How Did the Tradition of the Easter Bunny Begin?
Easter is one of the most popular and observed holidays, but many of the things that we associate with Easter seem somehow out of place or unusual. Children everywhere have heard how the Easter Bunny hides eggs for kids to find or gives out candy, but how did such a bizarre tradition begin? Here is some information on the origin of the Easter Bunny, Easter eggs, and the holiday itself. Hopefully, this will help answer some of your children’s questions, and maybe yours as well!
Easter
The main importance of Easter is as a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to the Christian faith, Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, three days before Easter, and was resurrected on Easter Sunday. Although Easter is now a popular secular holiday, many people see it as primarily a religious celebration. Easter is closely associated with the Jewish tradition of Passover, an eight day feast commemorating the freedom of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
While most holidays, like the 4th of July in the United States or the Christian holiday of Christmas, occur on the same date every year, Easter has no fixed date, although it always falls on a Sunday. Easter is usually celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal, or Spring, equinox, March 21. This means that Easter can occur anytime between March 22 and April 25. However, some churches in Eastern countries choose to celebrate Easter based on the date of Passover instead of the previous formula.
The name Easter comes from the Norse goddesses “Ostra” or “Ostern,” who were feasted on the vernal equinox. The early Christian church adopted the name for this feast in order to