Egg hunts & bunny hops

Our Easter wish in 2022 is: may you find it in your heart to support connection over conflict, community over exclusion, possibility over despair, wellbeing over welfare, and equality over hierarchy.

The Week That Was: #96. Reading time: 3 min 56 sec

It’s Easter. My (Chantal) first memory of Easter was of waking up on what must have been Easter Sunday and being certain I saw the Easter bunny hop past my doorway. I must have been three. I was thrilled. I bounded out of bed and sidled into my parents’ room. There would have been one other sibling, probably lying in my mother’s arms and not old enough to really know what was going on. 

I remember being told to look for Easter eggs. As I, at first tentatively, peered under the bedspread and behind the door, I was told “Cold, cold, cold” and then with more vigour and excitement I looked more purposefully towards “Warmer, warmer, hot, hot, boiling - Yay - you found one!”  I pulled a shiny, foil covered chocolate egg out of my father’s slipper. 

There were more, hidden in the folds of the blankets, under the side table, tucked behind a cushion on a chair, and in a curl of clothes on the chest of drawers. It was thrilling and such fun and was the start of what was a long tradition that grew with the addition of each of my three siblings. I continued it with my children until they got too old for Easter eggs.

“Who gets too old for Easter eggs?” asked my son in exasperation when I announced the change. 

“You don’t eat them, I thought just getting you different chocolates and treats would be better.” 

“But we wanna hunt for them.”

I laughed, he may not have actually eaten the eggs, but the joy of hunting for the eggs and treats was something he didn’t want to lose. 

Eostre and the history of Easter

Easter, and the egg laying bunny have an interesting history. Although most of us think of Easter as a Christian tradition, it originates long before Christianity in a pagan celebration of Eostre or Ostara, the pagan goddess of dawn, light and rebirth. Eostre was honoured around the spring equinox of the northern hemisphere. The revelries focused around fertility, the creation of new life and could have even resulted in some wild orgies.

Eostre was frequently represented with hares and eggs and it is said that the hare, known for its high fertility and quick reproductive cycles was her sacred symbol. There is also a story that she entertained a group of children by turning a bird into a hare but it was still able to lay eggs.

Like so much in life and culture, the old pagan traditions were inculcated into new religious practices to entice converts and build bridges. The eggs were an easy symbol to embrace, as a symbol of rebirth, of Jesus, this time. The Easter bunny sort of followed along as the bringer of good times, Easter eggs and treats. 

Here in the southern hemisphere where we are in autumn with cooler times ahead of us, we have heartily embraced the bright, colourful eggs and chocolate bunnies with no thought of renewal, fertility and Spring festivals. Rather, the waving pink and white cosmos, the rainbow coloured eggs and foil covered bunnies tell us that we have had our summer. This is the last blast of cheer chasing make believe bunnies and gorging on treats before we face the frosts and infrequent snows, the wet winds down south and crackling dry in the north. 

We have more that connects us

Sometimes the things we do today, the habits and rituals, the traditions and festivals have links far beyond our memory or understanding. People go to war for their religions, culture and traditional ways not realising that potentially they all have the same roots.  We have more that connects us than sets us apart. 

Those in power, with something to lose, or gain, however, will drive the message of difference, scarcity and fear. We wonder whether our lockdown lives have taught us anything.

As we all take time out over the Easter weekend, we encourage you to find it in your heart to support connection over conflict, community over exclusion, possibility over despair, wellbeing over welfare, and equality over hierarchy.

Wherever you are in the world, whether you celebrate Easter or Pesach; whether you stay in town or find another view or whether you simply take the time to meet with family and friends, with some time for yourself, may it be abundant and joyful, restful and rejuvenating.  

Until next time.

Yours in feeling,
Matthew & Chantal