What do colored eggs and a bunny have to do with Christ?

[Bandit]

If my memory serves me these things were added by Constantine when he became solid Christian and yet did not want to give up some of the Pagan ways such as Fertility Gods. Eggs and bunnies represent fertility and the old ways and have nothing what so ever to do with Christ but yet we have taken them to be a Major part of Christianity. Why?

[madaboutharry]

1. I always thought the eggs had some connection

to the Passover seder, where a roasted egg sits on the seder plate. Wasn't the last meal Christ ate at the Passover seder?

I don't get the bunny thing though.

[Liberal Veteran]

2. Jesus's first meal when he came out of the tomb was rabbit stew and eggs.

:shrug:

[8 track mind]

26. after all it was wabbit season! n/t

[Arugula Latte]

29. Duck season!

[8 track mind]

30. (beak blown off) You're Despicable! n/t

[Arugula Latte]

31. What a maroon!

[panader0]

3. Covering this (sort of) on Sunday Morning right now

The egg as a symbol of spring, each egg a potential new life, etc. Pictures of Mary with colored eggs etc.

[Bandit]

5. Symbol of life...Fertility...

Aren't those the same thing?

[Deja Q]

10. I'd say so. And if the myths about boinking are completely true,

then we could be feeding hasenpfeffer to the peoples of the world at low low prices. :9

[LiberalFighter]

35. They are fools on that show for suggesting it is potential for new life.

A bit difficult when they are hard boiled eggs.

[SheilaT]

4. Nothing.

But the early Christian (read Catholic) Church did a good job of incorporating older or non-Christian beliefs and rituals into itself. The eggs, I think, are a fertility thing. Not so sure about the bunnies.

The probable reason that we celebrate the supposed birth of Jesus when we do is that by doing it then, some older winter solstice celebrations get pre-empted.

added on edit:
even though the Last Supper was a Passover Seder, and I know the current practice includes the egg on the seder plate, I don't know if such a thing would have been part of the seder back then, so I rather doubt there's a connection between the seder plate egg and the easter eggs. If I'm wrong, consider this an apology in advance.

[stubtoe]

47. What's more fertile than a rabbit??

Easter was co-opted by Christianity. The old fertility celebrations were a bit, shall we say, ahem, sexual. Eggs and bunnies as symbols are all that remains today.

See post #11 for info on the celebration of Oestre (which sounds suspiciously like Easter)

[amyrose2712]

6. Constantine was a good politician too

He mixed the celebrations together, as to make change and acceptance easier for the pagans.

[elocs]

7. That's the reason as well as that Jesus was not born in December

but it was used by the church as a way to help ease the entrance of former "pagans" into Christianity by rebranding one of their major celebrations, the winter solstice, into a Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus.

[Mr. Hyde]

13. I think it's more than that. I think we're all celebrating the same thing today

whether we know it or not. The sun is shining brightly today. The grass is green again. The trees are showing buds. My rhubarb is popping up. It's time to start thinking about planting my garden. I'll celebrate these things today.

[TankLV]

23. I think talking about your rhubarb popping up this morning

is best left to the privacy of your bedroom, thankyouverymuch...

[Mr. Hyde]

8. The resurrection itself represents spring, rebirth, fertility and "the old ways".

The egg and the bunny aren't really religious icons but, at the same time, on this day, they are symbols and do represent very old ideas and ways and are appropriate imo.

[Donnachaidh]

9. South Park addressed this with the Hare Club for Men episode.

yeah, smartass answer -- but they attempted something. :shrug:

[derby378]

50. So did Bill Hicks in his stand-up routine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnjFhdO90Rg

[Tesha]

11. Nothing. But they have everything to do with Eostre/Oestre, the real "reason behind the season".

Christians just stole the main seasonal-rebirth
myth and wrapped in their patriarchal, violent,
blood-soaked religion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eostre

Tesha

[NashVegas]

33. AKA, Ishtar

Yeah, baby.

[lunatica]

12. Easter predates Christianity by a long shot. It's pagan and a celebration of Spring and renewal

[Muttocracy]

14. about as much as trees with candles at the solstice does; and more marketable than a bloody cross?nt

[SidDithers]

15. What does Christ have to do with Easter?...nt

Sid

[Sal Minella]

16. The full moon is used for computing the date of Easter each year.

Since learning how the date of Easter is determined*, I've been amused that the holiest of the Christian holidays is determined by the pagan moon.
- - - - - - -
*the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.


==================================================
The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season.

The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have its origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. And were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.

The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country.
==================================================
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=what+is+the+origin+of+easter%3F&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.holidays.net%2Feaster%2Fbunny1.htm

[old mark]

17. I doubt they have any connection with christianity, but with spring.

Easter is the christian version of the spring festival - eggs, bunnies, chicks represent new growth, youth, spring, as the evergreen tree gives up a symbol of growth in the dead of winter.

Christianity is merely a recycled compillation of several older religions. Nothing in it is original.

mark

[Occam Bandage]

18. Your memory doesn't serve. Constantine had nothing to do with Easter.

Wherever it went, the Church commonly absorbed local traditions in a bid to make itself more appealing to locals.

[TankLV]

24. sounds eerily like "The Blob"...

[krabigirl]

55. Actually, he did. It was he who made it on a Sunday, for example.

He also decreed it would occur after the Vernal Equinox. It was not celebrated on Sundays prior to this time.

[msongs]

19. umm without them Easter would wither away? gotta bribe those kids with fun stuff nt

[Holly_Hobby]

20. Nothing.....

It's all a crock :)

[geckosfeet]

21. I look at it the other way - what does the idea of a christ have to with bunnies,

eggs and fertility?

[TankLV]

22. Nothing - sort of like Iraq, WMD, and Saddam to the safety of the US...

Besides - a more important point is - WHERE ARE THOSE FUCKING ORANGE CHOCOLATE "BALLS"?!?!

I WANT MY ORANGE CHOCOLATE BALLS!!!!

[saltpoint]

25. Well, it's the bunnies. They, uh, procreate at a rapid pace, by which I

mean both the act itself and in sheer numbers.

It's you know, Spring, and the green is returning to the glens and valleys and all the little bunnies are uh, motivated.

After the long cold winter months the green Spring invigorates all the bunnies. The fecund earth resurrects itself and very shortly there are even more bunnies than we started with.

That's the bunny connection.

The range of colors may have to do with the blossoms of the season. Winter is bleak and monotoned in much of the northern world and when the first crocus and daffodils bloom in Spring, why NOT color some eggs? Blue, green, red, purple, whatever.

Colored eggs assert the delight of the springtime.

[Arugula Latte]

27. Christianity ripped off old celebrations to make them more palatable.

The old things made sense -- celebrating changes in seasons, the harvest, the solstice, etc. The Xtian mythology needed a vehicle to make it more accepted. It's a lot of PR.

[MiniMe]

28. It's code for being pro-life

You know, eggs, bunnies. They want the bunny to die. Reference to the bunny is back to the 60's pregnancy test.

[mitchum]

32. Just any other instance of those skygod worshipers co opting another tradition of my people

[Generator]

34. Jesus is a time traveling bunny

Spoiler alert! I just solved LOST.

[NashVegas]

36. Subverting Pagan Holidays and Myths To Fit a Political Agenda- Easter Is Derived From Ishtar

In this case, the Ishtar myth.

In the ancient Near East, Ishtar was an important and widely worshiped mother goddess for many Semitic peoples. The Sumerians called her Inanna, and other groups of the Near East referred to her as Astarte.

A complex deity, Ishtar combined the characteristics—both good and evil—of many different goddesses. As a benevolent mother figure, she was considered the mother of gods and humans, as well as the creator of all earthly blessings. In this role, she grieved over human sorrows and served as a protector of marriage and motherhood. People also worshiped Ishtar as the goddess of sexual love and fertility. The evil side of Ishtar's nature emerged primarily in connection with war and storms. As a warrior goddess, she could make even the gods tremble in fear. As a storm goddess, she could bring rain and thunder.

Some myths say that Ishtar was the daughter of the moon god Sin and sister of the sun god Shamash. Others mention the sky god Anu, the moon god Nanna, the water god Ea, or the god Enlil, lord of the earth and the air, as her father. Most myths link her to the planet Venus.

...

The other well-known myth of Ishtar concerns her descent to the underworld and sacrifice of her husband Tammuz (also known as Dumuzi). In this story, Ishtar decided to visit the underworld, which was ruled by her sister Ereshkigal, perhaps to seize power there. Before departing, she instructed her follower Ninshubur to seek the help of the gods if she did not return.

To reach the underworld, Ishtar had to pass through seven gates and remove a symbol of her power—such as an article of clothing or a piece of jewelry—at each one. At the last gate, the goddess, naked and deprived of all her powers, met her sister Ereshkigal, who announced that Ishtar must die. She died immediately, and her corpse was hung on a stake.

Meanwhile, the god Enki learned from Ninshubur that Ishtar was missing and sent two messengers who restored her to life. However, in order to leave the underworld, Ishtar had to substitute another body for her own. The goddess offered her young husband, Tammuz, to take her place. This tale of death and rebirth was associated with fertility and linked to the seasons and agricultural cycles, much like the story of Persephone in Greek mythology.

http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ho-Iv/Ishtar.html

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

37. Isn't that what he fed the multitude with?

[MercutioATC]

38. When the Christians obliterated other cultures, they found it easier to keep the local holidays

As a happy circumstance, "Christ rising" happened on the same day the Pagans had their fertility celebration. :eyes:

[Muttocracy]

46. and he was conveniently born awful close to Saturnalia too. nt

[MercutioATC]

48. Amazing, isn't it?

I guess god really does work in mysterious ways...

:eyes:

[Toucano]

39. Who has "taken them to be a Major part of Christianity"?

I don't know any Christians who consider dyed eggs and chocolate rabbits part of their religion.

[Richard Steele]

40. If Christianity were a SPECIES, it would be the BORG.

Your culture will be assimilated.
Resistance is futile.

[Vanje]

41. Close

Rabbits and colored eggs weren't added to a Christian festival.
Jesus was added to a pagan festival.

Happy Eostre everyone!

[Lerkfish]

42. its an atheist conspiracy

(kidding)

[Kip Humphrey]

43. Spring, fertility rights. A stalwart of equal rights, we celebrate the Easter Sperm as well./nt

[madrchsod]

44. i`m waiting for may day....

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

45. It was a way of getting the pagans convert to Christianity, allowing them

their old traditions mix in with the new.

[RBInMaine]

49. Like many of the "Christmas" tradtions, these really are secular. Just have fun with it.

[Iggo]

51. This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyLQIKl97Es

[DevonRex]

52. It points out the similarities in almost all religions. Spring is the time of renewal.

So aspects of fertility are a natural fit as part of the celebration. Christ rose again, in essence was reborn.

What folks should be asking is why Christianity so closely mimics all other religions. It's not just that they had to incorporate pagan beliefs into Christianity in order to sell it. It's that almost ALL religions have similar rites and beliefs, just couched in different terms.

[leftofthedial]

53. zombies not only eat brains...

when they rise from the dead, they also eat rabbits and eggs.

In fact, rabbit and brain omelets are the perfect hangover cure, and coming back from the dead to stalk and murder the living is pretty much the ultimate hangover.

[Fireweed247]

54. Uptight Christians...

...thought it was in bad taste to slowly chew the arms,legs, ears and eyeballs off of a Chocolate Jesus?

[LWolf]

56. What does Christ have to do with Ostara?

Oh, yes. His resurrection is part of the pagan recognition of the wheel of the year, with the winter "death" and spring "rebirth."

Just like his "birth" in December, which didn't happen in December, is part of the pagan solstice celebration, welcoming the return of the sun.

Easter/Eostre/Ostara itself, like other seasonal celebrations, is older than Christ. As you noted. Christ was added to the celebration, not the other way around.

[krabigirl]

57. The bunny came from the Saxon goddess Ostara.

She would often be depicted with a rabbit for a head.

[ima_sinnic]

58. wtf??!!11! you are waging War on Easter with that question!!1!!!!!!1

where's my jesus marshmallow peep?

[Zhade]

59. That mythology has ALWAYS co-opted other mythology.

Mithras, Saturnalia, Eostre -- the list is long and bloody. Besides, it's not like jesus exists anyway (in fact, there's no conclusive evidence he ever did).

[Holly_Hobby]

60. Here ya go

[mmonk]

61. Yes, they were Pagan practices (thus nothing really to do with Jesus).

They were adopted to get more people to follow Christianity.

[KoKo]

62. Symbols of Renewal and Re-Birth...Spring...the time for

Resurrecting one's soul from the dark of Winter...the Dark of the Soul.