From: USA WEEKEND - April 7-9, 2006
By: Contributing Editor Kenneth C. Davis, latest book is Don't Know Much About Mythology

A BASKET FULL of chocolate eggs, marzipan chicks, marshmallow bunnies and jelly beans is a common sight we associate with Easter. But the day on which Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus is not just another excuse for candy: It's the most significant event on the church calendar.

Even though many Christians around the globe don't call it Easter — and some don't celebrate it on the same day — the traditions of painted eggs, special foods and family dinners are Easter staples everywhere. Yet most of the symbols and rituals of this festive day have nothing to do with Jesus. In fact, they come from an earlier time, before Christianity was born. So, where did all these pretty eggs, chocolate bunnies and Easter parades come from? Here's a primer on their origins.

The word "Easter"
The English name for this holy day has long been linked to the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, usually called "Eostre" or "Ostara." Also known as a pagan goddess of dawn, Eostre is a deity whose name is connected to the word "east" — where, obviously, the sun rises.

But in most other languages, the holiday's name (such as Pascua, in Spanish) is related to the Hebrew word Pesach, for Passover, which commemorates the exodus of the Jews, led by Moses, from Egypt. In the gospels, Jesus' last days take place during Passover, and early Christians linked the Easter celebration to Passover.

While the connection between Passover and Easter may not be disputed, the date of Easter has been the subject of controversy for centuries. Western Christians now fix the holiday on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox, which usually is March 20 or 21. (This year Easter is on April 16.) Orthodox Christians use a different calculation to set the holiday.

This link between the moon and spring's arrival is no accident. Most ancient farmers viewed the vernal equinox as a time of renewal, when they planted their first crops and sheep gave birth. And centuries ago, Pope Gregory I allowed people to keep pagan Anglo-Saxon pringtime symbols, such as eggs, if they were recast in Christian terms. Ever since, many Easter traditions relate to the ancient notion that spring is a season of new life — an idea that Christians tied to the resurrection of Jesus.

Easter eggs
According to Anglo-Saxon myth, the goddess Ostara changed her favorite pet bird into a rabbit to amuse some children. The rabbit produced brightly colored eggs, which the goddess gave to the kids. In Germany, that tradition carried into Christian times with the tale of a Santa-like magical rabbit, Osterhase, who leaves colored eggs for good children.

Many cultures, including the Hindu and Chinese, regard the egg as a symbol of the universe and creation, and eggs were fertility symbols for numerous early civilizations. People dyed and exchanged eggs during spring festivals in ancient Persia, Rome and other cultures. In Christian times, the eggs took on new meaning because they were forbidden during Lent — the 40 days preceding Easter — but they could be eaten after the holiday arrived. From eggs, it's a short leap to the symbol of newborn chicks, who represent new life by breaking out of their symbolic "tombs."

In America, the tradition of hunting for hidden eggs became the Easter Egg Roll, popular by the late 1800s, when children rolled eggs on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. Unhappy with the ensuing mess, Congress outlawed the practice on its grounds. In 1878, President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy, invited children to roll eggs on the White House lawn, beginning a tradition that continues today.

Easter parade
New York City's famed promenade down Fifth Avenue caught on during the Civil War era, but its roots are much older. By early Christian times, Easter was the season for baptisms, and converts wore brand-new white robes to symbolize their new lives as Christians. By the Middle Ages, it became popular to take a long walk in one's new clothes after Easter Mass.

Like new clothing, songs are part of this holiday's traditions. Easter's most famous popular song is the work of Israel Baline, a Russian-born Jew who became famous as Irving Berlin and wrote Easter Parade in 1933. The song inspired the 1948 film of the same name starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland.

Bunnies
Ostara's magical rabbit was not unique, as many pagans viewed rabbits as symbols of the ability to reproduce plentifully. But to be precise, the hare was the true symbol. Longer-eared than their rabbit relatives, young hares are born active, with eyes open, and many cultures revered them as fertility symbols.