Many of you may have heard that Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny are stolen Pagan traditions. This is an outright lie.
This is all based on speculation from a man named Jacob Grimm, “Influential 19th century folklorist and philologist Jacob Grimm speculates, in the second volume of his Deutsche Mythologie, that the folk custom of Easter eggs among the continental Germanic peoples may have stemmed from springtime festivities of a Germanic goddess known in Old English as Ēostre (namesake of modern English Easter) and possibly known in Old High German as Ostara (and thus namesake of Modern German Ostern ‘Easter’). However, despite Grimm’s speculation, there is no evidence to connect eggs with Ostara.[11]”*
While painting eggs occurs throughout history from many cultures to say Christians stole the idea from a Pagan holiday is baseless.
When it comes to the Easter Bunny being from Pagan Tradition we see once again Jacob Grimm make a guess that has turned into a truth for some, “In his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie, Jacob Grimm states “The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara”. This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton[16][page needed] and Charles J. Billson.[17] In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, “The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or Ēostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn.”[18][page needed] The belief that Ēostre had a hare companion who became the Easter Bunny was popularized when it was presented as fact in the BBC documentary Shadow of the Hare (1993).[19]
The Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore however states “… there is no shred of evidence” that hares were sacred to Ēostre, noting that Bede does not associate her with any animal.[20][page needed]”
Once again we see that “there is no shred of evidence” for these claims.
Very irresponsible of some scholars to once again use a baseless rumor to prove their points with their own agenda.
As a matter of fact the Easter Bunny has been used in art form to represent the Virgin Mary and in the case of three hares in the picture they represent the Holy Trinity**
Sadly there are some Christians who believe these myths and tell others to stop celebrating Easter because of this. This is why we Christians must do research, be vigilant and use discernment so we can inform others the truth and not just speak out of speculation.
Truth is Easter is the Christian version of Passover. Easter is believed by some to be taken from the name of a goddess but we Christians use that word as the English version of the word, “Pascha”***
“The English word “Easter” is not a biblical word. It is thought to be a translation of the name of the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess, “Eostre”. In any case, it is an English word which is used today to translate the Greek term ‘Pascha’, which translates the Hebrew term for ‘Passover’. The Christian Church transformed the Jewish Passover, which commemorated the freeing of the Hebrew people from Egyptian bondage into a feast which commemorated the death and resurrection of Christ which freed humanity from the bondage of death, sin and evil.
We do not have a command from Jesus to celebrate the Paschal Feast. But the Bible clearly indicates the New Testament belief that Christ is the New Pascha for believers in Him, and that this is to be celebrated by Christians:
“For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival …” (1 Corinthians 5:7).
Thus the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection became the first Christian Feast – the Christian Pascha.”-Orthodox Christian Info.***
So enjoy your Easter traditions just make sure to remember what Jesus did for us first in your celebrating.
Have a Blessed Week and Happy Easter,
Chris
PS-If you liked to read about all the traditions involving Easter Eggs and the Easter Bunny click the links below under sources.
Sources:
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg
**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny
***http://www.orthodoxchristian.info/pages/Pascha_word.html
The Good Word 