The celebration of Easter marks the time of year when Christians celebrate Christ’s resurrection following his crucifixion. Many Christians consider it more significant than Christmas since it celebrates Jesus’ victory over death. Why candy, colored and chocolate eggs, and a mythical bunny are involved is subject to debate.
The roots of the word come from the Old English word “Eastre” or “Eostre,” which is of Germanic origin. The conventional explanation is that Easter is a “pagan holiday.” It’s not. Granted, one won’t find the word “Easter” in the Bible, and some of the modern day festivities eventually grew out of pagan origins, but that is not the root of the celebration.
Eostre, according to a lesser-known work from the eighth-century monk Venerable Bede, was “a goddess” whose “honor feasts were celebrated in that month.” That month was April. Jacob Grimm, in his Teutonic Mythology, said she was a “goddess of the growing light of spring.” From that mythology came the representation of Eostre as the start of spring, which marks a new awakening of the earth, including rabbits and hares, as well as eggs that appear after a dark winter.
It’s easy to see how it can go from that to the more modern version that includes hiding baskets of candy and chocolate from children early on Easter morning, Easter egg hunts, and the tradition of wearing brighter, more colorful clothing to mark the day.
So, fear not. Your children aren’t going pagan when they request to eat that Cadbury creme egg before heading off to church to celebrate the resurrection of a savior.
