As many of us gather with family, we often celebrate without knowing the origins of these habits, like egg hunts, Easter bunnies, and ducks as symbols for the holiday.

 The earliest recording of Easter as a holiday was the 2nd century. Easter was used as an ancient pagan celebration of the spring equinox, but Christians use it to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter (also known as Pascha) is a popular holiday involving eggs and bunnies, but some people have wondered: where did all these traditions and ideas come from?

Eggs being involved in Easter were adopted by early Christians but the idea originally came from pre-Christians. To pre-Christians, eggs signified new life, because when a chick is born a new life begins. Christians believe it’s a representation of Jesus’ resurrection, comparing the tomb that Jesus rose from like a chick rising from an egg. During Easter Sunday many people couldn’t afford meat so that’s when they started to use eggs.

Egg hunts come from Germany in the 16th century when protestant reformer Martin Luther hid eggs around the church while the church members hunted for it. After over 400 years, this has become a popular Easter activity.

The Easter bunny origin is unknown but some think that it symbolizes new life and fertility. During the 1700’s in Pennsylvania, German immigrants who settled there brought their traditions. The German children would make nests with colored eggs, candy, gifts and carrots for a rabbit named Osterhase.

Although some people still make baskets filled with candies and gifts on Easter, people stopped making them for Osterhase and began making them for family members and children.  Through the years, Easter traditions have changed–modern Easter bunnies are less terrifying, but many simply gather with family, not realizing the meaning of these traditions.  

Information gathered from:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Easter-holy

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/easter-symbols

https://www.alimentarium.org/en/fact-sheet/eggs-symbol-life

https://mashbark.org/1191/features/the-german-bunny/