How do we go from reserection of christ to choclate bunneys laying eggs? and scavenger hunting for eggs?
yes, i know i cant spell. deal with it.
2007-11-02 19:57:56 · 9 answers · asked by Zach 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Easter
hahahah halle-lu-ja, me too , only the easter bunny knows the truth. we eat chocolate on easter coz we dnt eat bunny's!, i wonder what christ would think of how we created easter to be this way.....hhmmm
2007-11-02 20:04:45 · answer #1 · answered by cookieazz 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Rabbits and eggs are pagan fertility symbols of extreme antiquity.
Birds lay eggs and rabbits give birth to large litters in the early spring these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth during the spring season.
Since Easter also occurs in the early spring, people brought the beloved pagan symbols into the Christian celebration of Easter.
These pagan symbols have become part of the Christian tradition. They do not take anything away from the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and they add to the celebration.
Christianity has frequently absorbed the positive and neutral elements of pagan religions while leaving the negative symbols behind, similar to Christmas trees and Halloween costumes.
With love in Christ.
2007-11-04 00:58:26 · answer #2 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I used to wonder that samething myself !! & How or where did whom`ever get the info & start some RUMOR about the Christ's birthday being {12/25 wHeNeVeR}!?! Furthermore How's
2007-11-03 03:28:22 · answer #3 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At the time that the Christians were attempting to convert the Germans during the time of Pope Gregory I believe, they had a problem. Many of the Christian holidays coincided with particular celebrations that the Germans already had. Rather than outlawing them, Pope Gregory instructed that they should set up their celebrations right next to the German ones and that the stronger should prevail. He also allowed the Germans to bring some of their traditions along with them, so as to not entirely seem to be trying to wipe their ideas out. During Easter, the Germans were celebrating the coming of spring that was controlled by a goddess whose symbols were eggs and rabbits, both signs of the burst of life about to come. This is also where decorating Christmas trees and the Yule Log came from.
2007-11-03 03:05:53 · answer #4 · answered by Mike G 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
OK, Easter WAS a pagan holiday. And in fact DID involve bunny rabbits and eggs.
It WAS actually called Ishtar, which when pronounced sounds like Easter.
The festival has always been on the exact day of the spring equinox to welcome in the new growing season. Eggs are a symbol of firtility, cause chickens come out of them, and bunnies are also a symbol of furtility. I mean, you don't get the phrase "doing it like bunnies" from no where.
When Christians came into the picture, we matched our holiday with theirs and called it the same thing, but just gave new meaning to it, making it Christ centric.
There's a lot of information you could get by searching it, and even one which comes from an actual Christian organization holds parts of this truth within it.
http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html
2007-11-03 03:07:49 · answer #5 · answered by centexdance 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Eggs are symbol of birth/rebirth and therefore a symbol of spring. Little baby bunnies and other cute animals are also born in spring. When Christians went out to spread Christianity in Europe, oh about 1,500 years ago, they latched onto symbols that pre-Christian Europeans were already using in order to make the religion more palatable and to make their jobs easier. So, they decided it would be convenient to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ in springtime and viola! symbols of both Christianity and pagan rites of spring got thrown together.
As far as bunnies laying eggs is concerned: I think you are thinking about that ridiculous Cadbury chocolate TV commercial. It is just that -- a marketing campaign designed to sell candy. Rabbits are mammals and give birth to live young.
2007-11-03 03:07:35 · answer #6 · answered by bmi=22 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think the eggs are to symbolise new life (ie. on the third day, when Jesus was resurrected), and I guess the bunnies and everything else has just evolved over time, as new people create new traditions and marketing ideas.
Similar to Christmas really - started out as gifts, to celebrate the birth of Christ, and then you have to wonder where bon bons, tinsel etc came after that!
2007-11-03 03:02:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Very simple a blending of the old and the new as a new religion Christianity moved from the east into Northern Europe. You see as Christian missionaries wanted the local population to accept new religion and give up their old Pagan ways a compromise was reached. They kept many of the early customs of celebrating, eggs and egg rolling, and giving eggs as a gift.
Early Christians actually called Easter Pasch which came from the word Passover as they related Easter to the Jewish festival of Passover. Today the Christians of the Orthodox community call it Pascha.
What you had was a blending of 2 holidays Easter the celebration of Christs resurection and the pagan celebration around the vernal equinox, welcoming Spring. Easter bunny (actually a hare) was the symbol of Eastre (Ostara) the Anglo-Saxon Tuetonic goddess of spring and fertility. The fertile nature of hares and rabbits is another symbol of new life and the rebirth of that occurs during the Spring season.
What ethnic group broght the tradition of the Easter Bunny leaving eggs? German settlers (Pennsylvania Dutch) in the 1700's who brought over their tradition of a bunny named "Oshter Haws" who would visit houses on Easter Eve, leaving colored eggs for the children in nests (latter this would become baskets). Children believed that the hare (rabbit) laid eggs in the grass.
In fact most of the Christians in the United States widly ignored the rabbit and Easter was not widely celebrated before the Civil War as Protestant Churches that traced their beliefs from the Puritans had no use for such celebrations.
After the Civil War at the initiatives of the Presbyterians the celebration of Easter as day of joyous celebration as observed in Europe became widespread in America along with the German custom of "Oshter Haws" or what is known as the Easter Bunny coming on the night of Easter Eve leaving eggs and latter candy in the childrens Easter Basket.
Scars of death and destruction of the Civil War led people back to the Easter season as they found the story of resurrection as a great source of inspiration and renewed hope.
Today Easter symbols and its customs delight children and adults alike many of whom seperate the secular symbols from the religous observance.
http://www.theholidayspot.com/easter/history/us_easter_roots.htm
Easter Eggs- Where painted diferent colores to represent the sunlight of Spring. Christians latter used the eggs to symbolize the rebirth of Christ. Romans believed that "all life comes from the egg" as well as many other ancient religous beliefs the egg was a symbol of life. My friends of the Greek Orthodox faith always painted their eggs red to signify the blood of Christ.
Why a choclate bunny- That ones easy European candy makers in the 1800's came up with the idea to make Easter Candy and it made its way over the Atlantic.
Scavenger hunt for eggs- In the United States Easter egg hunts became popular in 1862 President Abraham Lincoln gave an executive order , during the darkest days of the Civil War, that decorated eggs where to be hidden on the White House Lawn and the children of the city to search for them. Ever since every President as kept this tradition and it has spread as a cherished national custom.
Old roots of the EGG HUNT- Much is a mystery (records are hard to come by) what is known is that Germans once buried eggs in fields or near stables to offer the blessing of fertility and new life to the crops and animals. Children made a game of this by trying to find the buried eggs.
Other theory is that during the early Christian period an attempt was made to banish any symbolism of the Old Pagan beliefs. It was a capitol offence to decorate eggs and give them as gifts as a result people hid them as not to be discovered. What came of this was curious children would hunt for them and a new tradition was born.
Latter on the Easter Egg hunts became apart of how the community would gather to celebrate Easter.
2007-11-04 22:44:12 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bunnies and eggs are reminiscent of Spring after winter when everything goes dormant and in the accepting of Christ's resurrection as your Saviour, proving He is God brings you new life also.
You can improve your spelling - that's what spell check is for!!
Not grammatical - deal with it!!
2007-11-03 03:05:42 · answer #9 · answered by menome b 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋