In my mind, Easter bunny and egg hunts are like another sign that Spring has come. I know that Easter is a Christian holiday that comes at the end of Holy Week and Lent -a 40-day period of fasting and repentance to commemorate Christ crucifixion and death-. Even so, and though my home country, Colombia, is mostly catholic, egg hunts are not much of a tradition there. Now, living in the U.S. and raising up a little one that loves egg hunts, it makes me wonder where this tradition comes from.
As from my research, I learned that historians don’t have a clear answer for that question. However, according to some theories, Easter has merged with pagan Spring celebrations in which eggs symbolize new life and thus maybe early Christians used them as a symbol of Christ resurrection.
Some people believe that the Easter egg hunt tradition comes from Germany, in the late 16th century, when Martin Luther organized egg hunts for his congregation. But it seems that the link between hares or rabbits and Easter goes back further in the past to central Europe. Apparently, hares were associated with fertility and Virgin Mary since they sometimes appeared in paintings of her and baby Jesus.
In the 19th century, in England, Queen Victoria might have helped to popularize Easter egg hunts. When she was a child, her mother -who was born in Germany- put up egg hunts for her children. Then, Queen Victoria continued this tradition with her own. Over the time, besides the traditional hard-boiled eggs, artificial and chocolate eggs began to be used too.
Nowadays, we can find not only eggs of different making, but also bunnies. They come in chocolate, plushies, ceramic to paint, and all kind of sizes, only to name some options. So, this is apparently how this tradition ended up coming to our days, when it stirs a lot of excitement and fun among kids of many countries. Hoppy Easter!!!
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