I should have mentioned the Cadbury bunny & eggs
Do you take the time to appreciate the morning stillness, when you first awaken to the new day? I chose to do a new thing when I woke today, and that is to open the blinds and leave all other lights off, except for the fireplace blazing away and the illumination of my computer screen. It is currently 5:37 a.m. and I know the sun won’t rise for a while, but there is just something peaceful about the morning darkness, right before dawn. The animals are around me like I am Snow White, protecting me as we enter into a new day together. If I am lucky enough, maybe I will see a rabbit hoping around outside through the window. Yesterday, before we got more snow…. I saw one across the street. Was it Peter Cottontail marking his trail to return in a few weeks time?
A couple of days ago a friend posed a question to me and it halted me in my tracks. I had to physically stop what I was doing to think of the answer, which was bizarre on two accounts. One because it was a simple enough question and I suppose through my many concussions it just hopped out on it’s own or… two, that maybe I had always questioned her query myself - because in essence my child brain didn’t have all of the necessary components to understand the context fully at the first time hearing the tale. Have you guessed what I am nudging towards? Why is it that a bunny is associated with Easter in the Christian religion, but not only that - why does the bunny have eggs?
I laughed to myself, because I know I knew the answer way back, but did I actually know or just pretend to know? The front of Beatrix Potter’s book came up vividly in my head, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” but when opening the book within my own mind, the pages where either a bit fuzzy or blank.
A few days passed and while I was talking with my mom the question popped up in my head. So, I proceeded to ask her the question, “Why does Peter Rabbit (Cottontail) have eggs? Rabbits don’t lay eggs, obviously - so how does he get them? And why are they associated with Easter?” This brought on a good conversation and singing of “Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail. Hippity, hoppity, Easter’s on its way,” and also many good memories of the holiday spent with my paternal grandmother. Although we spoke of it, some of my answers were still not there. She mentioned something of the Pagan traditions, but didn’t go into details as she only knew a little. I had to know more as to how he came about. To the internet I go and this is what I could find.
Hares (European for rabbit/bunny) have been celebrated throughout history and are revered themselves due to the their religious significance. According to the Smithsonian, “Hares were given ritual burials alongside humans during the Neolithic age in Europe. Archaeologists have interpreted this as a religious ritual, with hares representing rebirth. Over a thousand years later, during the Iron Age, ritual burials for hares were common, and in 51 BCE., Julius Caesar mentioned that in Britain, hares were not eaten due to their religious significance.”
In the Pagan traditions, an egg is an ancient symbol of new life and has been associated with festivals celebrating Spring. Other sources say the folklorist Jacob Grimm believed that the Easter hare was connected to a Germanic goddess, Ēostre (Ostara or Eastre), of Spring. She symbolizes fertility, renewal and rebirth. It is said that she was mentioned by Bede the monk in scholarly writings of the period, stating that during Eostremonath (the old Anglo-Saxon name for April) there were festivals held in her honor. However, the writings of the goddess is far and few in-between to find true documents to source.
As to the tale of the egg-laying hare, many sources have stated it is due to German settlers bringing their traditions of “Osterhare” (Oschter Haws) to America in the 1700s. Their traditions includef making colorful nests to allow the hare to leave colorful eggs for the children, as well as what I mentioned prior. As I read further there was a source that mentioned at one point the “hare” was actually a “bird which the ancient Teutonic goddess Ostara transformed into a quadruped. For this reason the Hare, in grateful recollection of its former quality as a bird and swift messenger of the Spring-Goddess, is able to lay eggs on her festival at Eastertime. (r. Oberle’s Ueberreste gernamischen Heidentums im Christentum, 8vo, Baden-Baden, 1883, p.104.)” That is a very interesting find and makes you ponder a bit more. In Christianity the hare and eggs are symbolized with procreation, fertility and new life, as well as staying pure in the face of sexual temptation. It’s main correlation to Christianity is with Jesus and his resurrection from the tomb and this earthly realm. There were other sources that mentioned that eggs were formerly a “forbidden food during Lent,” which created the decoration to “mark the end of the period of penance and fasting.” They would celebrate by eating the decorated eggs.
It was hard to track down the many different tales, stories and history of all that was mentioned but through all of that one major theme was presented - no matter which way you look and read, they all speak of a similar crux - rebirth, renewal and fertility. Whichever way you believe in, one thing remains the same, this is the time to see the new horizon and rejoice in the knowing that renewal and rebirth are upon us. It is for only us to decide on how we would like to hippity-hoppity onto the rest of our lives. Maybe all the supposed histories of Peter Rabbit (Cottontail) and his eggs can illuminate a new dawn for you in your life. If you would like to see change in your life, you must be willing to change the things you do in a day. The change is you.
SEEKING
WONDER
BY
SAMANTHA Y OCIUS CREATIVE MEDIA
