.

It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a Christian manner.

As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.

As with any mass observed holiday companies see an opportunity to commercialize and make serious profit. So ultimately with any holiday it is what you choose to make of it. So celebrate Christ's resurrection or just eat some peeps (mmmmmm marshmallowy goodness) or bunny ears and enjoy the weekend.

Answer 5

giving kids presents when it is easter will make them remember easter, and so when they are older, they will learn the real meanign of easter (hopefully) and when they learn about it they will know excactly what easter is instead of just going "wait...whats easter again?"

Answer 6

Yes I agree it should be focused on what it truly is which is the ressurection of Jesus.

But of cource with a holdiay comes a chance for companies to make money...so thats where the bunny...eggs...candy...comes in.

Answer 7

here is a goos peice of info:


http://www.nbc4.tv/easter/570562/detail.html

Answer 8

I think parents just made it up so thier kids would stop bugging them.

Answer 9

everything you could ever want to know
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter