IT IS NOW officially spring. The first day of spring is the vernal equinox, a day when the sun is directly above the earth’s equator, that imaginary line around our planet’s centermost point.

From ancient times through the present, springtime is an occasion for celebrations and ceremonies. The winter has passed. The cold has subsided. Trees and other plants are showing their buds. Flowers are in abundance. Animals are breeding and pollen carries the reproductive future of trees and other plants. Bees do their part to spread the pollen.

Ancient humans traced the movement of the stars and other celestial bodies in the night skies, and measured the sun’s daily, seasonal and annual movements. The sun was life giving, and after a cold winter, humans longed for the warmth and energy of our planetary system’s lone star. It is no surprise that ancient cultures often romanticized and even worshipped the sun, the moon, and the stars that lit up their skies.

The vernal equinox marked the official end of winter and the official beginning of spring. It was therefore a time marked for celebration. If you’ve ever wondered what bunnies and eggs have to do with Easter, a look at ancient rituals celebrating spring’s onset will enlighten you.

THE RABBIT has long been a symbol of fertility, and the breeding of rabbits and other animals follow the arrival of spring. Bunnies became an icon used by ancient cultures to celebrate the coming of spring, and the new crop of animals it harkened. These ancient people survived because spring brought life-giving warmth, energy, and consumable food in the form of newly grown grains, fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables and newly born animals.

The egg is a symbol of birth, fertility and renewal of life. It was also used in ancient times for the springtime celebrations, the marking of the spring equinox. The egg hunt is likely based upon the original egg hunts undertaken in spring time, when people would actually hunt and find nests containing eggs. Bird eggs come in many different colors, and the practice followed of coloring eggs. This practice is found in many diverse cultures, including some which are not Christian.

How did the bunny and egg practices become part of our Easter celebration? As most have noted, they have absolutely nothing to do with the trial, crucifixion, or resurrection of Jesus. The answer lies in the establishment of Christianity in France and England many centuries ago.

THE WORD Easter derives from a pagan goddess named Eastre, of Saxon origin. Among the Germanic tribes in the Saxon heritage, Eastre was a goddess of dawn, springtime and fertility. She was worshipped or celebrated during the vernal equinox, marking the coming of spring.

As Christianity was brought to the British Isles and modern-day France, the church found it convenient to attach church holidays to the pagan celebrations of those regions. Rather than resist the spring celebrations the pagans had long practiced, the church incorporated them into the church’s own celebration of the trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The rebirth of spring theme fit well with the theme of rebirth through resurrection which the church advanced.

Even the name of the pagan goddess was used to designate the church’s celebration of the trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Easter became the day to celebrate both the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of the earth. The bunny and the egg hunt became a part of the crucifixion and resurrection celebration in order to help sell Christianity to pagans in the Roman Empire.

The next time someone asks you what bunnies or eggs have to do with Easter, now you can tell them.

© 2009, Pappy Moore, All Rights Reserved.

Pappy Moore is a humorist, a native son of East Texas who still makes the piney woods his home.

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