The history of the Easter holiday itself is well-known, but did you know how its most familiar secular symbols came to be?  The Easter Bunny and brightly colored Easter eggs both have their origins in pre-Christian pagan celebrations.

In many European pagan religions, the month of April was devoted to celebrating the goddess of spring and fertility (whose name was Eostre, as it happens.)  Her sacred animal was the hare, long held as a symbol of fertility and rebirth.  The colored eggs we know as Easter eggs have an even more ancient history - so ancient, in fact, that no one knows for sure when they were first associated with springtime festivals celebrating fertility.  We do know that eggs were used in Roman and Greek festivals celebrating resurrected gods.  Many scholars believe that eggs and bunnies were paired together in some religions, especially during the spring when days and nights were equal length.  The hare represented the moon goddess, while the egg was tied to the sun god; together, they were a perfect pair for spring equinox events.

In Judaism, eggs figure prominently in Passover rituals, a practice that is still important at today's seder tables. In Christianity, it's thought to be the Germans who came up with the Easter Bunny and his basket full of brightly colored eggs.  German children excitedly awaited the arrival of Oschter Haws, who laid colorful eggs in nests on Easter morning.  German immigrants brought this beloved tradition with them when they arrived in America in the 1800s.  And that's how Peter Cottontail and his ubiquitous basket of eggs became the most recognized secular symbol of Easter in this country.