05/04/2026
The word comes from the word or which is the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring and Fertility.
Even though Easter is a Christian holiday, the name of Anglo-Saxon origin stuck.
It is that the Christians chose the Vernal (Spring) Equinox to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ because at the same time in the Northern Hemisphere, Spring marked the coming back to of plants and trees that were gone for the winter.
I find this so very interesting and even more so that we celebrate this religious holiday nationally in Australia when it's autumn ...
The giving of eggs was also a Spring tradition in the western world pre-Christ, as eggs were seen as a sign of new life and rebirth.
It is said that the Christians adopted this tradition since the story of Easter is centered around new life and resurrection and wove this theme into the period leading up to Easter (lent) when Christians would fast or restrict the foods they could consume.
Christians would give each other eggs at the end of lent because it signified renewal of life and was a real treat and that's why eggs and Easter now go hand in hand.
And then there's the easterbunny 🐰
Which has a different origin all together.
Many believe that the Easter Bunny arrived in America in the 1700's with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania.
These people told tales of a mythic egg- laying rabbit and to celebrate his arrival - which in Europe was during Spring - children would make baskets as nests for this creature to lay it's coloured eggs.
Eventually this custom spread across the US and became a tradition of giving coloured eggs at Spring, which expanded to include sweets like chocolate and lollies.
I don't know about you but my family and community has celebrated Easter my whole life. It was only when my children starting asking me questions that I realised how unusual it is for us to be celebrating this conglomeration of ancient history at this time.
And it's so interesting to me how it has become a cultural norm and I'm not really sure anyone else around me actually knows why.
What does Easter mean to you?.🤔
