Religious Education Update: March 18, 2007
Why does the Easter Bunny lay eggs?
Our UUP children are growing up in a country that is predominantly Christian, but which celebrates its major holidays with pagan festivals. Sometimes people notice this contradiction, and will object. They will say, “Let’s put the Christ back in Christmas”, while objecting to secular merrymaking. But most Americans just accept the apparent inconsistencies. We celebrate Christmas by decorating an evergreen tree in our living rooms. Easter festivities include a very unusual bunny who lays colored eggs. The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day features leprechauns and pots of gold.
So, why does the Easter Bunny lay eggs, anyway?
Long ago, according to pagan legend, there was a goddess Eostara who rescued a nearly frozen baby bird who was lost in the snow. She brought the bird back to health, but she wasn’t able to save its wings. The goddess knew that the bird would be unhappy because it couldn’t fly, so she changed it to a bunny who retained the ability to lay eggs.
When the early Christians were trying to make their religion more acceptable to former pagans, they borrowed Eostara’s name for their springtime festival of Easter. The little bird that she saved and transformed became the Easter Bunny. This bunny would leave colored eggs and other goodies to reward well-behaved children.
The pagan religions developed far, far earlier than the major world religions of the modern world. They predate Christianity, Islam, Judaism and others by up to 10.000 years. These faiths tend to focus on the natural world, polytheism, and folktales which explain religious practice. The early traditions of these believers live on in our holidays of Halloween, Christmas, Easter and others.
Today we will talk about the Spring Equinox in RE and the pagan holiday Ostara. The children will hear about the legend of the nearly frozen bird who became a bunny. We will learn about how men and women long ago celebrated the new life and growth in Spring, just modern Petalumans appreciate warm Spring days and the beautiful flowers this month.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
Our UUP children are growing up in a country that is predominantly Christian, but which celebrates its major holidays with pagan festivals. Sometimes people notice this contradiction, and will object. They will say, “Let’s put the Christ back in Christmas”, while objecting to secular merrymaking. But most Americans just accept the apparent inconsistencies. We celebrate Christmas by decorating an evergreen tree in our living rooms. Easter festivities include a very unusual bunny who lays colored eggs. The celebration of St. Patrick’s Day features leprechauns and pots of gold.
So, why does the Easter Bunny lay eggs, anyway?
Long ago, according to pagan legend, there was a goddess Eostara who rescued a nearly frozen baby bird who was lost in the snow. She brought the bird back to health, but she wasn’t able to save its wings. The goddess knew that the bird would be unhappy because it couldn’t fly, so she changed it to a bunny who retained the ability to lay eggs.
When the early Christians were trying to make their religion more acceptable to former pagans, they borrowed Eostara’s name for their springtime festival of Easter. The little bird that she saved and transformed became the Easter Bunny. This bunny would leave colored eggs and other goodies to reward well-behaved children.
The pagan religions developed far, far earlier than the major world religions of the modern world. They predate Christianity, Islam, Judaism and others by up to 10.000 years. These faiths tend to focus on the natural world, polytheism, and folktales which explain religious practice. The early traditions of these believers live on in our holidays of Halloween, Christmas, Easter and others.
Today we will talk about the Spring Equinox in RE and the pagan holiday Ostara. The children will hear about the legend of the nearly frozen bird who became a bunny. We will learn about how men and women long ago celebrated the new life and growth in Spring, just modern Petalumans appreciate warm Spring days and the beautiful flowers this month.
Marlene Abel
Director of Religious Education
posted by Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma @ 8:20 PM
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