what does a rabbitt have to do with easter?

Answer 1

http://www.history.com/minisites/easterThe History of Easter


Easter is a time of rebirth and resurrection. It was first celebrated by the pagans around the vernal equinox, welcoming spring.

Find out why Easter isn't celebrated on the same day each year, which converging traditions that have come to form this Christian holiday and the history behind the Easter bunny.

Answer 2

The Easter Bunny has a long history. It was brought to America from Germany by immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area. It has become an integral part of the American Easter tradition and has to a lesser degree been accepted in the UK.

The Easter Bunny is usually considered to be a benevolent, vaguely supernatural creature that brings gifts to good boys and girls. Today these gifts are usually in the form of chocolate Easter eggs.

The origin of the Easter Bunny probably goes back to the festival's connection with the pagan goddess Eostre. Eostre (sometimes spelt Oestre) was a fertility goddess from whom we derive the word "oestrogen" and she is closely associated with fertility symbols such as eggs. The rabbit is known as a highly fertile creature and hence an obvious choice for Easter symbolism.

In fact the use of a rabbit is probably a mistake - the Easter "bunny" is more likely to be a hare, since it is the hare that is usually considered the sacred creature of Eostre. Hares have been considered sacred by many cultures including the ancient Egyptians who believed them to watch the moon during the night. Although hares and rabbits are related they are most definitely different creatures, as a certain Bugs keeps reminding us!

Answer 3

the rabbit was a favored symbol of a goddess of fertility, Ester, that was worshipped before christianity. pagan holidays are sometimes kept, to make newcomers to the religion (back in the day) comfortable - easter is a holiday that actually celebrates that spring is here and crops can grow again

as well, the rabbit reproduces quickly, and seemed an endless source of life - they just keep on coming.

also, the egg represents fertility and birth.
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many times in the past i have told the following story to people that i know, when they ask me, "jim, why are there rabbits and eggs at easter?"

i explained to them how important a food source the egg is. i mean really, a chicken can lay so many eggs without having a male there, and they're not going to end up ...being anything. so many can be made in such a short time..

well, when god took away jesus, and let the romans take his life to show the world how much christ would give, people got scared. what if god took away their favorite food source?

well! people started running through the streets yelling "Hide the f-cking eggs! Hide the f-cking eggs!" and since they didn't know where to hide the eggs from the christian god, they figured that since rabbits don't lay eggs, the eggs could be hidden under the rabbits

well! the rabbits didn't really know what to do with the eggs. i mean, they can't really sit on them properly or anything. and they don't have refridgeration to keep the eggs from spoiling. so the rabbits would play mean tricks on helpless children by leaving eggs in hidden places in the house.

this leads to the origin of the easter egg hunt, where people were frantic to find the eggs before they spoiled, so that their yards and houses didn't stink up the neighborhood

Answer 4

Nothing at all really.

The rabbit has for a long time been a symbol of fertility. Since Easter takes place during the spring when the Pagan religions have their rebirth festivities, the Christian church decided to adopt some of their symbols in order to get more Pagans to turn Christian.

Answer 5

I knew someone would answer this questiom saying the first pope was a rabbit peter. An egg was what they ate at the last super. Rabbits just show purity and good luck and they were chosen because of the popes hat it belongs to a rabbit.

P.S. the first one who answered this question is wrong kinda
he is just a south park fanatic.

Answer 6

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Easter is the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, not hunting for eggs and wolfing down pounds of chocolate.

Answer 7

The first pope was actually a rabbit.

Peter Rabbit

The church doesn't like to advertise these things because it is awfully hard to explain why a bunny is running a religion.

Answer 8

EASTER NOT FOUND IN THE BIBLE
"The English word 'Easter' came from the Anglo-Saxon Eastre or Estera, a Teutonic goddess to whom sacrifice was offered in April, so the name was transferred to the Pashal Feast. The word does not properly occur in Scripture although the AV (King James Translation) has it in ACTS 12:4 where it stands for 'Passover' as it is rightly rendered in RV (Revised Version). There is no trace of Easter celebration in the New Testament..." (INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA VOL.2, P.889). The word 'Easter' has confused some but the word in the original form is "Pascha" meaning "Passover". It occurs 29 times in the New Testament & everytime it's translated Passover except in Acts 12:4. If you read carefully (ACTS 12:1-4); it says that Herod killed James and was trying to kill Peter in an effort to "vex the church"(Please the Jews). Then in VERSE 3 "were the days of unleavened bread"; see LEV.23. He put him in prison intending to try him "after Easter" (KJV). Now if Herod was trying to "please the Jews" & "vex the church" Why would he have delayed the trial until after 'Easter?'" If this was a "christian holy day", especially one in honoring Christ's resurrection, he would surely not be pleasing the Jews, Wouldn't it be more pleasing to the Jews to vex the church by killing one of it's Apostles on it's own "holy-day," would it not?

ORIGIN OF EASTER: WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
Easter was never observed by the Apostles of Christ or Christ's Religion. "The name 'Easter' comes to us from the mythlogical writings of the Ancient Teucrians (who lived 1200BC along the southern coast of Palestine) where it's known as 'Ostern'" BY GROVER STEVENS. "The name 'Easter' is merely the slightly changed English spelling of the name of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian idol goddess, Ishtar (pronounced eesh-tar)." WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY says "Easter is from the pre-historic name of a pagan spring festival." THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY says, "Easter is derived from the name of goddess whose feast was celebrated at the vernal equinox." THE SCHOLARY NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA says, "This goddess is also widely known as Astarte...The cult originated in Babylonia and spread to Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria & Palestine, then through the Phoenicians to all of the Meditteranean peoples...Ishtar was in fact primarily and chiefly identified as Venus, the most beautiful of celestial objects & from the terrestrial side, the primarily motive of the worship of Ishtar was the impulse to deify sensuous and sensuality." ALEXANDER HISLOP SAYS IN THE TWO BABYLONS (P.103), "Easter bears its Chaldean origin on its forehead. Easter is nothing else than Asarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven..."
http://family.webshots.com/photo/1370351068049373547hLMhYB
http://www.matrifocus.com/IMB04/spotlight.htm
http://www.albatrus.org/english/festivals/easter/is_easter_pagan.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar
http://www.lcg.org/search/search.php?query=easter&type=and&results=10&search=1

The Easter Bunny and eggs deal with fertility of the goddess Ishtar. "Eggs, the obvious symbols of fertility and reproduction, were used in ancient fertility rites. They were painted with various magickal symbols and then cast into fires or buried in the earth as offerings to the Goddess. In certain parts of the world, Spring Equinox eggs were painted yellow or gold (sacred solar colors) and used in rituals to honor the Sun God. Easter, like every other Christian religious holiday is rich with an abundance of Pagan overtones, customs and traditions such as Easter eggs and Easter bunny. Eggs, as previously discussed were ancient fertility symbols and offerings to the Goddess of the Pagans and Witches in both western and eastern cultures, including the Goddess Ostara, whose escort was a rabbit. "
http://www.nobleknights.com/~eagle1/eostre1.htm

Easter Bunny Origination
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv8-&p=easter%20bunny%20come%20from--Ishtar--pagan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny

EASTER EGGS
Note: these sites tell where Easter Eggs came from.
http://www.nobleknights.com/~eagle1/eostre1.htm
http://www.rightdivision.com/html/easter_pagan_influences.html

VERSES-- DEUT.4:19,28-31; 11:26-28; 17:3 & GAL.4:8-10.