Although a holiday of high religious significance in the Christian faith, many traditions associated with Easter date back to pre-Christian, pagan times
Despite its significance as a Christian holy day, many of the traditions and symbols that play a key role in Easter observances actually have roots in pagan celebrations—particularly the pagan goddess Eostre—and in the Jewish holiday of
Passover.
Easter Eggs
Irrespective of denomination, there are many Easter-time traditions with roots that can be traced to non-Christian and even pagan or non-religious celebrations. Many non-Christians choose to observe these traditions while essentially ignoring the religious aspects of the celebration.
Examples of non-religious Easter traditions include Easter eggs, and related games such as egg rolling and egg decorating.
Easter Bunny
In some households, a character known as the Easter Bunny delivers candy and chocolate eggs to children on Easter Sunday morning. These candies often arrive in an Easter basket.
Notably, several Protestant Christian denominations, including Lutherans and
Quakers, have opted to formally abandon many Easter traditions, deeming them too pagan. However, many religious observers of Easter also include them in their celebrations.
Today, Easter is a commercial event as well as a religious holiday, marked by high sales for greeting cards, candies (such as Peeps, chocolate eggs and chocolate Easter bunnies) and other gifts.
Sources
McDougall, H. (2010). “The pagan roots of Easter.”
TheGuardian.com.
Sifferlin, A. (2015). “What’s the origin of the Easter bunny?”
Time.com.
Barooah, J. (2012). “Easter eggs: History, Origin, Symbolism and tradition.”
Huffington Post.
Chapman, E. and Schreiber, S. (2018). “The history behind your favorite Easter traditions.”
Goodhousekeeping.com.
