Middletown transcript., 1898-04-09
EASTER HARE MYTH.
The Rabbit Identified with The Moo
In Symbolism.

\
In Symbolism.
The story of the hare, or, as 1t ]
told in this country, the rabbit, VIII
lays the wonderful Easter eggs is onl
one of a number If confidence game
which are played with certain success
upon generation after generation D
the rising children of men.
The prevalent skepticism of the sg
fails utterly Of transmission to the llttl
ones. Every Christmas very impossi
Bile saint with preposterous nocturna
habits is introduced into the children Il
calendar of "truly people" and is har-
monized by infant so .:histry, which diff
fers little from much of the logic of tht
elders, with the budding theology Of
the baby mind.
But of all the queer stories who's
certainty of credence is based OH the
strength in children of the broad prin.
cipfe Of human guitibftity expressed b
Cesar in the statement that men readi.
ly believe those things which are pleas.
ant to believe the legend of the Easter
hare is the most transparent and yet
most successful gold brick game that is
annually played upon the little ''come
ons.o
The common, everyday product OF
the industrious hen is gilded with gilt
tering foil or boiled in some weirdly
patterned, mendacious piece of "fast
color" calico and deposited in all the
resultant crudity of its color scheme
in an impossible nest in an outlandish
place, which only creature "mad as a
March hare'' would ever think of
choosing for a homestead site. The
children then, in willing mystiication,
are sent hunting for "bunny's nest"
and its wonderful contents.
The sight of the eggs is sufficient
proof to the children of the truth of
the whole story, as Baron Munchausen
desired the moons presence to be to
his auditors, after he had recounted his
lunar adventures. Besides, have not
the grown folks told the tale with
solemn facesP And If a smile should
thereafter s'twitch the bearded am
busbo Of a manly mouth at the easy
credulity of a child. it might be well to
remind him that he himself has ac-
cepted on simple testimony the truth
Of statements equally astounding.
Does he not believe in the existence of
the geological paradox" the ornithor-
hynchus, a hairy mammal that yet
lays eggsP
The reason why the hare story has
come down to our children is that in
former generations grown people be-
lieved in it sufficiently to perpetuate it.
The explanation of is origin is mytho-
logical. The symbolism of the egg, in
connection with the celebration Of the
resurrection, is obvious. 1t represents
the new life, the bursting of the soul
from material bonds into freer and
higher existence. Long before the rise
Of Christianity the egg was used as the
symbol Of the. physical universe and the
awakening of life therein. AS such it
was given among friends as t. ken Of
good wishes for the new year, which
began, as it still does among the Chi
Dese, with the vernal equinox.
It would seem that we ought to be
satisfied with the sufficient symbolism of
the egg without running after the hare
and tracing the myth concerning him
to its origin. He, however, is not a
accompaniment to the
Easter egg, with whose production he
is credited. After the advice Of the old
recipe, therefore, let US "6rst catch our
hare.n To do this we must follow him
from country to country, from America
and England and Germany through
Greece and Egypt to India, and catch
him at last-where do you suppose2
The Saxton goddess Eastre, from
whom the name Easter is derived, has
generally been identified by learned
men with Astarte, the Ph@nican god
dess of the moon, whose name is famil-
lar to Bible readers as Ashtaroth. Her
festival was celebrated in early spring
at the beginning of the ancient year
and therefore since Christ's passion
was also festival Of that date in the
harmonizing of Christian customs and
pagan rites which took place In the
of the Goths and the
Saxons Easter and the resurrection
we're identified In observance. Now
the double symbolism OF the physical
and spiritual resurrection found paral-
lei in the character of the moon god
less. No content with being a woman
and hence privileged enough ,one would
,hink, in the exercise of .mutable and
characteristics, she even had
he advantage of changing her sexl
The Greeks addressed her as three
'ormed goddess and as a male. In Ger
manic speech the moon yet perists as
In gender.
The best explanation Of this dualism
$ that the moon was at the same time
10Th masculine and feminine; that
here were two moons, a dark and a
light, the ''old moon in the new moons
arms" being properly enough the "wo-
nan in the case.D When the moon |
Hasss e ffHllll-nsnally masculine trait by !
he way-the light. or male element.
llone was present, and the imam in
he moon1 reigned free Of all feminine
influence. He was lord Of light and of |
lime; Mas, the messurer, as the Sam
krit called him. When the moon was |
waning, it was, in Egyption mythol-