A folklorist explains the prehistoric origins of the mythical Easter Bunny and why this longstanding cultural symbol keeps returning each spring.
Children celebrating Easter, with their Easter Bunnies and Easter eggs. Sanja Radin/Collection E+ via Getty Images
In European traditions, the Easter Bunny is known as the Easter Hare. The symbolism of the hare has had many tantalizing ritual and religious roles down through the years. ‘The Madonna of the Rabbit,’ a painting from 1530, depicting the Virgin Mary with a hare. A painting by artist Titian , Louvre Museum, Paris.
One tradition, known as the “Hare Pie Scramble,” was held at Hallaton, a village in Leicestershire, England, which involved eating a pie made with hare meat and people “scrambling” for a slice. In 1790, the local parson tried to stop the custom due to its pagan associations, but he was unsuccessful, and the custom continues in that village until this day.
Pagan originsIn 1835, the folklorist Jacob Grimm, one of the famous team of the fairy tale “Brothers Grimm,” argued that the Easter Hare was connected with a goddess, whom he imagined would have been called “Ostara” in ancient German. He derived this name from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, that Bede, an Anglo-Saxon monk considered to be the father of English history, mentioned in 731.
Recent archaeological research appears to confirm the worship of Eostre in parts of England and in Germany, with the hare as her main symbol. The Easter Bunny therefore seems to recall these pre-Christian celebrations of spring, heralded by the vernal equinox and personified by the Goddess Eostre. Food and Cooking AP The Kitchn: Make your own brown sugar glaze for your Easter ham This glaze isn’t sugary-sweet and will transform your Easter ham from basic to the most-talked-about dish at your celebration.
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