The Easter Bunny is real. But it’s different than you think.

Everyone is familiar with the Easter Bunny and the holiday it is attached to: Christian Easter. After Easter Sunday church service, you go on an egg hunt for pastel-colored eggs that have been hidden around the yard. If you’re lucky, there’s a chocolate bunny and jelly beans involved as well.

However, the Easter Bunny was not originally a Christian symbol. The religious symbol of the Easter Bunny originated from the Pagan spring holiday traditions that predate Christianity.

Ostara as a Pagan spring holiday has ancient roots, but it is not itself an ancient holiday. According to Ash Elding of The Pagan Grimoire, it was popularized in the 1940s and 1950s as part of the Gardnerian Wicca tradition. However, the tradition of the goddess’s fertility and the god’s growth in the spring is, in fact, inspired by ancient cultures. 

According to some traditions, at Ostara, the goddess is the maiden, and the youthful or young horned god is emerging from the dormancy of winter. He is drawing his strength from the renewed sun and fertility of the earth. He will come to his full strength at Beltane on May 1. 

However, the Easter Bunny, or a hare, is a very prominent symbol in our culture of Easter and spring. But it isn’t an obvious association to make with the Christian celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. So how did a hare become a major, universally recognized Christian religious symbol for this particular celebration? According to Jennifer Murtoff of Britannica.com, the hare has a long history of being linked to various religious rites that predate Christianity. 

As early as roughly 10,000-3000 BCE, the hare has been found in ritual burials beside Neolithic human remains. She states that archaeologists believe that hares represented rebirth.

As Christianity grew and spread, the Pagan and Christian traditions merged. The hare became associated with the Christian holiday of the resurrection and rebirth of Christ. Hence, our modern understanding of the Christian Easter Bunny.

During the Medieval era, the hare was also regarded as a symbol of fertility, signifying the onset of spring. There is another story that dates back to the 19th century, tying the hare to this pagan tradition, linked to the Germanic goddess of spring. Said to have been transformed by the goddess from a bird into a hare, it laid colorful eggs for Ostara’s festival, laying the foundation for more modern Easter Bunny myths.

Ash Elding continues to write that there are a few things you can do to honor the ancient Pagan traditions and celebrations of Ostara. And while some geographic locations might not be enjoying the full effects of a spring thaw in March, there are still things that you can do to celebrate the longer, lighter days.

• If it is safe to do so, take a nature walk in the woods and see if there are signs of new life. Melting snow and early budding flowers and leaves are just a couple signs of approaching spring to look for and celebrate.  
• You can decorate your area or an altar using symbols of springtime such as flowers, green and yellow candles, eggs, and representations of rabbits and birds.
• You can also dye, decorate, and consume eggs.
• Spring cleaning is a great way to remove dormant energy and bring in renewed spring life.
• You can also do a balancing ritual honoring equal amounts of light and dark.
• You can drink dandelion tea. 
• And you can plant seeds for plants that attract pollinators.

So, in summary, the Easter Bunny is real. It has Pagan origins, is a real hare, and represents new life and fertility in the spring.