The Easter bunny and the hunting of Chocolate Eggs is the common way of celebrating this occasion in the United States. However, in other countries, the celebration of Easter may come in different and sometimes peculiar forms.
History of Easter celebrations
Basically, the story of Easter comes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, three days after his death on the cross. Predominantly Christian countries celebrate this event with a worship service and regard it as a holy day. However, there are countries that add more flare to this religious occasion.
Countries like the Philippines hang an effigy of Judas from a tree and burn it before sunrise. Others celebrate the event by preparing breakfast, a choice meal consisting of pastries and other delectable snacks.
Resurrection to bunnies and chocolate eggs
There is no direct historical data on how exactly the resurrection story slowly became a hunt for chocolate eggs. The Easter bunny is not stated in Bible and the mystery of how eggs came into this religious occasion is not known. However, there are theories that the Easter celebration is linked to an old pagan festival of fertility.
When the Roman empire adopted Christianity, it tried to integrate the new religion with the older pagan rituals.
It has become a tradition for Christian Romans to adopt pagan festivals, transforming them into Christian holidays and Easter is one of these pagan holidays.
Easter celebrations was once all about fertility
A far cry from the solemn Christian holiday today, Easter was once all about fertility and sex. According to recent studies, the word Easter came from Eostre, a pagan festival in Germany that celebrated the goddess of fertility, which was symbolized by a bunny.
This is also the reason why Playboy uses a bunny symbol.
The eggs on the other hand also celebrate rebirth and fertility and these two became part of the celebration of Easter. Chocolate eggs and bunnies were introduced during the 17th century and the tradition was born. Today, Easter is among the most celebrated holidays in the world and is one of the major holidays observed in the United States.
The Biblical narrative of Easter
The religious story behind Easter is found in the four gospels in the Bible. After Jesus died on the cross, Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus and buried it in his own tomb. After three days, Jesus miraculously was resurrected and went to heaven a few days after.
Though a Christian holiday, Easter celebrates life, the renewal of it and hope. That despite the dire situation of the world, there is still hope that everything will still be better and everyone will finally come together and celebrate life anew.
