Easter Bunny

TheEaster Bunny(also called theEaster RabbitorEaster Hare) is afolkloricfigure and symbol ofEaster, depicted as arabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringingEaster eggs. Originating among GermanLutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season ofEastertide,similar to the "naughty or nice" list made bySanta Claus. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or theChristkind) andChristmasby bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The custom was first mentioned inGeorg Franck von Franckenau'sDe ovis paschalibus("About Easter Eggs") in 1682, referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing eggs for the children.
Theharewas a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as byPliny,Plutarch,Philostratus, andAelian) that the hare was ahermaphrodite.The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss ofvirginityled to an association with theVirgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring inilluminated manuscriptsandNorthern Europeanpaintings of the Virgin andChrist Child.  It may also have been associated with theHoly Trinity, as in thethree haresmotif.
InChristianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize theempty tombofJesus, from which Jesus wasresurrected.Eggs became associated with Easter specifically when eating them was prohibited during the fast ofLent, when believers abstained from meat and animal products—a practice that continues in certainChristian denominationstoday, such as theCoptic Orthodox Church, and amongWestern Christiansobserving theDaniel Fast.A common practice in England during the medieval Christian era was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children to enjoy prior to the Lenten fast; people then abstained from eggs throughout Lent and could enjoy them once again with the conclusion of Lent at the arrival of Easter Sunday.As a special dish, eggs have been decorated by Christians as part of the Easter celebrations. Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom ofdecorating the eggs.Many Christians of theEastern Orthodox ChurchandOriental Orthodox Churchto this day typically dye theirEaster eggsred "in memory of theblood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion."TheUkrainianart of decorating eggs, known aspysanky. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen among other eastern and central European cultures.
The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in thePennsylvania Dutcharea told their children about the"Osterhase"(sometimes spelled"Oschter Haws").Hasemeans "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is ahare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps andbonnetsbefore Easter.
In a publication from 1874 German philologistAdolf Holtzmannstated "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal ofOstara".The connection between Easter and that goddess had been made byJacob Grimmin his 1835Deutsche Mythologie.This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Eltonand Charles J. Billson.In 1961Christina Holewrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (orĒostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."The belief that Ēostre had a hare companion who became the Easter Bunny was popularized when it was presented as fact in theBBCdocumentaryShadow of the Hare(1993).
The OxfordDictionary of English Folklorehowever states "nowadays, many writers claim that hares were sacred to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Ēostre, but there is no shred of evidence for this;Bede, the only writer to mentionĒostre, does not link her with any animal".
A legend often encountered in contemporary times is that Eostre freed a frozen bird from a tree branch by turning it into a hare. It still continued to lay eggs but, having no use for them anymore and in gratitude to the goddess, gave them away.This has no basis in any authentic, pre-Christian folklore, myth or religion and only appears to date from 1883, first published by K. A. Oberle in a book in German and later quoted by H. Krebs in a notes section in the journalFolk-Lore, also in 1883. His quote is as follows: