The hare is also an ancient symbol for the moon.  The date of Easter depends on the moon.  This may have helped the hare to be absorbed into Easter celebrations.

The hare or rabbit’s burrow helped the animal’s adoption as part of Easter celebrations.  Believers saw the rabbit coming out of its underground home as a symbol for Jesus coming out of the tomb.  Perhaps this was another case of taking a pre-existing symbol and giving it Christian meaning.

The Easter hare came to America with German immigrants, and the hare’s role passed to the common American rabbit.  Originally children made nests for the rabbit in hats, bonnets, or fancy paper boxes, rather than the baskets of today.  Once the children finished their nests, they put them in a secluded spot to keep from frightening the shy rabbit.  The appealing nests full of colored eggs probably helped the customs to spread.

Back in Southern Germany, the first pastry and candy Easter bunnies became popular at the beginning of the nineteenth century.  This custom also crossed the Atlantic, and children still eat candy rabbits – particularly chocolate ones – at Easter.

Easter Eggs

Next to the Easter bunny, the most familiar symbol is the Easter egg.  Like others, the egg has a long pre-Christian history.  Again there’s no certainty as to why it became associated with Easter. 

Many Ancient cultures viewed eggs as a symbol of life.  Hindus, Egyptians, Persians, and Phoenicians believed the world begun with an enormous egg.  The Persians, Greeks, and Chinese gave gifts of eggs during spring festivals in celebration of new life all around them.  Other sources say people ate dyed eggs at spring festivals in Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome.  In ancient Druid lore, the eggs of serpents were sacred and stood for life.