The Easter Bunny - tradition, myth or the unknown

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Easter, a key set of dates in the Christian calendar, like similar religious commemorations has acquired additional practices, the origins of which are somewhat vague. Easter eggs and hot cross buns are more attuned to the practices of Easter which commence with Palm Sunday, the week before Easter.

The origin of the Easter bunny and its role in being connected to Easter is much more odd with little actual evidence to show how the bunny came to Easter at all.  

The few historical references that the bunny receives, appear in German Lutheran texts around 1572 referring to an Easter Hare which judges children and refers also to eggs. This reference reappears again in 1682 with the text de ovis paschalibus which refers to an Easter Hare bringing eggs to children. In the 18th Century, German migrants to the United States brought the Easter Hare with them with the bunny shaped in sweets.

In 1835 Jacob Grimm, of the renowned Brothers Grimm myth and fairytale writers, was mystified by the Bunny and concluded it may be associated with Ostara (as a sacred animal) and part of the celebration of the resurrection-day of the Christian God but this view was purely conjecture.

The truth is no-one actually knows how the bunny came to Easter but many people have the pleasure of eating a chocolate version nonetheless. Happy Easter !

 

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