Easter symbols and customs have changed over time, but some have existed for centuries. While Easter is a Christian celebration of Christ's resurrection, many Easter rituals are not recorded in the Bible. The Easter bunny, the most iconic secular icon of the Christian festival, was purportedly introduced to America by German immigrants who carried legends of an egg-laying hare with them.
The practice of decorating eggs dates back to at least the 13th century, and the Easter procession is considerably older. Other recent additions to the celebration of this early springtime occasion include the consumption of Easter sweets.
Despite the fact that there is no mention in the Bible of a long-eared, short-tailed creature that roams around with colored eggs to give the well-behaved kids on Easter Sunday, the Easter bunny has become a popular image of Christianity's most well-known festival. The actual conception of this legendary creature of rabbits is unknown, but rabbits are an old symbol of fertility and new birth since they are prolific procreators.
The Easter rabbit initially arrived in the 1700s with German immigrants to America. Then they settled in Pennsylvania and brought their egg-laying ritual known as "Osterhase" or "Oschter Haws" with them. The kids spontaneously built nests for this creature to lay its colorful eggs, which happen just naturally.
The Easter morning gifts of the mythical rabbit eventually grew including chocolate gifts things and other sorts of confectionery and presents, while ornate baskets replaced nests because it is easier to distribute and looks similar to nests. Furthermore, children frequently put carrots out for the rabbit in case they became hungry after all their hopping.
Although Easter is a religious event, several of its practices, such as the use of Easter eggs, are likely derived from pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient emblem of fresh life, has long been connected with pagan spring festivities. Easter eggs are thought to depict Jesus' emergence from the tomb and resurrection from a Christian perspective.
Decorating eggs for Easter dates back to at least the 13th century. Eggs were once a banned meal during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to commemorate the end of the period of penance and fasting, then have a feast as a celebration on Easter Day.
Two prominent egg-related customs are Easter egg hunts and egg rolling. The White House Easter Egg Roll, a race in which children push painted, hard-boiled eggs over the White House grounds, is an annual event celebrated on the Monday after Easter in the United States.
The first official White House egg roll took place in 1878, under the presidency of Rutherford B. Hayes. The incident has no religious significance, however, some have interpreted it as the stone barring Jesus' tomb being rolled away, resulting in his resurrection.
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After Halloween, Easter is the second most popular confectionery festival in the United States. Chocolate eggs, which date back to early nineteenth-century Europe, are among the most popular Easter sweets. Easter eggs have long been connected with new life and the resurrection of Jesus.
The jelly bean, another egg-shaped delicacy, became associated with Easter in the 1930s (though the jelly bean's origins apparently extend all the way back to a Biblical-era concoction known as a Turkish Delight).
According to the National Confectioners Association, about 16 billion jelly beans are produced in the United States each year for Easter, enough to fill an 89-foot-high and 60-foot-wide egg. For the last decade, the marshmallow Peep, a sweet, pastel-colored delicacy, has been the best-selling non-chocolate Easter treat.
Just Born (established in 1923 by Russian immigrant Sam Born) of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, began selling Peeps in the 1950s. The original Peeps were handcrafted, marshmallow-flavored yellow chicks, but additional shapes and tastes, such as chocolate mousse bunnies, were eventually added.
The Easter Parade custom in New York City dates back to the mid-1800s when the upper crust of society would attend Easter services at several Fifth Avenue churches and then wander outside to show off their new spring dresses and hats. Ordinary people began to gather along Fifth Avenue to watch the activity.
By the mid-twentieth century, the custom had peaked, and in 1948, the iconic film "Easter Parade," starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland and featuring Irving Berlin's soundtrack, was produced. "In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills on it, you'll be the finest woman in the Easter procession," the title tune says.
The Easter Parade tradition remains in Manhattan, with Fifth Avenue closed to traffic from 49th to 57th Streets during the day. Participants frequently wear ornately designed bonnets and caps. The event has no religious significance, yet Easter processions have been a feature of Christianity from its beginnings. Other cities in America now have their own parades.
On Easter Sunday, some of the disciples noticed that the tomb where Jesus' corpse had been deposited was empty. There are more disciples encountered Jesus who had risen from the grave within the day and in the following days and weeks through.
However, others quickly refuted their claims. Initially, rumors arose about Jesus' corpse being taken by his cunning followers. Others also claimed that another person was swapped for Jesus during the crucifixion — or that He was not dead, but only drugged into a coma and subsequently secretly awakened.
Presently, a different sort of myth is proliferating, often promoted by well-meaning Christians: Jesus did not actually rise from the grave, and it makes no difference. In this interpretation, the "Resurrection" was simply the disciples recalling what Jesus had said and done throughout his life and allowing those memories to inspire them to carry on his mission.
When the Gospels are examined, however, that idea falls apart. For example, the disciples are recorded in one Gospel as being so afraid after the crucifixion that they cowered behind locked doors. Their boss had been killed in the most heinous manner conceivable. The disciples are suddenly imbued with the resolution, ready to offer their lives for Jesus Christ.
Is it possible that merely remembering Jesus might account for such a remarkable change? No, only something genuine, dramatic, and tactile, something the disciples saw and experienced, could change them from utter dread to boundless confidence. And what they saw and felt was the resurrected Jesus Christ.