“Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness” Floyd W. Tomkins
Musings: What’s With The Easter Bunny?
Musings: What’s With The Easter Bunny?
Saving the Easter Bunny
A man was blissfully driving along the highway, when he saw the Easter Bunny hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the Bunny, but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of his car and was hit. The basket of eggs went flying all over the place.
The driver, being a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to see what had become of the Bunny carrying the basket. Much to his dismay, the colorful Bunny was dead. The driver felt guilty and began to cry.
A woman driving down the same highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong. Contd Below
Have you ever wondered how the Easter Bunny became part of the Easter Resurrection celebrations? Or even what started those colorful Easter egg hunts that children enjoy? According to notes on Wikipedia, the first mention of a friendly bunny bearing gifts of eggs was found in Georg Franck von Frankenau‘s De ovis paschalibus (About Easter Eggs) in 1682. It was a reference to an Alsace tradition. But how did that become so closely tied to Easter? Apparently, the hare/rabbit was popular in medieval art and it was believed that they could reproduce with losing their virginity… sort of like the immaculate conception of our Virgin Mary. And there is some relevance to rabbits and the holy trinity which didn’t fully register in my mind. It gets quite interesting as we dig deeper.
“Easter is all about a wise rabbit trying to steal the lead role from Jesus by using chocolate eggs to fool people.” Tewin Sham
Musings: What’s With The Easter Bunny?
“I feel terrible,” he explained, “I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny and killed it. There may not be an Easter because of me. What should I do?”
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew exactly what to do. She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead Bunny, and sprayed the entire contents of the can onto the little furry animal.
Miraculously the Easter Bunny came to back life, jumped up, picked up the spilled eggs and candy, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped on down the road. 50 yards away the Easter Bunny stopped, turned around, waved and hopped on down the road another 50 yards, turned, waved, hopped another 50 yards and waved again!
The man was astonished. He said to the woman, “What in heaven’s name is in your spray can? What was it that you sprayed on the Easter Bunny?” The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said: “Hair spray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave.” Anon
Another important part of the story is that hares/rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility and new birth; birds lay eggs and rabbits/hares give birth in the early spring, solidifying their symbols as representative of fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox. Since Easter falls around the same time, the ancients made a connection between the two and hence our mutual celebration of Easter, bunny rabbits, colorful eggs and yes, chocolates… Why the chocolates? Come back for more. Happy Easter!
“It is the hour to rend thy chains,The blossom time of souls” Katherine Lee Bates
Musings: What’s With The Easter Bunny?
What do Easter Bunny helpers get for making a basket? A: Two points, just like anyone else.
Good Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Easter. Bad Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Xmas.
How can you find the Easter bunny? A: Eggs (x) marks the spot.
How does the Easter bunny paint all the Easter eggs? A: She hires Santa’s elves during off-season.
Why was the Easter Bunny so upset? A: He was having a bad hare day!
What is the difference between a crazy bunny and a counterfeit banknote? One is bad money and the other is a mad bunny!
Why did the Easter egg hide? He was a little chicken!
Why is a bunny the luckiest animal in the world? It has four rabbits’ feet!
What do you call a bunny with a large brain? Egghead!
What did the bunny want to do when he grew up? Join the Hare Force.
How do you make a rabbit stew? Make it wait for three hours!
What did the gray rabbit say to the blue rabbit? Cheer up!
The custom of coloring eggs goes way back and isn’t completely clear or known. However, members of the Eastern Orthodox Church chose the color red for their eggs to show connections to the death of Jesus. Perhaps because some Christians skipped eggs for Lent, there was more to use during Easter. Gifting good kids with colorful eggs during this season became another way to get them interested in behaving and in Easter. While the Easter bunny gained popularity in Europe, it didn’t come to the U.S. until the 18th century. What are your thoughts? Have you read about the Easter Bunny? Do you incorporate it into your Easter holiday traditions? Do you have any favorite Easter games? Do share! Thank you.
*Please bear with me as I continue to catch up on your blogs and commenting… Thank you all for your patience!
Positive Motivation Tip: The Easter Bunny adds humor to a special religious celebration… Perhaps reminding us to laugh a little and enjoy our life.
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All photos via Wikipedia and/or via Flickr Bunny Jokes via various sources: Tweepi.com and EasterHumor.com
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Actually, the Hare is a symbol commonly associated with the Pagan Holy day of Ostara- which is where the Christians got their Easter from.
Happy Ostara!
I find it interesting how a belief structure at one point in time weaves into another at another point in time and so on. All eventually circling back and beginning again. Each a thread that creates the wonderful web that is this world. All right, all wrong, all dark, and light. Every single strand spun from a love so deep and profound I do not believe there is a human being that can actually comprehend the mind of the Weaver. I am so grateful to be alive to witness such wonder and diversity!
Thank you Tracy and Leslie. I found the whole thing quite fascinating and that the genesis of a tradition we practice today goes back to Pagan times and different motivations. The ancient churches borrowed a lot of rituals from common pagan practices and soon made them relevant to the christian experience.