23 Apr 2014

Easter holidays are often associated with honoring and remembering the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for most Christians, and just a holiday for some. It however, offers a little treat and delight for many young boys and girls.

Shops around the country and malls are often decorated by succulent Easter eggs and a fluffy Easter bunny towards and after the holidays.

The Easter bunny is not depicted in the origins of Easter or any story in the Bible. Neither is there a passage about young children painting eggs or hunting for baskets overflowing with scrumptious Easter goodies states History.com.

Though it does not have anything tying it to these holidays, bunnies, eggs, Easter gifts and fluffy, yellow chicks in gardening hats all stem from pagan roots.

These tropes were incorporated into the celebration of Easter separately from the Christian tradition of honoring the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead, states Trace Dominguez in the blog What Does the Easter Bunny Have To Do With Easter?

According to the University of Florida’s Center for Children’s Literature and Culture, the origin of the celebration and the origin of the Easter Bunny can be traced back to 13th-century, pre-Christian Germany, when people worshiped several gods and goddesses.

The Teutonic deity Eostra was the goddess of spring and fertility, and feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox.

Her symbol was the rabbit because of the animal’s high reproduction rate.

In addition, in legend, the creature carries colored eggs in his basket, candy and sometimes also toys to the homes of children, and as such shows similarities to Santa Claus or the Christ kind, as they both bring gifts to children on the night before their respective holiday, continues Dominquez.

Just like on Christmas Eve, a local family in Gaborone, the Moroka’s gather around and eventually decorate nests and baskets and colorful eggs were they would swap them for candy treats and other small gifts around each family member.

For his part, five year old Lereo Moroka said he was always looking forward to eating marshmallows and Easter eggs. Other families even embark on an egg hunt. Parents usually hide eggs on Easter Sunday and it is the children’s mission to find them.

This custom was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau’s De ovis paschalibus (About Easter Eggs) in 1682 referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter Eggs for the children. ENDS