Many a child has asked its parent why there is the association of eggs and rabbits with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and many parents are lost as to how to answer it appropriately.
In truth, the symbolism of the egg, the rabbit, and many of the other images surrounding Easter are as significant to the Christian faith as they were to the pagans of ancient times who first revered them.
Recognition of the Spring Equinox
The primary purpose of Easter and its most direct holiday relative, Ostara, is the celebration of the Spring Equinox, a day that marks the beginning of spring and the planting season. Just as the Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and the Winter Solstice is the longest night, the Equinoxes are moments when day and night are considered in balance. Officially, March 20th or so is considered the Vernal Equinox and September 23rd or so is considered the Autumnal Equinox. The actual date varies slightly from year to year.
Springtime is symbolic of the apparent rebirth of the world after the long darkness and seemingly lifelessness of winter, and so images and items that represent rebirth – or birth in general – are contemplated during this time.
Eggs are symbolic of birth and are therefore associated with the spring in this regard, as they are especially mysterious and have often represented the origin of the universe. Because of the need to rejuvenate the fertility of the earth, the rabbit – a very fertile creature, indeed – is revered as a blessing for many children and rich crop yield in the coming year.
Appropriation of Resurrection Mythologies
In the earliest days of Christianity, the lessons of Yeshua of Aramathea (later known as Jesus Christ) were considered life-changing ideals, but in order to be observed officially in a political sense, the forefathers and molding forces of the Church appropriated the mythologies of other popular pagan deities of the times in order to validate the word of a Prophet as the Word of God.
To this end, they saw Jesus as a kind of resurrection deity himself, especially since he spoke of eternal life after death. They used the structure of the Attis mythology and also the Mithras mythology – both rebirth and sun gods – as the outline for what would become the Jesus mythology. Archaeologically, there is little evidence to support that the people directly contemporary of Jesus witnessed any kind of resurrection, but the mythology that was created helped to define the tenets of the early Church used this vehicle very well to demonstrate the infinity of Divine Love.
The word "Easter" itself may come from any of a variety of different sources, including being an alternate spelling for Ostara, the dawn-rebirth goddess, to being another derivation of "Alba" to mean both "white" and "sunrise," the latter meaning of it translating as Eostre.
Easter and Spring Mythology and What This Means for Christians
Having the mythological foundation of one’s faith questioned is a difficult position to be in, but for many Christians, learning the truth about the origin of such important celebrations as Easter can actually be used to bolster faith. In accepting that the Christ’s Resurrection is actually a parable and a metaphor can lead to a deeper understanding of what Jesus was attempting to convey in the first place: that God’s love is infinite and unconditional, and that there is no loss of life where one has chosen to walk with God.
In much the same way that the story of Noah can be interpreted as a parable for the recovery of an alcoholic from addiction with the assistance of God, so too can the story of the Resurrection of Christ be interpreted as an invitation to enjoy the rebirth and fertility of spirituality in life.
Sources:
 |
 |
