The Sunday immediately prior to Easter is called Palm Sunday, and it commemorates Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, when followers laid palm leaves across the road to greet him. See more. Easter: is it more of a sacred Christian holiday, or Pagan fertility festival now? About a month ago I finally discovered what the significance of painted eggs was during the Easter season. The Easter Bunny is a beloved trope associated with the Easter holiday period. We can see how the idea of the Great Commission can be applied to rabbits. READ MORE: A Brief History of the White House Easter Egg Roll. Or do you think it just all about the Cadburys? Many people—mostly children—also participate in Easter egg “hunts,” in which decorated eggs are hidden. Easter, a Pagan Celebration. Easter Sunday and related celebrations, such as Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday, are considered “moveable feasts,” although, in western Christianity, which follows the Gregorian calendar, Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. First, we’ll consider the idea that Easter is a pagan holiday because the name Easter has pagan origins. In the New Testament of the Bible, the event is said to have occurred three days after Jesus was crucified by the Romans and died in roughly 30 A.D. This means he has very tall ears, and a coat that naturally camouflages him in the snow. Pagans celebrated the springtime renewal of life as well as the goddess of dawn and fertility, Eostre, who was often represented by the hare or an egg. Nevertheless, we can use these items as vessels to show others Christ and bring others to him. Based on pagan folklore and his traditionally white fur, the Easter Bunny appears to be an Arctic hare. The origin of her name comes from the Old English Ēastre, a word referring to “the rising dawn” and the sun rising directly in the east at the spring equinox, marking the time when the natural world comes to life again after the winter. The rabbit has pre-Christian roots associated with fertility, new life, and spring. A similar goddess, Ishtar, in ancient Babylonia and Assyria was important as a mother goddess, goddess of love, and goddess of war as well as fertility. The exact origins of Easter are unknown, but some sources believe that the word “Easter” is taken from the Teutonic goddess of fertility and spring – Eostre. Similar to Christmas and Halloween, Christians attempted to blend elements of pagan religion with Christian tradition, in order to make the message of Christianity more palpable to those of other religions. In the same way, with holidays that have pagan origins or traditions (such as Christmas, Halloween, and Easter) Christians have found ways to make the Gospel understandable to cultures through using their symbols and traditions. It was translated into an inferior word for no syntactical reason. If you have been on the internet at all around this time of year, you have no doubt at some point encountered claims that Easter is actually a pre-Christian pagan holiday and that popular modern Easter traditions such as the Easter bunny and painting Easter eggs are actually thinly-veiled pagan customs. However, early Christians weaved the pagan symbolism of the rabbit into their Christian traditions to make the teachings of Jesus Christ more amenable to those outside of the faith. Where did this Easter symbolism even come from? "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. However, early Christians weaved the pagan symbolism of the rabbit into their Christian traditions to make the teachings of Jesus Christ more amenable to those outside of the faith. Or are there Christian symbols embedded in this weird twist on the holiday? ... On Easter Sunday, a bunny will deliver chocolate eggs to many households across Australia. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. If the Easter Bunny technically has a pagan origin, why do Christians still celebrate it and also have Easter egg hunts at church? After all, as mentioned before in articles on holidays that Christians have weaved biblical truths into, we’ll look at the example of Paul in Athens. We are to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:16-20). Christianity has more in common with Paganism than from the Judaism on which it claims to be based. Let's leave all these pagan ritualistic practices, customs and traditions behind us. I’ve never felt that this negates the Christian meaning for these celebrations. The name “Easter” was derived from “Eostre,” “originally a Saxon word (Eostre), denoting a goddess of the Saxons. The feast day of Easter was originally a pagan celebration of renewal and rebirth. That world worshiped fertility and rebirth and the rabbit played a critical part in this worship: “The Easter bunny had its origins in pre-Christian fertility lore. Similar to Halloween, the tradition evolved more into candy-themed festivities for children. 3 Things to Do When You Feel Like God Is Telling You to Do Something, Understanding the Bible - In Touch - May 1/2, A Prayer to Be Thirsty No More - Your Daily Prayer - April 29, Dealing with Feelings - Girlfriends in God - April 27, 2021, 4 Things to Know about Season 2 of "The Chosen", Regaining the Art of Neighboring from Mr. Rogers, 5 Lessons from the Story of Joshua and Jericho, How to Fight for Your Marriage... by Being Still, This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright © 2021, Crosswalk.com. “The history behind your favorite Easter traditions.” Goodhousekeeping.com. Easter Bunny Pagan Origins, Superstitions and Traditions. Why Did Pontius Pilate Have Jesus Executed? I always feel compelled to examine the Pagan origins of popular religious holidays because almost all of them have underpinnings from Paganism. On the Saturday before Easter, residents of Greece will throw pots out the window, and on Easter Monday boys in Poland will attempt to get people wet by throwing buckets of water on them. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. ...read more, Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China. Easter egg is attested by 1825, earlier pace egg (1610s). The legend of the Easter bunny bringing eggs appears to have been brought to the United States by settlers from Germany. The most widespread theory traces the origins of the Easter Bunny back to Anglo-Saxon pagan traditions. While Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ in Christianity, there are those who claim that Easter bunnies and eggs are Pagan rituals. So that's how we got an Easter bunny. In varying ways, all four of the gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) state that those who believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection are given “the gift of eternal life,” meaning that those of faith will be welcomed into the “Kingdom of Heaven” upon their earthly death. Like Paul speaking about the statue to the unknown God, Christians can use the Easter bunny to bring a Gospel message out of a well-known cultural image. The German tradition of the Easter bunny (or Oschter Haws) migrated to America in the 1700s, accompanying German immigrants, many of whom settled in Pennsylvania.Over the past 200 years, the Easter bunny has become the most commercially recognized symbol of Easter … There in the capital of Greece, he encounters a statue to an unknown god. Neither claim carries much weight. This period of fasting and penitence is called Lent. Despite claims that the original Easter eggs are Pagan symbols from Europe, but there's little evidence to support this; instead, it seems to be a more middle eastern tradition. So at easter, when lent was over, all those eggs were boiled and eaten. The Easter story is at the heart of Christianity. At Easter the bunny and eggs are very confusing to Christians, especially the adults. Many non-Christians choose to observe these traditions while essentially ignoring the religious aspects of the celebration. Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Learn all about the history and origin of the Easter egg tradition, from decorative to chocolate: Where did Easter eggs come from? First, we can see the Easter bunny and Easter egg as an outreach program to the local community. Notably, several Protestant Christian denominations, including Lutherans and Quakers, have opted to formally abandon many Easter traditions, deeming them too pagan. In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares and rabbits.The first scholar to make a connection between the goddess Eostre and hares was Adolf Holtzmann in his book Deutsche Mythologie.Holtzmann wrote of the tradition, "the Easter Hare is inexplicable to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara; just as there is a hare on the statue of Abnoba." The origins of Easter customs. If the children have no garden, they make nests in the wood-shed, barn, or house. The most widely-practiced customs on Easter Sunday relate to the symbol of the rabbit (‘Easter bunny’) and the egg. The Bible Says Jesus Was Real. As far as the bunny who brings children candy, we see that tradition coming to America through German immigrants. Today, Easter is a commercial event as well as a religious holiday, marked by high sales for greeting cards, candies (such as Peeps, chocolate eggs and chocolate Easter bunnies) and other gifts. The symbols associated with Easter – the egg and the bunny or hare, are also ancient pre-Christian symbols of fertility, birth, creation and the Goddess. that the Bible doesn’t say anything about. Blog/Religion Posted Apr 4, 2021 by Martin Armstrong. It goes back to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Say "goodbye" to the Easter bunny, good Friday, fascination with "the fish" and all other such nonsense. In some denominations of Protestant Christianity, Easter Sunday marks the beginning of Eastertide, or the Easter Season. Barooah, J. Easter typically falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the spring equinox. So, how did a holiday with biblical origins evolve into the commercialized event we know and… Also, rabbits are known for multiplying. The exact origin of the Easter bunny is unknown, but we have theories. Egg decorating may have become part of the Easter celebration in a nod to the religious significance of Easter, i.e., Jesus’ resurrection or re-birth. However, many religious observers of Easter also include them in their celebrations. According to folklore, the Easter Bunny hides Easter eggs for children to find on Easter morning. We have to understand that even though the origins of the Easter Bunny are a bit shrouded in mystery, it most likely does have pagan roots with Eostre, the goddess. What are the origins of the Easter holiday? Easter and its Origin . “The pagan roots of Easter.” TheGuardian.com. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. Are these origins Christian or Pagan? Because of lent, people were not allowed to eat the eggs that their chickens laid. He was sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect in the province of Judea from 26 to 36 A.D. Jesus’ death by crucifixion, marked by the Christian holiday Good Friday (the Friday before Easter), and subsequent resurrection three days later is said, by the authors of the gospels, to prove that he was the living son of God. It’s reasonable that Christians would’ve seen this egg imagery equated with a symbol of life and incorporated eggs into a holiday celebrating eternal life. Similar to trunk-or-treat on Halloween, a tradition that allows kids to come in costume at churches and receive candy in a safer environment, churches can invite children of the local community to participate in an Easter egg hunt at the church. Is Easter a Pagan Holiday? The rabbit is connected to fertility – and spring is a time of creation, sex and birth. Easter Parades reflect this idea about wearing new clothes. Despite its significance as a Christian holy day, many of the traditions and symbols that play a key role in Easter observances actually have roots in pagan celebrations—particularly the pagan goddess Eostre—and in the Jewish holiday of Passover. Some argue that the Christian version of Easter is merely a copy of Pagan origin … Her modern-day Daniel trilogy released its first two installments with IlluminateYA, and the final one, Vision, releases in August of 2021. An Easter dinner of lamb also has historical roots, since a lamb was often used as a sacrificial animal in Jewish traditions, and lamb is frequently served during Passover. But how did this pagan holiday become a Christian one? In the same manner as Easter eggs, the Easter Bunny does come from pagan traditions. Easter is a carryover from the Greco-Roman World; which was engulfed in sun- worship. Known as the goddess of springtime or dawn, Eostre (or sometimes seen as Eostra or Eastre) is associated with rabbits, pastels, and springtime celebrations. Here are some more examples of symbols churches may place inside an Easter egg for a Sunday school lesson or children’s sermon. However, the association between a rabbit and the resurrection of Jesus Christ appears tenuous at best, and the Easter Bunny has been accused of having pagan origins. What Other Proof Exists? Many churches begin the Easter observance in the late hours of the day before (Holy Saturday) in a religious service called the Easter Vigil. Some say that a Saxon goddess … You’d be forgiven for thinking that Easter eggs came from chickens. Easter bunny is attested by 1904 in children's lessons; Easter rabbit is by 1888; the paganish customs of Easter seem to have grown popular c. 1900; before that they were limited to German immigrants. This is where the hare was said to be the symbol of the pagan goddess of spring and fertility. Hence, Easter is a very significant date on the Christian calendar. The most prominent secular symbol of the Christian ...read more, Mardi Gras is a Christian holiday and popular cultural phenomenon that dates back thousands of years to pagan spring and fertility rites. Strictly speaking, the Easter Bunny doesn’t directly have much to do with Jesus. Easter 2021 occurs on Sunday, April 4. In the eighth century, ...read more, Veterans Day is a U.S. legal holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars, and Veterans Day 2021 occurs on Thursday, November 11. 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