At first, the custom of Easter Bunny originated from a young rabbit who came from afar. Some people generally traced it back to the child-seeking ceremony in the pre-Christian period, and others even directly linked it with Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon god. Many people think that she may be a goddess related to dawn, spring, rebirth and childbirth, and is inextricably linked with rabbits.
The only original material that mentioned this goddess is the Time Calculation written by Bede, who enjoys the title of "respectable person" in Britain, in 725 AD. At that time, pagans and Christians lived together. In his works, the church saint demonstrated the method of calculating the date of Easter, and told us that the Anglo-Saxons once called Easter "Eostur-monath", that is, "the moon of Ernst", and this lunar month corresponds to Easter month or April in the solar calendar. Bede further added that in this month, the ancient Anglo-Saxons will hold various activities to pay homage to this goddess. In his time, these activities have long been replaced by the new Christian Easter ceremony. However, Bede didn't mention rabbits. Perhaps rabbits were also associated with other pre-Christian spring festivals at that time.
Jacob, one of the linguists of the Brothers Grimm, believes that Ernest is a god related to the rising sun and sunshine, which is easily reminiscent of the concept of spring recovery and Christian resurrection. In 1835, in his monograph "German Myth" about Germanic mythology, Jacob mentioned that in ancient highland German, the word "Ostara" had the meaning of Easter very early. Both gods and festivals derive the word "Ostern" in German and the word "Easter" in English from their ancient names, both of which mean "Easter".
With the spread of Christianity, these pagan festivals and customs were also absorbed by Easter, while retaining some ancient traditions to welcome the coming of spring. But why did a rabbit become a symbol of Easter? As we mentioned above, rabbits are considered as symbols of fertility and rebirth in various fairy tales. Our ancestors may have observed the performance of rabbits during the long reproductive season. From around March, they began to show extremely excited behavior. At this time, the female rabbits were not pregnant yet, while the male rabbits were already hungry. They often suddenly kicked up their hind legs, ran around and jumped up and down ... All these make it difficult for people not to notice the hares in estrus in spring, so there is another proverb in English, "mad as a March hare", which is Alice.
Going back to Christian festivals, it is said that in the 4th century A.D., Saint-Ambrosio discovered that the fur of rabbits could change color in spring and autumn, and it was completely new every time, so he regarded it as a symbol of rebirth. Obviously, the hare mentioned by this saint is Mountain hare, whose fur is white in winter and grayish brown in summer. With the development of history, rabbits have gradually replaced rabbits in the Christian symbol system. As a symbol of fertility and prosperity, the Easter Bunny first appeared in Germany in the 14th century, which is quite consistent with the traditional symbol of eggs since ancient times. It also represents fertility, birth and spring recovery. In Latin, there is a saying that "everything begins with an egg".
In the following centuries, German and Dutch immigrants spread this custom to the United States, hence the name "Easter Bunny". Going back to Christian festivals, it is said that in the 4th century A.D., Saint-Ambrosio discovered that the fur of rabbits could change color in spring and autumn, and it was completely new every time, so he regarded it as a symbol of rebirth. Obviously, the hare mentioned by this saint is Mountain hare, whose fur is white in winter and grayish brown in summer. With the development of history, rabbits have gradually replaced rabbits in the Christian symbol system.