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{{short description|Folkloric figure and symbol of Easter}}
{{Short description|Folkloric figure and symbol}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Easter Bunny
|name = Easter Bunny
|AKA = Easter Rabbit, Easter Hare
|AKA = Easter Rabbit, Easter Hare
|image = Easter Bunny Postcard 1907.jpg
|image = Easter Bunny Postcard 1907.jpg
|image_size =
|image_size =
|caption = A 1907 postcard featuring the Easter Bunny
|caption = A 1907 [[postcard]] featuring the Easter Bunny
|Mythology = Folkloric figure and symbol of [[Easter]]
|Folklore = Folkloric figure and symbol of [[Easter]]
|Grouping = [[Legendary creature]]
|Grouping = [[Legendary creature]]
|Sub_Grouping = Animal
|Sub_Grouping = Animal
|Parents =
|Country = [[Germany]]
|Country = [[Germany]]
|Region =
|Region =
|First_Attested =
|Similar_entities =
|Habitat = Grass
|First_Reported =
|Last_Reported =
|Similar_creatures =
}}
}}

The '''Easter Bunny''' (also called the '''Easter Rabbit''' or '''Easter Hare''') is a folkloric figure and symbol of [[Easter]], depicted as a [[rabbit]] bringing [[Easter egg]]s. Originating among German [[Lutheran]]s, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of [[Eastertide]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Gary|title=Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children's Culture|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195348132}}</ref> The Easter Bunny is sometimes depicted with clothes. 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 [[Christkind]], as they both bring gifts to children on the night before their respective holidays. The custom was first<ref>[http://www.occultcenter.com/2008/03/easter_bunny_origins/ Easter Bunny – What Does He Have To Do With Easter?], occultcenter.com</ref>{{Unreliable source|date=April 2017}} mentioned in [[Georg Franck von Franckenau]]'s ''De ovis paschalibus''<ref>{{Cite book | first=Georg |last=Franck von Franckenau | author-link=Georg Franck von Franckenau | title=Disputatione ordinaria disquirens de ovis paschalibus / von Oster-Eyern | place=Heidelberg | year=1682 | series=Satyrae Medicae | volume=XVIII | page=6 | url=https://www.europeana.eu/resolve/record/09428/16F89A4DE8E09EA88DE2CFDFC5443B4D04B40E1F | access-date=18 July 2013}}</ref> ('About Easter Eggs') in 1682, referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter eggs for the children.
The '''Easter Bunny''' (also called the '''Easter Rabbit''' or '''Easter Hare''') is a [[Folklore|folkloric]] figure and symbol of [[Easter]], depicted as a [[rabbit]]—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing [[Easter egg]]s. Originating among German [[Lutheran]]s, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of [[Eastertide]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Gary|title=Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children's Culture|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195348132}}</ref> similar to the "naughty or nice" list made by [[Santa Claus]]. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or the [[Christkind]]) and [[Christmas]] by bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The 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 eggs for the children.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Georg |last=Franck von Franckenau | author-link=Georg Franck von Franckenau | title=Disputatione ordinaria disquirens de ovis paschalibus / von Oster-Eyern | place=Heidelberg | year=1682 | series=Satyrae Medicae | volume=XVIII | page=6 | url=https://www.europeana.eu/resolve/record/09428/16F89A4DE8E09EA88DE2CFDFC5443B4D04B40E1F | access-date=18 July 2013}}</ref><ref>Winick, Stephen. "[https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/03/easter-bunny/ On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny]," ''LOC Blogs,'' Mar. 22, 2016. Retrieved Mar. 24, 2024.</ref>


==Symbols==
==Symbols==
===Rabbits and hares===
===Rabbits and hares===
[[File:Intrude (25893577273).jpg|thumb|Inflatable Easter bunny in front of [[San Francisco City Hall]]]]
[[File:Intrude (25893577273).jpg|thumb|Inflatable Easter Bunny in front of [[San Francisco City Hall]]]]
The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], [[Plutarch]], [[Philostratus]], and [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]]) that the hare was a [[hermaphrodite]].<ref name=meaning>{{cite web|url=http://www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk/hares/index.html|title=What does the Symbol Mean?|last=Chapman|first=Chris|year=2004|work=Three Hares Project|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url= https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Rosalind%2C+the+Hare%2C+and+the+Hyena+in+Shakespeare%27s+As+You+Like+It&btnG= |title=Rosalind, the hare, and the hyena in Shakespeare's As You Like It|journal = Shakespeare Quarterly|volume = 36|issue = 3|pages = 335–337|author=Marta Powell Harley|jstor = 2869713|year = 1985|doi = 10.2307/2869713}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo317.html|title=Sir Thomas Browne (1646; 6th ed., 1672) Pseudodoxia Epidemica III:xvii (pp. 162–166)}}</ref> The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of [[virginity]] led to an association with the [[Virgin Mary]], with hares sometimes occurring in [[illuminated manuscript]]s and [[Northern Renaissance|Northern European]] paintings of the Virgin and [[Christ Child]]. It may also have been associated with the [[Holy Trinity]], as in the [[three hares]] motif.<ref name=meaning/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://threehares.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-three-hares_25.html |title=Three Hares as representation of the Trinity |publisher=Threehares.blogspot.com |date=2006-02-25 |access-date=2010-06-29}}</ref>
The [[hare]] was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]], [[Plutarch]], [[Philostratus]], and [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]]) that the hare was a [[hermaphrodite]].<ref name=meaning>{{cite web|url=http://www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk/hares/index.html|title=What does the Symbol Mean?|last=Chapman|first=Chris|year=2004|work=Three Hares Project|access-date=20 April 2014|archive-date=13 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513194202/http://www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk/hares/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url = https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Rosalind%2C+the+Hare%2C+and+the+Hyena+in+Shakespeare%27s+As+You+Like+It&btnG=|title = Rosalind, the hare, and the hyena in Shakespeare's As You Like It|journal = Shakespeare Quarterly|volume = 36|issue = 3|pages = 335–337|author = Marta Powell Harley|jstor = 2869713|year = 1985|doi = 10.2307/2869713|access-date = 2020-04-07|archive-date = 2023-04-09|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230409152816/https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Rosalind%2C+the+Hare%2C+and+the+Hyena+in+Shakespeare%27s+As+You+Like+It&btnG=|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo317.html|title=Sir Thomas Browne (1646; 6th ed., 1672) Pseudodoxia Epidemica III:xvii (pp. 162–166)|access-date=2014-05-16|archive-date=2023-04-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409152808/http://penelope.uchicago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo317.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of [[virginity]] led to an association with the [[Virgin Mary]], with hares sometimes occurring in [[illuminated manuscript]]s and [[Northern Renaissance|Northern European]] paintings of the Virgin and [[Christ Child]]. It may also have been associated with the [[Holy Trinity]], as in the [[three hares]] motif.<ref name=meaning/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://threehares.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-three-hares_25.html |title=Three Hares as representation of the Trinity |publisher=Threehares.blogspot.com |date=2006-02-25 |access-date=2010-06-29 |archive-date=2011-07-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708070605/http://threehares.blogspot.com/2006/02/why-three-hares_25.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2023}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis-Stempel |first=John |author-link=John Lewis-Stempel |date=2019 |title=The Private Life of the Hare |publisher=[[Transworld Publishers|Transworld]] |isbn= 9781473542501}}</ref>


===Eggs===
===Eggs===
{{main|Easter egg|Egg decorating}}
{{main|Easter egg|Egg decorating}}
In [[Christianity]], for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the [[empty tomb]] of [[Jesus]], from which Jesus was [[resurrection of Jesus|resurrected]].<ref>{{cite book|title= Christianity|publisher= [[Nelson Thornes]]|author= Anne Jordan|quote= Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbol to represent the empty tomb. The outside of the egg looks dead but inside there is new life, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus will rise from His tomb and bring new life. Orthodox Christians dye boiled eggs red to make red Easter eggs that represent the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world.|date= 5 April 2000|isbn= 9780748753208}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Guardian, Volume 29|publisher=H. Harbaugh|quote=Just so, on that first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell, but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it really has life in it; and also it is like Christ's dead body, which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on Easter. (In days past some used to color the eggs red, so as to show the kind of death by which Christ died,-a ''bloody'' death.)|year=1878}}</ref><ref name="GeddesGriffiths2002">{{cite book|title= Christian belief and practice|publisher= [[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]]|author= Gordon Geddes, Jane Griffiths|quote= Red eggs are given to Orthodox Christians after the Easter Liturgy. They crack their eggs against each other's. The cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from the bonds of sin and misery and enter the new life issuing from Christ's resurrection.|date= 22 January 2002|isbn= 9780435306915}}</ref> Eggs became associated with Easter specifically when eating them was prohibited during the fast of [[Lent]], when believers abstaned from meat and animal products—a practice that continues in certain [[Christian denomination]]s today, such as the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]], and among [[Western Christianity|Western Christians]] observing the [[Daniel Fast]].<ref name="Samaan2024">{{cite web |last1=Samaan |first1=Moses |title=The Meaning of the Great Lent |url=https://www.lacopts.org/story/the-meaning-of-the-great-lent/ |publisher=[[Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii]] |access-date=10 March 2024 |date=9 April 2009 |quote=The Church teaches us to fast until sunset. Fish is not allowed during this period. Also married couples should refrain from physical relations to give themselves time for fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7: 5). We would like to emphasize the importance of the period of strict abstention during fasting. It is refraining from eating and drinking for a period of time, followed by eating vegetarian food. ... True fasting must be accompanied by abstention from food and drink until sunset as designated by the Church.}}</ref><ref name="RNS2013">{{cite news |title=Lent: Daniel Fast Gains Popularity |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/lent-daniel-fast-gains-popularity_n_2640352.html |accessdate=December 30, 2018 |work=HuffPost |agency=Religion News Service |date=February 7, 2013 |quote=In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in.}}</ref><ref name="Hinton2016">{{cite web |last1=Hinton |first1=Carla |title=The Fast and the Faithful: Catholic parish in Oklahoma takes up Lenten discipline based on biblical Daniel's diet |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/religion/2016/02/20/fast-and-the-faithful-catholic-parish-oklahoma-takes-lenten-discipline-based-biblical-daniels-diet/60691130007/ |publisher=[[The Oklahoman]] |access-date=27 March 2022 |language=English |date=20 February 2016 |quote=Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.}}</ref> A common practice in England during the medieval Christian era was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children to enjoy prior to the Lenten fast; people then abstained from eggs throughout Lent and could enjoy them once again with the conclusion of Lent at the arrival of Easter Sunday.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McRoy |first1=Anthony |title=How the Fast of Lent Gave Us Easter Eggs |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2010/february/how-fast-of-lent-gave-us-easter-eggs.html |publisher=[[Christianity Today]] |access-date=1 April 2024 |language=English |date=2024}}</ref><ref name="D'Costa">{{Cite web |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/ |title=Beyond Ishtar: The Tradition of Eggs at Easter |last=D'Costa |first=Krystal |website=Scientific American |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328170422/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/ |archive-date=28 March 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref> As a special dish, eggs have been decorated by Christians as part of the Easter celebrations. Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of [[Egg decorating|decorating the eggs]].<ref name="Thompson2013">{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Kenneth|title=Culture & Progress: Early Sociology of Culture, Volume 8|date=21 August 2013|publisher=[[Routledge]]|language=en |isbn=9781136479403|page=138|quote=In Mesopotamia children secured during the 40-day period following Easter day as many eggs as possible and dyed them red, "in memory of the blood of Christ shed at that time of his Crucifixion"--a rationalization. Dyed eggs were sold in the market, green and yellow being favorite colors. The use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia, thence to Russia and Siberia through the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek Church the custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants and then spread through Europe.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Snodgrass|first1=Lucie L.|title=DYED IN Tradition|work=Academic Search Complete|issue=329|publisher=Vegetarian Times|date=March 2005}}</ref> Many Christians of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox Church]] to this day typically dye their [[Easter egg]]s red "in memory of the [[blood of Christ]], shed as at that time of his crucifixion."<ref name="GeddesGriffiths2002"/><ref name="Ellis1877">{{cite book|title=Popular antiquities of Great Britain|access-date=26 March 2016|year=1877|language=en|page=[https://archive.org/details/observationsonp02unkngoog/page/n119 90]|author=Henry Ellis|author-link=Henry Ellis (librarian)|url=https://archive.org/details/observationsonp02unkngoog|quote=[[Thomas Hyde|Hyde]], in his Oriental Sports (1694), tells us one with eggs among the Christians of Mesopotamia on Easter Day and forty days afterwards, during which time their children buy themselves as many eggs as they can, stain them with a red colour in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion. Some tinge them with green and yellow.}}</ref><ref name="D'Costa"/> The [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] art of decorating eggs, known as [[pysanka|''pysanky'']]. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen among other eastern and central European cultures.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hallett|first1=Vicky|title=Egg-cellent art|volume=134|work=Academic Search Complete|issue=10|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|date=March 31, 2003}}</ref>
Eggs have been used as [[fertility]] symbols since [[ancient history|antiquity]].<ref name=Heller>{{cite news|last1=Heller|first1=Steven|title=Seeing Rabbits|volume=68|work=Academic Search Complete|issue=2|date=April 2014}}</ref> Eggs became a symbol in Christianity associated with rebirth as early as the 1st century AD, via the iconography of the [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]] egg, and they became associated with Easter specifically in medieval Europe, when eating them was prohibited during the fast of [[Lent]]. A common practice in England at that time was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.<ref name="D'Costa">{{Cite web |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/ |title=Beyond Ishtar: The Tradition of Eggs at Easter |last=D'Costa |first=Krystal |website=Scientific American |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328170422/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/beyond-ishtar-the-tradition-of-eggs-at-easter/ |archive-date=28 March 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=28 March 2018}}</ref>


⚫
The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] area told their children about the {{-"}}''[[wikt:Osterhase|Osterhase]]''{{-"}} (sometimes spelled {{-"}}''Oschter Haws''{{-"}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.germanworldonline.com/index.php/grus-vom-osterhasen-oschter-haws-song/ |title=Gruß vom Osterhasen: Oschter Haws Song |publisher=Germanworldonline.com |date=2011-04-23 |access-date=2013-03-31 |archive-date=2013-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603223416/http://www.germanworldonline.com/index.php/grus-vom-osterhasen-oschter-haws-song/ |url-status=live }}</ref>). ''Hase'' means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a [[hare]]. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and [[Bonnet (headgear)|bonnets]] before Easter.<ref>[http://www.lhmint.org/easter/symbols.htm Easter Symbols] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312234541/http://www.lhmint.org/easter/symbols.htm |date=2008-03-12 }} from Lutheran Hour Ministries. Accessed 2/28/08</ref>
As a special dish, eggs would probably have been decorated as part of the Easter celebrations. Later, German [[Protestant]]s retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, though they did not continue the tradition of [[fasting]].<ref>[http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/ShroveTues.html Shrove Tuesday Pancakes!] by Bridget Haggerty – Irish Culture & Customs, World Cultures European, paragraph 5 line 2 refers to the Catholic custom of abstaining from eggs during Lent. Accessed 3/1/08</ref> Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of [[Egg decorating|decorating the eggs]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Snodgrass|first1=Lucie L.|title=DYED IN Tradition|work=Academic Search Complete|issue=329|publisher=Vegetarian Times|date=March 2005}}</ref> Many Christians of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] to this day typically dye their [[Easter egg]]s red,<ref>[http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingtips/ht/redeggs.htm How To Dye Red Eggs with Onion Skins for Greek Easter] by Nancy Gaifyllia from Your Guide to Greek Food on About.Com Accessed April 9, 2008</ref> the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed [[Christ (title)|Christ]] (and, of the renewal of life in springtime). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long-dead time of winter. The [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]] art of decorating eggs for Easter, known as [[pysanka|''pysanky'']], dates to ancient, pre-Christian times. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen amongst other eastern and central European cultures.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hallett|first1=Vicky|title=Egg-cellent art|volume=134|work=Academic Search Complete|issue=10|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|date=March 31, 2003}}</ref>

⚫
The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the [[Pennsylvania Dutch]] area told their children about the {{-"}}''[[wikt:Osterhase|Osterhase]]''{{-"}} (sometimes spelled {{-"}}''Oschter Haws''{{-"}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.germanworldonline.com/index.php/grus-vom-osterhasen-oschter-haws-song/ |title=Gruß vom Osterhasen: Oschter Haws Song |publisher=Germanworldonline.com |date=2011-04-23 |access-date=2013-03-31}}</ref>). ''Hase'' means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a [[hare]]. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and [[Bonnet (headgear)|bonnets]] before Easter.<ref>[http://www.lhmint.org/easter/symbols.htm Easter Symbols] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312234541/http://www.lhmint.org/easter/symbols.htm |date=2008-03-12 }} from Lutheran Hour Ministries. Accessed 2/28/08</ref>


== Gallery ==
<gallery>
<gallery>
File:Paderborner Dom Dreihasenfenster.jpg|Dreihasenfenster (Window of Three Hares) in [[Paderborn Cathedral]] in [[Paderborn, Germany]]
File:Paderborner Dom Dreihasenfenster.jpg|{{Langx|de|Dreihasenfenster|label=none}} ('Window of Three Hares') in [[Paderborn Cathedral]] in [[Paderborn, Germany]]
File:Easter Bunnies (5625568820).jpg|Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as [[Easter biscuit]]s
File:Easter Bunnies (5625568820).jpg|Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as [[Easter biscuit]]s
File:Candy eggs in an Easter basket.JPG|Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket
File:Candy eggs in an Easter basket.JPG|Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket
File:Easterbunny 1.jpg|A bunny and decorated Easter eggs
File:Easterbunny 1.jpg|A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs
File:Easter Bunny 2021.jpg|Chocolate Easter bunnies
File:Die Kunst der Confiserie von Grund auf lernen .jpg|Chocolate Easter bunnies
⚫
File:Moules à chocolat-Musée du pain d'épices (2).jpg|Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from [[Alsace]] Musée du pain d'épices

⚫
File:Moules à chocolat-Musée du pain d'épices (2).jpg|Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from [[Alsace]] Musée du pain d'épices
</gallery>
</gallery>


==Alleged association with Ēostre==
==Alleged association with Ēostre==
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<ref>Charles Isaac Elton (1890). ''Origins of English History''</ref>{{page?|date=April 2019}} and Charles J. Billson.<ref>Charles J Billson (1892). ''Folk-Lore'' vol. 3 issue 4</ref> In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or [[Ēostre]]), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."<ref>Christina Hole (1961). ''Easter and its Customs''</ref>{{page?|date=April 2019}} 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).<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Attenborough, Sir David (Presenter) |date=April 12, 1993 |title=Wildlife on One Easter Special Shadow of the Hare |medium=Television |language=en |location=United Kingdom |publisher=BBC }}</ref>
In a publication from 1874 German philologist [[Adolf Holtzmann]] stated "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of [[Ostara]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Holtzmann |first=Adolf |author-link=Adolf Holtzmann |date=1874 |title=Deutsche Mythologie |location=Leipzig |publisher=[[B. G. Teubner]] |page=141}}</ref> The connection between Easter and that goddess had been made by [[Jacob Grimm]] in his 1835 ''[[Deutsche Mythologie]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grimm |first=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Grimm |date=1835 |title=Deutsche Mythologie |location=Göttingen |publisher=Dietrichsche Buchhandlung |pages=181–182}}</ref> This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton<ref>{{cite book |last=Elton |first=Charles Isaac |author-link=Charles Isaac Elton |date=1882 |title=Origins of English History |location=London |publisher=[[Bernard Quaritch]] |pages=407–408}}</ref> and Charles J. Billson.<ref>Charles J Billson (1892). ''Folk-Lore'' vol. 3 issue 4</ref> In 1961 [[Christina Hole]] wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or [[Ēostre]]), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."<ref>Christina Hole (1961). ''Easter and its Customs''</ref>{{page needed|date=April 2019}} 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).<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Attenborough, Sir David (Presenter) |date=April 12, 1993 |title=Wildlife on One Easter Special Shadow of the Hare |medium=Television |language=en |location=United Kingdom |publisher=BBC }}</ref>


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.<ref>Jacqueline Simpson and Stephen Roud (2000). ''A Dictionary of English Folklore''</ref>{{page?|date=April 2019}}
The Oxford ''Dictionary of English Folklore'' however states "nowadays, many writers claim that hares were sacred to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Ēostre, but there is no shred of evidence for this; [[Bede]], the only writer to mention [[Ēostre]], does not link her with any animal".<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Simpson |editor-first1=Jacqueline |editor-last2=Roud |editor-first2=Steve |chapter=hares |title=Dictionary of English Folklore |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1917-2664-4 |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780198607663.001.0001/acref-9780198607663-e-467 }}</ref>

A legend often encountered in contemporary times is that Eostre freed a frozen bird from a tree branch by turning it into a hare. It still continued to lay eggs but, having no use for them anymore and in gratitude to the goddess, gave them away.<ref>Breathnach, Sarah Ben (1990). ''Mrs. Sharp's Traditions''.</ref><ref> 2002. ''Cricket''. (magazine)</ref> This has no basis in any authentic, pre-Christian folklore, myth or religion and only appears to date from 1883, first published by K. A. Oberle in a book in German and later quoted by H. Krebs in a notes section in the journal ''Folk-Lore'', also in 1883. His quote is as follows:
{{blockquote
|text=Some time ago the question was raised how it came that, according to South German still prevailing folk-lore, the Hare is believed by children to lay the Easter-eggs. I venture now to offer a probable answer to it. Originally the hare seems to have been a bird which the ancient Teutonic goddess Ostara (the Anglo-Saxon Eàstre or Eostre, as Bede calls her) transformed into a quadruped. For this reason the Hare, in grateful recollection of its former quality as bird and swift messenger of the Spring-Goddess, is able to lay eggs on her festival at Easter-time.<ref> Krebs, H. (1883). ''Folk-Lore''. p. 122.</ref>
}}


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Easter]]
* [[Domestic rabbit|Domestic and pet rabbits]]
* [[Domestic rabbit|Domestic and pet rabbits]]
* [[Easter Bilby]]
* [[Easter Bilby]]
* [[Mad as a March hare]]
* [[Mad as a March hare]]
* [[Rabbits and hares in art]]
* [[Rabbits and hares in art]]
* [[Rabbit#In culture and literature|Rabbits in culture and literature]]
* "[[The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs]]"


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Commons category}}
* [[Charles J. Billson]]. "[[s:Folk-Lore. Volume 3/The Easter Hare|The Easter Hare]]". ''Folk-Lore''. Vol. 3, No. 4 (December 1892).
* [[Charles J. Billson]]. "[[s:Folk-Lore. Volume 3/The Easter Hare|The Easter Hare]]". ''Folk-Lore''. Vol. 3, No. 4 (December 1892).
* [https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/03/easter-bunny/ On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny], Stephen Winick, ''Folklife Today'', March 22, 2016
* ''{{ill|Osterfuchs|de|Osterfuchs|vertical-align=sup}}'' (Easter Fox) (in German)
* ''{{ill|Osterfuchs|de|Osterfuchs|vertical-align=sup}}'' (Easter Fox) (in German)
* [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/23/easter-pagan-roots Bott, Adrian (2011) The modern myth of the Easter bunny, ''The Guardian'', Sat 23 Apr 2011]
* [https://archive.org/stream/berrestegermani01obergoog#page/n119/mode/2up Oberle K. A. (1883). ''Überreste germanischen Heidentums im Christentum: Oder, die Wochentage, Monate und christlichen Feste''. p. 104.]


{{Easter}}
{{Easter}}
{{German folklore}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

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Latest revision as of 05:48, 21 October 2024

Easter Bunny
A 1907 postcard featuring the Easter Bunny
GroupingLegendary creature
Sub groupingAnimal
FolkloreFolkloric figure and symbol of Easter
Other name(s)Easter Rabbit, Easter Hare
CountryGermany

The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide,[1] similar to the "naughty or nice" list made by Santa Claus. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or the Christkind) and Christmas by bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The 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 eggs for the children.[2][3]

Symbols

Rabbits and hares

Inflatable Easter Bunny in front of San Francisco City Hall

The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by Pliny, Plutarch, Philostratus, and Aelian) that the hare was a hermaphrodite.[4][5][6] The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity, as in the three hares motif.[4][7][unreliable source?][8]

Eggs

Main articles: Easter egg and Egg decorating

In Christianity, for the celebration of Eastertide, Easter eggs symbolize the empty tomb of Jesus, from which Jesus was resurrected.[9][10][11] Eggs became associated with Easter specifically when eating them was prohibited during the fast of Lent, when believers abstaned from meat and animal products—a practice that continues in certain Christian denominations today, such as the Coptic Orthodox Church, and among Western Christians observing the Daniel Fast.[12][13][14] A common practice in England during the medieval Christian era was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children to enjoy prior to the Lenten fast; people then abstained from eggs throughout Lent and could enjoy them once again with the conclusion of Lent at the arrival of Easter Sunday.[15][16] As a special dish, eggs have been decorated by Christians as part of the Easter celebrations. Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of decorating the eggs.[17][18] Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion."[11][19][16] The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs, known as pysanky. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen among other eastern and central European cultures.[20]

The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase" (sometimes spelled "Oschter Haws"[21]). Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.[22]

  • Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany
    Dreihasenfenster ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany
  • Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits
    Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits
  • Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket
    Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket
  • A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs
    A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs
  • Chocolate Easter bunnies
    Chocolate Easter bunnies
  • Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices
    Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices

Alleged association with Ēostre

In a publication from 1874 German philologist Adolf Holtzmann stated "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara".[23] The connection between Easter and that goddess had been made by Jacob Grimm in his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie.[24] This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton[25] and Charles J. Billson.[26] In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or Ēostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."[27][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).[28]

The Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore however states "nowadays, many writers claim that hares were sacred to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Ēostre, but there is no shred of evidence for this; Bede, the only writer to mention Ēostre, does not link her with any animal".[29]

A legend often encountered in contemporary times is that Eostre freed a frozen bird from a tree branch by turning it into a hare. It still continued to lay eggs but, having no use for them anymore and in gratitude to the goddess, gave them away.[30][31] This has no basis in any authentic, pre-Christian folklore, myth or religion and only appears to date from 1883, first published by K. A. Oberle in a book in German and later quoted by H. Krebs in a notes section in the journal Folk-Lore, also in 1883. His quote is as follows:

Some time ago the question was raised how it came that, according to South German still prevailing folk-lore, the Hare is believed by children to lay the Easter-eggs. I venture now to offer a probable answer to it. Originally the hare seems to have been a bird which the ancient Teutonic goddess Ostara (the Anglo-Saxon Eàstre or Eostre, as Bede calls her) transformed into a quadruped. For this reason the Hare, in grateful recollection of its former quality as bird and swift messenger of the Spring-Goddess, is able to lay eggs on her festival at Easter-time.[32]

See also

References

  1. ^ Cross, Gary (2004). Wondrous Innocence and Modern American Children's Culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195348132.
  2. ^ Franck von Franckenau, Georg (1682). Disputatione ordinaria disquirens de ovis paschalibus / von Oster-Eyern. Satyrae Medicae. Vol. XVIII. Heidelberg. p. 6. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  3. ^ Winick, Stephen. "On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny," LOC Blogs, Mar. 22, 2016. Retrieved Mar. 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Chapman, Chris (2004). "What does the Symbol Mean?". Three Hares Project. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  5. ^ Marta Powell Harley (1985). "Rosalind, the hare, and the hyena in Shakespeare's As You Like It". Shakespeare Quarterly. 36 (3): 335–337. doi:10.2307/2869713. JSTOR 2869713. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  6. ^ "Sir Thomas Browne (1646; 6th ed., 1672) Pseudodoxia Epidemica III:xvii (pp. 162–166)". Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  7. ^ "Three Hares as representation of the Trinity". Threehares.blogspot.com. 2006-02-25. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  8. ^ Lewis-Stempel, John (2019). The Private Life of the Hare. Transworld. ISBN 9781473542501.
  9. ^ Anne Jordan (5 April 2000). Christianity. Nelson Thornes. ISBN 9780748753208. Easter eggs are used as a Christian symbol to represent the empty tomb. The outside of the egg looks dead but inside there is new life, which is going to break out. The Easter egg is a reminder that Jesus will rise from His tomb and bring new life. Orthodox Christians dye boiled eggs red to make red Easter eggs that represent the blood of Christ shed for the sins of the world.
  10. ^ The Guardian, Volume 29. H. Harbaugh. 1878. Just so, on that first Easter morning, Jesus came to life and walked out of the tomb, and left it, as it were, an empty shell. Just so, too, when the Christian dies, the body is left in the grave, an empty shell, but the soul takes wings and flies away to be with God. Thus you see that though an egg seems to be as dead as a stone, yet it really has life in it; and also it is like Christ's dead body, which was raised to life again. This is the reason we use eggs on Easter. (In days past some used to color the eggs red, so as to show the kind of death by which Christ died,-a bloody death.)
  11. ^ a b Gordon Geddes, Jane Griffiths (22 January 2002). Christian belief and practice. Heinemann. ISBN 9780435306915. Red eggs are given to Orthodox Christians after the Easter Liturgy. They crack their eggs against each other's. The cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from the bonds of sin and misery and enter the new life issuing from Christ's resurrection.
  12. ^ Samaan, Moses (9 April 2009). "The Meaning of the Great Lent". Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii. Retrieved 10 March 2024. The Church teaches us to fast until sunset. Fish is not allowed during this period. Also married couples should refrain from physical relations to give themselves time for fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7: 5). We would like to emphasize the importance of the period of strict abstention during fasting. It is refraining from eating and drinking for a period of time, followed by eating vegetarian food. ... True fasting must be accompanied by abstention from food and drink until sunset as designated by the Church.
  13. ^ "Lent: Daniel Fast Gains Popularity". HuffPost. Religion News Service. February 7, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2018. In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in.
  14. ^ Hinton, Carla (20 February 2016). "The Fast and the Faithful: Catholic parish in Oklahoma takes up Lenten discipline based on biblical Daniel's diet". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 27 March 2022. Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
  15. ^ McRoy, Anthony (2024). "How the Fast of Lent Gave Us Easter Eggs". Christianity Today. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  16. ^ a b D'Costa, Krystal. "Beyond Ishtar: The Tradition of Eggs at Easter". Scientific American. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  17. ^ Thompson, Kenneth (21 August 2013). Culture & Progress: Early Sociology of Culture, Volume 8. Routledge. p. 138. ISBN 9781136479403. In Mesopotamia children secured during the 40-day period following Easter day as many eggs as possible and dyed them red, "in memory of the blood of Christ shed at that time of his Crucifixion"--a rationalization. Dyed eggs were sold in the market, green and yellow being favorite colors. The use of eggs at Easter seems to have come from Persia into the Greek Christian Churches of Mesopotamia, thence to Russia and Siberia through the medium of Orthodox Christianity. From the Greek Church the custom was adopted by either the Roman Catholics or the Protestants and then spread through Europe.
  18. ^ Snodgrass, Lucie L. (March 2005). "DYED IN Tradition". Academic Search Complete. No. 329. Vegetarian Times.
  19. ^ Henry Ellis (1877). Popular antiquities of Great Britain. p. 90. Retrieved 26 March 2016. Hyde, in his Oriental Sports (1694), tells us one with eggs among the Christians of Mesopotamia on Easter Day and forty days afterwards, during which time their children buy themselves as many eggs as they can, stain them with a red colour in memory of the blood of Christ, shed as at that time of his crucifixion. Some tinge them with green and yellow.
  20. ^ Hallett, Vicky (March 31, 2003). "Egg-cellent art". Academic Search Complete. Vol. 134, no. 10. U.S. News & World Report.
  21. ^ "Gruß vom Osterhasen: Oschter Haws Song". Germanworldonline.com. 2011-04-23. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  22. ^ Easter Symbols Archived 2008-03-12 at the Wayback Machine from Lutheran Hour Ministries. Accessed 2/28/08
  23. ^ Holtzmann, Adolf (1874). Deutsche Mythologie. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner. p. 141.
  24. ^ Grimm, Jacob (1835). Deutsche Mythologie. Göttingen: Dietrichsche Buchhandlung. pp. 181–182.
  25. ^ Elton, Charles Isaac (1882). Origins of English History. London: Bernard Quaritch. pp. 407–408.
  26. ^ Charles J Billson (1892). Folk-Lore vol. 3 issue 4
  27. ^ Christina Hole (1961). Easter and its Customs
  28. ^ Attenborough, Sir David (Presenter) (April 12, 1993). Wildlife on One Easter Special Shadow of the Hare (Television). United Kingdom: BBC.
  29. ^ Simpson, Jacqueline; Roud, Steve, eds. (2003). "hares". Dictionary of English Folklore. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1917-2664-4.
  30. ^ Breathnach, Sarah Ben (1990). Mrs. Sharp's Traditions.
  31. ^ 2002. Cricket. (magazine)
  32. ^ Krebs, H. (1883). Folk-Lore. p. 122.
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