The publisher, editor, staff and contributors of the Los Angeles Blade wishes you and yours a very happy Easter 2023.

The Ancient Origins of the Easter Bunny

A scholar traces the folk figure’s history from the Neolithic era to today

By Tok Thompson | LOS ANGELES, Calif. – (The Conversation) The Easter bunny is a much-celebrated character in American Easter celebrations. On Easter Sunday, children look for hidden special treats, often chocolate Easter eggs, that the Easter bunny might have left behind.

As a folklorist, I’m aware of the origins of the long and interesting journey this mythical figure has taken from European prehistory to today.

Religious role of the hare

Easter is a celebration of spring and new life. Eggs and flowers are rather obvious symbols of female fertility, but in European traditions, the bunny, with its amazing reproductive potential, is not far behind.

In European traditions, the Easter bunny is known as the Easter hare. The symbolism of the hare has had many tantalizing ritual and religious roles down through the years.

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 B.C.E., Julius Caesar mentioned that in Britain, hares were not eaten due to their religious significance.

Caesar would likely have known that in the classical Greek tradition, hares were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Meanwhile, Aphrodite’s son Eros was often depicted carrying a hare as a symbol of unquenchable desire.

From the Greek world through the Renaissance, hares often appear as symbols of sexuality in literature and art. For example, the Virgin Mary is often shown with a white hare or rabbit, symbolizing that she overcame sexual temptation.

Hare meat and witches’ mischief

But it is in the folk traditions of England and Germany that the figure of the hare is specifically connected to Easter. Accounts from the 1600s in Germany describe children hunting for Easter eggs hidden by the Easter hare, much as in the United States today.

Written accounts from England around the same time also mention the Easter hare, particularly in terms of traditional Easter hare hunts and the eating of hare meat at Easter.

One tradition, known as the “Hare Pie Scramble,” was held at Hallaton, a village in Leicestershire, England. It involved eating a pie made with hare meat and people “scrambling” for a slice. In 1790, the local parson tried to stop the custom due to its pagan associations, but he was unsuccessful, and the custom continues in that village until this day.

The eating of the hare may have been associated with various longstanding folk traditions of scaring away witches at Easter. Throughout northern Europe, folk traditions record a strong belief that witches would often take the form of a hare, usually for causing mischief such as stealing milk from neighbors’ cows. Witches in medieval Europe were said to be able to suck out the life energy of others, making them ill.

The idea that the witches of winter should be banished at Easter is a common European folk motif appearing in several festivities and rituals. The spring equinox, with its promise of new life, was held symbolically in opposition to the life-draining activities of witches and winter.

This idea provides the underlying rationale behind various festivities and rituals, such as the Osterfeuer, or Easter Fire, a celebration in Germany involving large outdoor bonfires meant to scare away witches. In Sweden, popular folklore states that at Easter, the witches all fly away on their broomsticks to feast and dance with the devil on the legendary island of Blåkulla, in the Baltic Sea.

Pagan origins

In 1835, the folklorist Jacob Grimm, one of the famous team of the fairy tale Brothers Grimm, argued that the Easter hare was connected to a goddess he imagined would have been called “Ostara” in ancient German. He derived this name from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, who Bede, an early medieval monk considered to be the father of English history, mentioned in 731 C.E.

Bede noted that in eighth-century England, the month of April was called Eosturmonath, or Eostre Month, after the goddess Eostre. He wrote that a pagan festival of spring in the name of the goddess had become assimilated into the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

While most European languages refer to the Christian holiday with names that come from the Jewish holiday of Passover, such as Pâques in French or Påsk in Swedish, German and English languages retain this older, non-biblical word: Easter.

Recent archaeological research appears to confirm the worship of Eostre in parts of England and Germany, with the hare as her main symbol. The Easter bunny therefore seems to recall these pre-Christian celebrations of spring, heralded by the vernal equinox and personified by the goddess Eostre.

After a long, cold, northern winter, it seems natural enough for people to celebrate themes of resurrection and rebirth. The flowers are blooming, birds are laying eggs and baby bunnies are hopping about.

As new life emerges in spring, the Easter bunny hops back once again, providing a longstanding cultural symbol to remind us of the cycles and stages of our own lives.

Tok Thompson is an anthropologist at the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2017, he was the editor for Western Folklore. Recent books include The Truth of Myth, a textbook for World Mythology (with Gregory Schrempp) and a casebook entitled Posthuman Folklore.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

LOS ANGELES – International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific.

Please join the publisher, editor, and staff of the Los Angeles Blade in honoring all women everywhere on this day, especially transgender women who are currently waging a literal war for survival across the globe.

International Women’s Day 2023 campaign theme: #EmbraceEquity

For International Women’s Day and beyond, let’s all fully #EmbraceEquity.

Equity isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.

A focus on gender equity needs to be part of every society’s DNA.

And it’s critical to understand the difference between equity and equality.

The aim of the IWD 2023 #EmbraceEquity campaign theme is to get the world talking about Why equal opportunities aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action. 

Read more about this here.

The White House issued a statement from President Joe Biden marking celebration of International Women’s Day:

International Women’s Day honors a truth we live every day—that women and girls are essential to success and progress in every aspect of our society. Promoting opportunities for women and girls strengthens security, stability, and prosperity for everyone. And we know that we cannot solve any of the great global challenges of our time if half the population is left behind. So today, as we celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of women and girls around the world, we also reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that all people can reach their full potential. 

Despite decades of progress, in far too many places around the world, the rights of women and girls are still under attack, holding back entire communities. We see it in Afghanistan, where the Taliban bars women and girls from attending school and pursuing employment. We see it in Iran, where the regime is brutally repressing the voices of women who are courageously standing up for their freedom. And in the face of Russia’s vicious and unjust invasion of Ukraine, including the use of rape as a weapon of war, we see countless stories of women bravely fighting for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Ukrainians.

The United States stands with women and girls around the world in the critical work of protecting and advancing human rights. My Administration is working with dedicated partners and local communities in every part of the world to expand economic security for women and girls, defend access to health care—including reproductive health care—safeguard women’s political participation and human rights, and promote the full participation of women and girls in all facets of society. Through initiatives like the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, we are supporting the infrastructure of the care economy in low- and middle-income countries. We have also redoubled our commitment to eliminating gender-based violence wherever it occurs, promoting accountability for conflict-related sexual violence, and expanding protection services for women and girls in humanitarian emergences.

Here in the United States, we have made landmark investments to give families more breathing room and support women’s participation in the labor force. This includes signing into law important workplace protections for pregnant and nursing workers in the United States. And last year, I was particularly proud to sign legislation strengthening and reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and increasing VAWA funding to $700 million, the highest funding level in history. This critical legislation will advance access to services, justice, and healing for survivors.

As we continue working to implement our first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality, we are focused on lifting up the rights of women and girls through every aspect of both our foreign and domestic policy. This is a defining feature of who we are as a nation and the values we hold dear as Americans. So let us continue to strive toward a future where women have an equal seat at the table, an equal voice in shaping decisions, and an equal opportunity to contribute fully to their nations.  

LOS ANGELES – The publisher, editor and staff of the Los Angeles Blade wish all of you, your loved ones and families a safe & happy New Year’s Eve.

The LA Blade deeply appreciates your ongoing readership, comments, support and encouragement and thanks all of you for your loyal engagement and we look forward to serving you better in 2023.

Editorial Note: The Los Angeles Blade will not publish on Sunday, January 1st and will resume publication on Monday, January 2.

LOS ANGELES – The publisher, editor and staff of the Los Angeles Blade wish all of you, your loved ones and families a safe & happy Christmas holiday.

All of us deeply appreciate your ongoing readership, comments, support and encouragement and thank all of you for your loyal engagement and trust.

Editorial note: The Los Angeles Blade will not publish after 8 p.m. Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day and will resume publication Monday, December 26.

LOS ANGELES – The publisher, editor and staff of the Los Angeles Blade wish all of you, your loved ones and families a safe & happy Thanksgiving holiday.

The staff of the LA Blade is thankful for your ongoing readership, comments, support and encouragement and deeply appreciates your loyal engagement.

Editorial note: The LA Blade will not publish Thanksgiving Day and will resume publication Friday, November 25.

LOS ANGELES- The publisher, editor, and staff of the Los Angeles Blade wish all of you, our readers, a safe and Happy Labor Day 2022.

Thank you for your continuing support and patronage, we greatly appreciate it.

LOS ANGELES – The publisher, editor and staff of the Los Angeles Blade wish all of you, your loved ones and families a safe & happy July 4 holiday.

The staff of the LA Blade is thankful for your ongoing readership, comments, support, encouragement and deeply appreciates your loyal engagement.

Editorial note: The LA Blade will not publish Monday, July 4th and will resume publication Tuesday, July 5th.

LOS ANGELES – The publisher, editor, and the staff of the Los Angeles Blade wishes all of the Dads out there a very Happy Father’s Day 2022.

LOS ANGELES – The publisher, editor, and staff of the Los Angeles Blade wishes all of the ‘Moms’ out there a very Happy Mother’s Day.

LOS ANGELES – The publisher, editor and staff of the Los Angeles Blade wish all of you, your loved ones and families a safe & happy New Year’s Eve.

The LA Blade deeply appreciates your ongoing readership, comments, support and encouragement and thanks all of you for your loyal engagement and we look forward to serving you better in 2022.

Editorial Note: The Los Angeles Blade will not publish on Saturday, January 1st and will resume publication on Sunday, January 2.