“Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength and beauty and happiness” Floyd W. Tomkins
Musings: What's With The Easter Bunny?
Musings: What's With The Easter Bunny?
Saving the Easter Bunny
A man was blissfully driving along the highway, when he saw the Easter Bunny hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the Bunny, but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of his car and was hit. The basket of eggs went flying all over the place.
The driver, being a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to see what had become of the Bunny carrying the basket. Much to his dismay, the colorful Bunny was dead. The driver felt guilty and began to cry.
A woman driving down the same highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong. Contd Below
Have you ever wondered how the Easter Bunny became part of the Easter Resurrection celebrations? Or even what started those colorful Easter egg hunts that children enjoy? According to notes on Wikipedia, the first mention of a friendly bunny bearing gifts of eggs was found in Georg Franck von Frankenau‘s De ovis paschalibus (About Easter Eggs) in 1682. It was a reference to an Alsace tradition. But how did that become so closely tied to Easter? Apparently, the hare/rabbit was popular in medieval art and it was believed that they could reproduce with losing their virginity… sort of like the immaculate conception of our Virgin Mary. And there is some relevance to rabbits and the holy trinity which didn’t fully register in my mind. It gets quite interesting as we dig deeper. Oh, do enjoy the story and jokes below… 
“Easter is all about a wise rabbit trying to steal the lead role from Jesus by using chocolate eggs to fool people.” Tewin Sham
Musings: What's With The Easter Bunny?
“I feel terrible,” he explained, “I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny and killed it. There may not be an Easter because of me. What should I do?”
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew exactly what to do. She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead Bunny, and sprayed the entire contents of the can onto the little furry animal.
Miraculously the Easter Bunny came to back life, jumped up, picked up the spilled eggs and candy, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped on down the road. 50 yards away the Easter Bunny stopped, turned around, waved and hopped on down the road another 50 yards, turned, waved, hopped another 50 yards and waved again!
The man was astonished. He said to the woman, “What in heaven’s name is in your spray can? What was it that you sprayed on the Easter Bunny?” The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said: “Hair spray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave.” Anon
Another important part of the story is that hares/rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility and new birth; birds lay eggs and rabbits/hares give birth in the early spring, solidifying their symbols as representative of fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox. Since Easter falls around the same time, the ancients made a connection between the two and hence our mutual celebration of Easter, bunny rabbits, colorful eggs and yes, chocolates… Why the chocolates? Perhaps the fact that chocolates are a popular holiday gift and a special treat that found its way into our hearts and cravings, might account for its popularity at Easter too. Come back for more. Happy Easter! More Below…
