The Easter Bunny is where the tradition comes from. The Easter Bunny and its history. Legends of the origin of the rabbit
In the Orthodox tradition, the main symbols Easter Easter cakes and colored eggs are considered. Catholics associate this holiday with the Easter bunny that lays eggs. How this animal became a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ - further in the review.
The European tradition has its roots in pagan times. Hares were associated in ancient Germanic cults with the fertility goddess Ostara (in Germany, Easter is called "Ostern"). The egg symbolized life, and the hares symbolized fertility. In various beliefs, there were also other animals (fox, rooster) associated with this cult, but gradually the hare “forced out” everyone.
As Christianity spread across Europe, missionaries adjusted pagan rituals and customs to fit Christian holidays. The same thing happened with Easter. The pagan holiday of the spring equinox and the honoring of the goddess Ostara were "woven" into the context of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Hares also "migrated" to the Christian tradition. They changed their appearance to domestic rabbits, but they did not stop laying eggs.
The first written references to the fact that rabbits bring eggs at Easter date back to the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. Easter traditions were first officially documented in 1698 by the German professor Georg Frank von Frankenau. His treatise was called "On Easter Eggs" ("De ovis paschlius"). He wrote: “In southern Germany, in Alsace, in the Palatinate, as well as in some neighboring regions and in Westphalia, these eggs are called hare eggs. Children are told that the Easter Bunny blows them off and then hides them in the grass and bushes. This makes the kids look for them with even greater zeal for the amusement of adults.” Modern Germans zealously observe this tradition every year.
In America, Easter bunnies became known with the arrival of Dutch settlers in the 1770s. Over time, the rabbit, in addition to eggs, began to “bring” chocolate and toys.
For the Orthodox, perhaps the most pleasant moment in preparation for Easter can be called
The Easter Bunny is as much a must for Easter in the West as Easter cakes and bells are in Russia. In Europe and America, before the holiday, a huge number of chocolate ears and postcards with the image of rabbits go on sale. Millions of children are looking forward to a wonderful animal hiding colored eggs - well, just like Santa Claus on New Year's Eve. At Easter, it is the hare that throws them. On Easter Sunday, the kids, according to tradition, look in the front gardens (and if the weather is bad, then at home) for multi-colored eggs laid and hidden by the Easter bunny (!) But what does the rabbit have to do with the feast of the Resurrection of Christ?
How the rabbit made a career
The hare was the favorite animal of the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite, and Pliny (23-79 AD) said that hare meat is very useful for women: it would make barren women fertile, and its use in large quantities would favor the conception of children. Aphrodite is, of course, a pagan goddess, but most of the Easter traditions known today, as Wilhelm Geerlings, professor of theology at the University of Bochum, recalls, originated precisely in pagan times. "It's well known," Geerlings explains, "that the Easter Bunny or the Easter egg were popular long before the advent of Christianity."
According to researchers from the University of Florida, the first Easter bunny appeared in the 13th century and is associated with pagan rites. So, in pre-Christian Germany, the Teutonic hare-headed goddess of the moon, dawn, spring and fertility, Ostara (Oestra), was revered, symbolizing the birth of a new life, the beginning of a new calendar cycle, known to the Anglo-Saxons as Eostra, which gave the modern English name Easter - Easter, - or in German "Ostern". Her holiday was the day of the spring equinox, and the symbol is the hare, known for its fertility, and suitable for this holiday in the best possible way. By the way, it was the hares and rabbits who carried the lamps of Eostra.
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| Moon hare Yutu from China |
In Indian folklore, it was said that the god Indra placed the hare on the moon: the hare, receiving the divine guest in the form of a beggar, did not find any food for him and fried himself. Delighted by such an act, Indra resurrected the hare and placed him on the moon, thus making him immortal.
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| Egg Carving: Moon Hare |
In pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, there was also the idea of a lunar hare. So, the Aztec myth about the beginning of the fifth, modern era of the world represents the appearance of the luminaries in this way: the gods Nanahuatzin and Tekkistekatl burned themselves on a sacrificial fire, becoming the Sun and the Moon, respectively. The Moon-Tekquitecatl was almost as bright as the Sun-Nanahuatzin, so one of the gods grabbed a hare from the ground and threw it at Tekquitecatl, which moderated the light of the moon.
Oddly enough, but the Easter Bunny really lays eggs, and there is a beautiful explanation for this in an ancient legend. In ancient times, a bird named Lepus (Latin lepus - a hare) lived on earth, and she was happy with everything, until the hunter Orion appeared in the forest, who hunted birds. Little Lepus flew to the goddess of spring, Eostra, and asked to be turned into another animal, because she was very afraid of Orion, and the goddess of spring turned the bird into a bunny. Lepus was pleased with everything in her new guise - only she was very homesick because she could no longer lay eggs. On Easter, the bunny went to Eostra and told her about his misfortune - and since then, once a year, precisely on Easter, he can lay eggs!
According to popular belief, the Easter Bunny lays eggs like a chicken or a duck. These European traditions are strange: as soon as the Dutch wind blows in the spring from the west, rabbits immediately begin to build nests and lay eggs. On the other hand, isn't Kurochka Ryaba supposed to take the rap in the neo-Faberge style? However, they say that in Germany in the 19th century everything was even more neglected: even ovipositor foxes were found there.
With the adoption of Christianity, as happened in many countries, folk pagan traditions did not disappear completely, but only changed and acquired a fabulous shade. Images of hares are often found in medieval churches - they have always been a symbol of fertility and new life, sometimes three eared animals in a circle, whose ears form a triangle, even denoted the Holy Trinity, however, this may be an indication of the transience of time in his run in a circle. Hares, on the other hand, giving bunches of grapes to children, are sensual images of souls taken to paradise, where they can eat the fruits of eternal life in complete safety. So the pagan hare became an Easter hare. Although, compared to the Easter holiday itself, the Easter Bunny is relatively young.
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| like this! |
And almost a century later, in 1758, the German hunter Johann Friedrich Fuhrmann seriously informed the world about a serious scientific discovery. He, as he claimed, managed to catch a hare, feed it with grain, and in March 1756, just in time for the next Easter, the hare laid a real egg, which was no smaller than a chicken one. This story, as they say in the archives, the hunter was ready to confirm under oath.
True, as for other regions of Germany, it was not hares that brought eggs for Easter there in the Middle Ages. So in Saxony the rooster brought eggs, in Bavaria and Switzerland - the cuckoo, in Hesse, Westphalia and Hanover - the fox, in Schleswig-Holstein, Upper Bavaria and Austria - the crane, in Alsace and Thuringia - the stork. Even... church bells laid eggs. Only starting from the end of the 18th century, the "oblique" pushed aside fellow animals and cathedral utensils and began to single-handedly rule the spring holiday.
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| ... and according to some sources, pigs |
The legend came to the USA in the 18th century. along with immigrants from Germany who settled in the Dutch Country region in southeastern Pennsylvania. Overseas, the bunny was "reborn" into a rabbit and became known as "The Easter Bunny", and then returned to Europe in a new guise. The Easter Bunny became widespread in America after the civil war between North and South (1861-1865).
In turn, the name of the region, which translates as "Country of the Dutch", hardly had anything to do with the Dutch. The fact is that “Dutch” was the name of the first German and European settlers who spoke German, who immigrated to the United States in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. and brought this legend with them, as well as the tradition of giving children marzipan hares.
Of course, the Easter Bunny is a favorite of children. Easter morning for many little sweet tooth starts the same way: you need to find a hidden rabbit nest and get its contents - multi-colored eggs made of marzipan and chocolate. A rabbit brings a tasty gift only to good children - parents and nannies have been telling kids about this for a whole year ...
But why did this role go to a cute fluffy animal, and not - which is more logical - a chicken? Most likely, the fact is that the Easter eggs were so bright and beautiful that the "ordinary" chicken could not lay them down. A fairy-tale element was needed: and so they came up with a magic rabbit.
There are several other legends about the appearance of the Easter Bunny.
One of them says that during the Great Flood, when the ark was floating on the waves, it stumbled upon the top of the mountain, and a gap was formed in the bottom. And the ark would have gone to the depths, if not for the bunny, who plugged the hole with his tail. And in memory of the brave hare, fairy tales were born.
Another legend says that, carrying eggs, hares-rabbits seem to atone for their guilt before people for their spring raids on gardens and orchards.
If you think the Easter Bunny is soft and fluffy and carries Easter eggs in a basket with a bow in the spring, then you are wrong: in fact, according to William Joyce, his real name is Easter Bunnymand and he is the last of the Puuk, an ancient race of giant fighting rabbits.
It seems to me that the rabbit that met that same Alice also belonged to this race. But that's a completely different story...
Now let's get back to reality. On one of the farms near Helsinki (Finland), there lives a rabbit named Otto, who considers himself a chicken
But who came up with the custom of hiding colorful eggs, no one really knows. Some connoisseurs of history claim that it was Goethe himself who came up with such entertainment for his guests. Adults, together with children, looked for eggs in the garden under the bushes, and when a find was discovered under the next bush, no one doubted that it was not hens at all that laid the eggs, but hares. And they say that the one who managed to find the egg laid by the Easter Bunny will have a happy year.
Museum piece
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The popularity of the rabbit was so great that in 1991 the famous collector Manfred Klauda opened a museum dedicated to the Easter symbol in Munich, which was listed in the Guinness Book of Records. The exposition included more than 1000 different rabbits: made of porcelain, wood, fabric, papier-mâché, sugar and wax. There were molds for making Easter bunnies out of marzipan and chocolate, and postcards, and figurines of rabbits with clocks, and mechanical rabbits...
All these exhibits reflected the signs of their time. Toy rabbits of the early 19th century, dressed like dandies, walked next to rabbits in hats.
The rabbits of the First World War wore military uniforms and fired from a cannon... The museum even had so-called rabbit rooms - wooden boxes with decorations and figurines depicting various scenes.
The imagination of some inventors simply knew no bounds. So, for example, in a 1907 patent that secures copyright for a "brilliant invention" called "Easter Bunny Laying Magic Eggs", it says:
“In order to get a magical rabbit, it is enough to pull a specially sewn rabbit fur cover, with ears and a tail, over a mother hen, which is just about to lay an egg. So the children will be convinced that they have a real Easter bunny in front of them and will not doubt that it was the hare that laid the egg. The only difficulty is that the chicken is not able to lay a colorful holiday egg. But this can also be helped by strengthening at the place where the egg comes from, a special stamp pad with red or blue paint. Thus, your Easter Bunny will carry real holiday eggs! »
Unfortunately, five years after the death of the founder, in 2005, the museum was closed, and part of the collection was sold.
British scientists have figured out where the Easter Bunny takes eggs
Easter eggs come from different "species", according to a scientist from the British University of Leicester.
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| Photo: Mark Purnell/University of Leicester |
Recent studies by Spanish scientists comparing the shape of dinosaur and bird eggs prompted Mark Purnell of the Department of Geology at the University of Leicester to investigate the origins of Easter eggs.
Where do Easter eggs come from? At first glance, this is a simple question, but many parents try to answer it and argue, trying to come up with a satisfactory answer, ”Purnell says in a press release.
“Many people believe that the eggs are brought by the Easter Bunny, but no one considers the question, where does the Easter Bunny get them? A quick Internet search yields a bewildering list of rumors and hypotheses: "Could the Easter Bunny really be a hare?" - a symbol of worship of pagan gods?
Spanish researchers have shown how bird eggs (light grey) differ from dinosaur eggs (dark grey). Scientists at the University of Leicester have gone one step further and added Easter eggs for comparison.
Not surprisingly, Purnell found significant differences in the shape and size of Easter eggs, too significant for all eggs to come from the same "parent species."
“Many of the small eggs bought, as usual, on the main streets in the UK, are very similar in shape to chicken ones, which served as reliable information about their original source,” the scientist said. “Others are shaped more like condor eggs.”
But surprisingly, several eggs are closer in shape to dinosaur eggs, in particular, the shape of a 70-million-year-old egg belonging to the Sankofa pyrenaica dinosaur discovered by Spanish scientists.
Spanish scientists Nieves López-Martinez from the Complutense University of Madrid and Enric Vicens from the Autonomous University of Barcelona examined ancient dinosaur eggs found in the Pyrenees to find out if the eggs found are similar in shape to modern bird eggs or dinosaur eggs.
Both dinosaurs and birds are oviparous animals with asymmetrical eggs.
Using a mathematical formula, the scientists measured all existing egg shapes, then built a model of 16 eggs from this “egg morphospace” matrix.
“We found that different species have different egg shapes, and that dinosaur eggs are different shapes than bird eggs,” says Enric Vicens in a press release. "Dinosaur eggs tend to be more elongated and less rounded than bird eggs."
"Dinosaur eggs also tend to be symmetrical and the blunt and pointed ends are not pronounced," Vicens added.
Examination of Pyrenean eggs under a microscope also revealed that they have an unusual shell structure, different from the eggs of modern birds. Because of the unique shape and structure of the shell, Vicens and López-Martinez characterized the eggs as belonging to a new species, Sankofa pyrenaica.
"The eggs were found in sandstone deposits and may have been laid by small carnivorous dinosaurs," the scientists concluded.
The study was published in the March issue of the journal Palaeontology.
Kat PIPER.
Letters to the Easter Bunny in the City of Easter Eggs
The only post office in Germany that accepts messages to the Easter Bunny operates near Bremen - in a place with a telling name Ostereishtedt. By the way, Ostereistedt can be translated from German as "Easter egg town", but the origin of this name is not exactly known. It is hardly connected with Easter and Christian traditions. The name probably comes from the word "Eichenstätte", that is - once oaks grew here. Another option is on behalf of a certain peasant "Eike", who may have owned a farmstead in this place.
The German Easter Post Office (Oster-Postamt) begins its work about a month before the holiday. Every year, a hare named Hanni receives about 35,000 letters. None of them remains unanswered. And it's been like that for 28 years.
Don't believe? Then you can write a couple of lines yourself, preferably in German or English, at the address "On the edge of the forest, 12":
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| Hanni Hase Am Waldrand 12 D-27404 Ostereistedt Germany |
Most of the letters come, of course, from Germany, but the German Easter Bunny is known far beyond the borders of the country. They write to him from Poland, France, Switzerland, the USA, Japan, Taiwan and even from Australia with New Zealand, from Russia - too.
One day, according to the evangelical news agency epd, a congratulation on the holiday came from a distant Easter island, which the Easter Bunny was especially happy about.
According to volunteer post office employees, every year the requests of children are clearly growing. Although many still want to get a traditional Easter egg made of chocolate for the holiday.
In recent years, the number of expensive wishes that children used to have for Christmas has increased, and now for any holiday. Among them - mobile phones, bicycles, game consoles, horses ... Some children immediately report the number of a gift from some postal trade catalog.
Of course, one Easter Bunny is not able to fulfill all these wishes, but each person who writes receives an answer on his letterhead and with a personal seal. It is very important to remember to write your own return address in legible handwriting.
Many of the letters that come to Hanni the hare are real works of art, decorated with drawings or appliqués. Sometimes whole parcels arrive with gifts made by children: knitted hats so that the hare's ears do not freeze, warm blankets, home-made pillows embroidered with patterns.
Adults also write. Confidential and open. After all, they say that childhood ends when you stop believing in the Easter Bunny...
Chocolate Bunny - Women's Dream
Here is another version of how Christmas eggs are made.
However, Easter bunnies also have permanent girlfriends - Easter bunnies (I don’t know how to distinguish them from Playboy's Girl, so I made a tough selection):
squarer- a fictional creature, "stuffed" which was created in 1918 as a joke by the Swedish scientist-taxidermist Rudolf Granberg and since then has been constantly on display at the Norra Berget Museum in Sundsvall. The stuffed animal has front and hind legs, the front part of the body and the head of a hare (Lepus) and the back part, wings and tail of a female capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus). It was also given the comic Latin name Tetrao lepus pseudo-hybridus rarissimus L. The name "squader" is, according to the dictionary of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, a combination of two words: the prefix skva from "skva-ttra" (which can be translated as "chirping", but it can also be used as “quackery”) and the suffix -der from “tjä-der” (“forest capercaillie”).
The history of the squader originates from a hunting tale told by a man named Hakon Dalmark during lunch in a Sundsvall restaurant in the early 20th century. For the amusement of his friends, he told that in 1874 he hunted such animals in the forests north of Sundsvall. On his birthday in 1907, Dalmark's housekeeper jokingly gave him a painting of these animals, drawn by her artist nephew from Hakon's descriptions, and shortly before his death in 1912, Dalmark donated the painting to the local museum. During an exhibition in Örnsköldsvik in 1916, the head of the museum met with taxidermist Rudolf Granberg. In a conversation with him, he mentioned the history of hunting and the appearance of the picture and asked Granberg if he could somehow “recreate” the animal by making it look like a stuffed animal. Granberg agreed and by 1918 had completed his work. Since then, the “effigy” of the squader has been exhibited at the Sundsvall Museum and is one of its most popular exhibits; there is also a painting donated by Dalmark.
It is noteworthy that a very similar creature, called the “rabbit-bird”, was described by the ancient Roman scientist Pliny the Elder in his Natural History. According to his description, this is a creature with the head of a rabbit and the body of a bird, which is rumored to live in the Alps.
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| A comical road sign next to the museum warns of Squaders on the road. |
The term "squader" in modern colloquial Swedish means "a bad compromise" or "a combination of conflicting elements".
"Squader" was also the name of a 1950s and 1960s hybrid bus/small truck that was widely used for small bus transport in Norrland: the front was a bus that carried passengers, while the rear was a truck. with an open body, often used to deliver milk from local farmers to nearby dairies.
Easter bunny 'dies out' in Australia
In Australia, the Easter Bunny has a competitor. This is a primordially local animal called a rabbit bandicoot, or - bilby. This year, Easter chocolate figurines of this small eared and tailed marsupial have flooded store shelves.
However, it was not without the hands of enthusiasts. The fact is that the bilby is threatened with extinction - only 600 individuals remain in the wild. And a significant role in this was played precisely by rabbits, which were once brought to Australia, and they multiplied here, making unnatural competition for representatives of the local fauna. The campaign to save the bilby unfolded on a state scale.
[David Paton, Ecologist, University of Adelaide]:
“It seems to me that using rabbits as an Easter image is simply absurd. After all, here in Australia, this is not a cute pet, but an implanted animal.
“Bilbies have been hit hard by the introduction of rabbits into Australia. This conservation program is very important.”
The bilby conservation program was sponsored by a local candy factory. She released Easter bilby figurines in place of the Easter bunny. The campaign was supported by local schools by purchasing chocolate bilbies.
An employee who takes care of a bilby at a Sydney wildlife park thinks the Easter bunny should be a thing of the past.
[Mike Drinkwater, Wildlife Park Officer]:
“The reason we want to promote the bilby as an Easter symbol is, first of all, because rabbits are considered pests in Australia. Secondly, the bilby has the same attractive properties as the rabbit. And thirdly, the bilby is a cute local animal that fights for survival. It is on the brink of extinction and we must do everything we can to support it."
In honor of Catholic Easter, park staff arranged a festive breakfast for their bilbies. Australian jumping mice joined the banquet.
one of the internet comments:"He is on the verge of extinction and we must do everything possible to support him" - namely, making chocolate figurines and eating them for Easter, this will surely save the bilby!
Bad Santa and Bandit Bunny
Traditional Easter celebrations in many Western Christian countries are accompanied by crowded parades, and rabbits can be seen everywhere at this time - in the form of balloons, soft toys on the hoods of cars and in the hands of children. Children and many adults dress up in colorful hats with rabbit ears. The shops sell Easter cards with rabbits and chocolate figurines. By the way, sometimes it turns out that the chocolate bunny was Santa in a past life. The fact is that chocolate figurines of Santa Clauses, which are not sold out before the New Year and Christmas, are sent for melting down - and by spring they turn into eared symbols of Easter. Sometimes on the label of a chocolate rabbit you can even find the inscription: "Once I was Santa Claus" ...
In general, there is no doubt about the popularity of this animal. And just the other day, the fairy-tale character also became the hero of police reports: as the German media reported, law enforcement officers carried out an operation to detain ... a cardboard Easter bunny.
On the morning of April 8, a couple of German pensioners from the city of Duisburg looked out the window and noticed a strange figure in the garden. The elderly decided that the suspicious stranger was up to something unkind and, just in case, contacted the police. When law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, they found that the vigilant pensioners took an almost two-meter Easter bunny made of cardboard for an intruder. Ushastik, who misled the couple, was taken to the police station, where the police even took a picture with him as a keepsake. At the same time, police officers noted that the rabbit chose not to comment on his appearance in the garden.
In Russia, the rabbit did not take root as an Easter symbol. Our Easter has other traditions - Easter cakes, Easter eggs (painted eggs) and larks - small buns in the form of birds. However, even at the beginning of the 20th century in pre-revolutionary Russia, colorful foreign postcards with the image of an animal bringing Easter eggs were in circulation.
Yes, also, studiouses paint eggs not only for Easter, but also on the day of release.
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| Krasnopillya. Ukraine |
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| Wall Street Blue Balls |
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| bull on the bridge over the river Bentzoul-he. China |
However, eggs are painted not only for bulls, but also for horses, and even elks ... in a sense, monuments.
Dinner decoration
According to the legends, eating hare helped to conceive sons - the successors of the family. In the early days of Christianity, however, it was strictly forbidden to serve such a roast on the table: precisely because of the "licentiousness" of the mentioned animal. But at the end of the 17th century, the Easter Bunny was finally "rehabilitated" and tirelessly brings colorful eggs to the delight of children and adults.
And the hare itself often becomes a decoration of a festive meal - in the form of a roast. Of course, not every family and not always (especially in the old days) managed to serve a roast from a real hare or rabbit on the Easter table. This is how the so-called "fake hare" appeared - a very popular dish in Germany.
From meat - to your taste - minced meat, finely chopped onion and buns soaked in milk, prepare a mixture flavored with salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg. Spread the prepared "dough" in a thick layer on a damp towel, in the middle place a layer of lightly fried carrot straws and 3-4 hard-boiled eggs. Using a towel, make a roll, put on a baking sheet, grease with a beaten raw egg, sprinkle with grated breadcrumbs and bake for about an hour and a half in the oven at 180º. Bon appetit - and happy holidays!
Although, wait! Jews were forbidden to eat a hare, the Bible (Leviticus 11:4-8) says: “Of those who chew the cud and who have a cloven hoof, you cannot eat only these: a camel, because he chews the cud, but he does not a cloven hoof, he is unclean for you; rocky hyrax, because he chews the cud, but he does not have a cloven hoof, he is unclean for you; hare because he chews the cud, but he has no cloven hoof, he is unclean for you; and a pig, because it has a cloven hoof and a gap in the hoof, but it does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. Do not eat their meat or touch their corpses. They are unclean for you." Therefore, the hare could not be used in the celebration of Easter. So, before you eat a hare, even a fake one, ask if you are a Jew!
somehow mentioned about Jesus Christ,
the main figure of Easter. 1907
In April 2018, Christian and Catholic Easter will be celebrated. In different countries, many different customs and symbolic characters are associated with this holiday.
Among all the Easter symbols, European children especially love the Easter Bunny. They are sure that on Easter the bunny hides bright, colored chocolate eggs in its nest. The fact that only good children will get sweets, kids hear from adults all year round.
This tradition came from ancient Germany from pagan times. On Easter, the kids made nests from hats and waited for the bunny to put gifts there for them. In the beginning, in some parts of Germany, other animals brought gifts, such as a fox or a cuckoo, but later in German folk legends, it was the bunny that was approved as an Easter character.
The hare was an animal carrying the lamp of the German goddess Eostre, from whose name the word Easter comes in German and English.
Easter Bunny where the tradition comes from: the symbolism of the hare in Christianity
After the transition from paganism to Christianity, many folk traditions survived, only slightly modified and taking on a fabulous direction.
One of the legends tells about the outstanding feat of a hare during the Great Flood. He plugged the hole in Noah's ark with his tail and thereby saved it from drowning.
Another interesting explanation about the connection between a hare and Easter sounds like this: earlier three hares were painted on the eggs, from the ears of which a triangle was formed. It became a symbol of the Holy Trinity, and then passed into Easter.
The following idea is taken from old translations of scriptures in the Bible. The Hebrew word "hyraxes" was translated into Latin by Saint Jerome as "bunnies". And since then, the hare began to denote a weak person seeking salvation in Christ. Rocks represent Christ here.
In addition, medieval Christian monks often drew a hare in manuscripts and correlated it with the virgin birth, since Pliny and Plutarch, in their works, considered the hare to be a hermaphrodite.
Easter bunny where tradition comes from: the first mention of a hare in records
Rabbit Easter eggs were first written about in 1682 by Professor Georg Frank von Frankenau. He tells in his treatise "De ovis paschalibus" that in Germany, parents hide colorful eggs in the grass and bushes, and then tell the children that they were laid by the Easter Bunny. Toddlers enthusiastically look for eggs, which is very amusing for adults watching the search.
76 years later, in 1758, Johann Friedrich Fuhrmann, a hunter from Germany, quite seriously made a world statement about the greatest discovery in science. The hunter said that having caught a hare, he fed him. Just before Easter in March 1756, a hare caught laying an egg the size of a chicken. The hunter was ready to take an oath to swear the veracity of his words.
Easter Bunny where the tradition comes from: Easter traditions from different countries
In many countries of the world, festive processions are held during the celebration of Easter. Vendors dressed up as bunnies line the shop counters selling postcards, chocolate bunnies and soft toys.
In our country, Easter is symbolized by a chicken, not a hare. She proudly sits near multi-colored eggs, personifying motherhood and the strength of family ties. Our Easter is the ringing of church bells, colored eggs and Easter cakes. However, no matter what different cultures choose as a festive symbol, it should be remembered that Easter is a holiday filled with bright faith in life and bringing love to the hearts of believers.
When I was little, we celebrated all church holidays, both Catholic and Orthodox. The city stood on the border and this was normal for most residents, even if there were no Catholics in the family. We had. Then we moved, a daughter was born, grew up and began to ask questions. To be honest, I'm lost. During our last trip to Europe, there was an active preparation for Easter and from all the windows we were looked at by cute chocolate muzzles, and as a gift we received chocolate eggs that the Easter rabbit brings. I had to search the Internet for answers to questions)).
The most spring, kind, bright holiday, of course, is Easter. For many, it is associated with Easter cakes, colorful eggs, and even with a rabbit. Surprised?
Let's see what it has to do with this holiday rabbit, and why does he lay eggs (yes, this is exactly what the Easter Bunny does on the eve of the holiday)?
Easter bunny (hare) is an symbol of Easter in the West, the same as in Russia and Ukraine - Easter cakes and colored eggs.
The children of Europe and America believe in the fairy tale that easter bunny hides colorful chocolate eggs in his rabbit nest. On Easter morning, kids need to find this nest to get sweets. However, the rabbit brings gifts only to good and well-mannered children, which their parents tell them about for a whole year.
How the rabbit became the symbol of Easter
Story easter bunny originates in pre-Christian Germany, when people worshiped pagan gods.
Then the goddess of spring and fertility Ostara was revered. The onset of spring, namely, the day of the vernal equinox was her holiday, and the symbol of this holiday was the rabbit as the most prolific animal, symbolizing fertility.
But why did the role of the animal that hides the eggs go to the rabbit? After all, the chicken lays eggs! It turns out that the "ordinary" chicken simply could not bear such beautiful and bright eggs. The Germans needed to come up with another fairy-tale character. There were many such characters, but it was the bunny / rabbit that took root in the role of a magical animal that lays magical eggs.
There are more legends the appearance of the easter bunny.
One of them says that during the Great Flood, when the ark was floating on the waves, it stumbled upon the top of the mountain, and a gap was formed in the bottom. And the ark would have gone to the depths, if not for the bunny, who plugged the hole with his tail. And in memory of the brave hare, fairy tales were born.
Another legend says that by carrying eggs, hares / rabbits, as it were, atone for their guilt before people for their spring raids on gardens and orchards.
But who came up with the custom of hiding colorful eggs, no one really knows. Some connoisseurs of history claim that it was Goethe himself who came up with such entertainment for his guests. Adults, together with children, looked for eggs in the garden under the bushes, and when a find was discovered under the next bush, no one doubted that it was not hens at all that laid the eggs, but hares.
And they say that the one who managed to find the egg laid by the Easter Bunny will have a happy year.
Popularity of the Magic Bunny
It is believed that easter bunny originally from Germany, because it was there that the first written mention of him was found. Together with migrants the legend of the easter bunny came to North America, and already there it became the same symbol of Easter, as in Germany.
In Munich, a museum was even opened in honor of the rabbit, which was included in the Guinness Book of Records. After all, the museum had more than 1,000 different exhibits: figurines of rabbits made of wood, porcelain, sugar, postcards, molds for making sweet rabbits, and much more.
All exhibits corresponded to their time. There were toy bunnies from the beginning of the 19th century and rabbits from the First World War dressed in military uniforms.
Unfortunately, in 2005, 5 years after the death of the founder of the museum, Manfred Claud, the museum was closed and part of the collection was sold.
Easter celebration and Easter bunnies
In many countries easter celebration accompanied by parades. People dress up as bunnies, shops sell postcards and chocolate bunnies, soft toys.
In Russia, the rabbit is not a symbol of Easter. In our country, next to the painted eggs, a chicken still sits, as a prototype of a mother who protects her chicks. She is a symbol of family and love.
Our Easter has its own traditions: Easter cakes, colored eggs, bell ringing and small buns in the form of birds - larks.
However, whatever the symbol of this holiday, one thing remains unchanged: Easter is the brightest holiday that brings happiness, warmth and kindness to the hearts of each of us.
When, if not on holidays, one especially believes in a miracle, in magic. One of the brightest, spring, good holidays is, of course, Easter. We associate it with Easter cakes, krashanka, Easter eggs. In turn, the people of Western Europe and North America cannot imagine Easter without a fabulous hare or rabbit. Why these animals? How did the tradition associated with eared ones that lay eggs come about?
The story of the Easter Bunny.
There are several legends about the appearance of a magical eared Easter animal.
- The story of this festive hero takes us to pre-Christian Germany, when people still worshiped pagan gods. Then Eostra, the goddess of the morning dawn, fertility and spring, enjoyed special honor. The hares helped carry the lamps to Eostra. It was these eared animals, as the most prolific animals, that became the symbol of this holiday. But since chickens are not capable of laying fabulously beautiful eggs, the Germans came up with a new hero for themselves - a rabbit or a hare. The first mention of fabulous hares appeared in a story published in 1680. The Easter tale tells that it is the hare that hides colorful chocolate eggs in its nest.
- Another legend testifies that during the Great Flood, the hare saved everyone from certain death. After all, when the ark hit the mountain, a gap formed in the bottom. At this time, the eared one covered it with his tail. Since then, the brave man has been honored during a bright holiday.
- Another version says that the hares are ashamed of their tricks in the spring gardens and orchards. And they want to atone for their guilt before people.
- There is also such a view on the appearance of symbolic hares. Easter is celebrated on the second (after the spring equinox) after the full moon Sunday, and hares are considered to be lunar animals.
- But I wonder who thought of assigning the laid eggs to rabbits? There is an opinion that such an idea came to Goethe himself. This is how he entertained his guests by hiding colorful eggs under the bushes. And until now, on the bright morning of Christ's Sunday, the children of Western countries are looking for a nest with treasured sweets. However, the delicacy still needs to be earned, because only the most obedient and kind will get the gift. When chocolate gifts were found, there was no doubt that these were surprises from hares or rabbits. They also believed that finding a festive egg, a person attracts good luck for the whole year.
Surprisingly, even a museum in Munich was opened in honor of such a fabulous hero. Here, figurines of rabbits made of a wide variety of materials (sugar, porcelain, wood), postcards and other fabulous exhibits were presented to the attention of a person. There were rabbits from different time periods. But unfortunately, after the death of the founder, some of the exhibits were sold, and the museum was closed.
Each holiday has its own traditions, symbols, its own magic. And even if hares - wooden, porcelain, ceramic, marzipan, chocolate, sugar - bring at least a little joy, miracle, laughter and smiles into our prosaic life. And even more so on such a bright holiday of Christ's Resurrection.