Easter is a day celebrating Jesus rising from the dead to tell the world that there is life beyond an earthly existence. This one revelation has changed the world by introducing forgiveness as a solution over retaliation and offers a rebirth in this life, washing away the sins that haunt the soul.
It becomes a wonder to many that Easter is celebrated with bunnies and colorful eggs which seem to have nothing to do with such profound revelations. It may surprise many to know that Easter was originally a pagan holiday.
The Saxons celebrated the return of spring by honoring their goddess of springtime, Eastre. In the second century A.D., Christians attempted to convert the Saxons but they had to move cautiously as to not upset the existing culture. The missionaries chose the pagan celebration of Eastre because it coincided with their own Christian holiday.
The Easter Bunny is nothing more than the symbol of fertility - the rabbit - that the Anglo-Saxons used to represent Eastre. The symbol was brought to America by the Germans.
The egg is a symbol of rebirth, for obvious reasons. The custom of exchanging eggs in the springtime pre-dates Christianity. Many were wrapped in foils or dyed in boiling leaves or flowers.
