Easter Customs in America, Australia and Africa

How Do We Celebrate and Why?

Easter is a time when Christians celebrate Christ giving his life to wash away our sins and when he was resurrected. In America many go to Easter morning service. Then they go home or to other family members homes to have dinner. Baskets are filled with candy and treats and given to the children. Eggs are colored and decorated and hidden for children to hunt for. It is the tradition in American that the Easter bunny is the one who brings the baskets and eggs. You may wonder how the Easter bunny is involved with a day to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

The Easter bunny we know today was influenced by German traditions dating back to the 1500s. German children believed that the Oschter Haws a magical rabbit would leave them a nest of colored eggs at Easter time if they were good. Pennsylvania Dutch settlers brought this tradition to America in the 1700s. Quite a few pagan cultures hold celebrations in the spring. It's the time of year when plants return to life after being dormant all winter and when animals mate and procreate. These festivities celebrate the renewal of life and promote the fertility of crops, animals, and even people, which was important in these communities. The Saxons believed in a maiden goddess of fertility named Eastre or Eostre (Oestre in Latin) and honored her with a spring festival. Hares and rabbits were considered sacred to Eastre because they are notoriously fertile animals.

In the second century A.D., Christian missionaries tried to convert northern European tribes. To help make Christianity attractive, the missionaries turned pagan festivals into Christian holidays. The pagan Eastre festival occurred around the same time as the Christian celebration marking Christ's resurrection so the two celebrations blended into one, rabbit and all. This is now all combined into what we celebrate in America as Easter but it is still always the celebration of Christ and his resurrection with the Easter bunny thrown in.