Long ago, Christians timed their important religious holiday to an existing holiday as a way to win followers, says Turner, who teaches a CSU class in the sociology of religion and medicine. Turner notes that many ancients worshiped goddesses. And the spring holiday's name was derived from the name of Astarte, the goddess of love and fertility, he says. Springtime's religious holiday was important to ancients because it was a time to celebrate the Earth's new life, renewal and fertility. And that's where Easter eggs and the Easter bunny come in.
Eggs are the sign of new life.
The egg is in some sense analogous to Jesus being in the tomb and breaking out of the tomb to be resurrected into new life. Anything that is round or elliptical was considered feminine, and the egg holds the embryo of new life. Coloring Easter eggs was a way to represent the bright colors of spring - the budding trees, regenerated plants and flowers, Turner says. Archaeologists have found evidence of Mother Earth religions, or goddess religions, dating back 25,000 years in Europe, Turner says. All of the holidays have their ancient roots in the solar cycles.