Easter is an absolutely confusing mash up of a Pagan festival, ancient symbolism, and Christian holiday. It is known to be celebrated as the resurrection of Christ three days after his crucifixion, but the secular segment of the holiday focuses on brightly colored eggs, fuzzy baby chicks, and the ubiquitous Easter Bunny. How did these vastly different aspects come to be a part of the same holiday?

The holiday Easter comes from a spring festival that the Ancient Saxons celebrated in honor of Eastre, the goddess of fertility, spring, and dawn. Her symbol was the rabbit. Christian missionaries didn’t attempt to convert the Pagans to Christianity by making Easter cards for Eastre or giving out free Easter cards and Easter e cards. Instead, they combined holidays from both of the religions in order to make Christianity seem more attractive to the people that they were trying to convert.

The rabbit and hare’s spring mating frenzy and their ability to have massive amounts of offspring throughout the year has caused them to be a symbol of fertility in many different cultures. Eggs are also considered to be a ubiquitous fertility symbol of rebirth. In many cultures it is custom to decorate eggs to give as gifts to friends and family.

In many cultures, the rabbit is also the symbol of the moon. This is for a variety of reasons, originating from myth and symbolism. One of the reasons is because women cycle according to phases of the moon. The hare/rabbit, perhaps because of their breeding habits, became the symbol of rebirth and life after death. In Ancient Egypt, the word “hare” was the same as the word for “open” because hares are born with their eyes open. The word “open” also meant “period.”

The modern day legend is that the Easter bunny possesses colored eggs, candy, and toys. On the night before Easter, the bunny brings these goodies to the homes of children and either hides the eggs about the house and yard or puts a basket of them in a designated place. This ritual goes beyond that as well, for there are several Easter cards that people mail to each other, free Easter ecards that people email to each other, and other types of greeting cards that are sent on this holiday in addition to the church going and egg gathering festivities.

The tradition of the Easter bunny itself originates from Alsace and southwestern Germany. It was first mentioned in German texts around the 1500s as the “Osterhase.” Edible Easter bunny pastries and gummy egg shapes candies (precursors to the modern jelly beans) first appeared in the early 1800s. These candies were placed in straw nests around the house for children to find. Later, the tradition somehow transitioned to egg hiding in children’s shoes.

The Easter bunny was introduced to America by German settlers in the 1700s. Children would use their caps and bonnets to build brightly colored nests to put in peaceful corners of their home. If the children had been good, the Osterhase would give the children brightly colored eggs and candies. During that time, no Easter ecards were sent, for ecards weren’t even close to invention and greeting cards were still fairly young.

These nests eventually transformed into Easter baskets. The Easter basket would be hidden, or the eggs would be hidden. There are a variety of ways that this holiday is celebrated by different cultures and families, but most of them involve some sort of Easter bunny and brightly colored eggs. Australia has recently adopted the tradition of the Easter bilby. There are many Easter greeting cards, Easter cards, and Easter e cards associated with the Easter bilby. It has become quite popular, and there is even a line of chocolate Easter bilby candies. The reason for this is because rabbits are not native to Australia.

When European settlers brought rabbits over, the rabbits got loose, reproduced like mad, and proved to be a very aggravating breed of vermin that many activist groups are against celebrating. They chose to replace the Easter bunny with the endangered bilby instead. Though the Easter bilby is growing in popularity, the Easter bunny is still more widely recognized.