It began 2000 years ago with Jesus Christ who was tortured and died on the cross for our sins. This was the way the people voted to kill him. They even let a convicted murderer free. If you are religious, this is what we believe. Easter is celebrated by all Christians since Christ was risen on that day, three days after dying on the cross.

Easter was actually celebrated as a pagan festival as Spring in the northern hemisphere long before Christianity. Many of the pagan customs associated with the celebration of Spring and became absorbed within Christianity as symbols of the resurrection of Jesus.

During the Middle Ages, people began decorating eggs and eating them as a treat following mass on Easter Sunday after fasting through Lent. The custom of decorating hard-boiled eggs or blown eggs is still a very popular folk custom. Eggs, as a symbol of new life, became a common people’s explanation of the resurrection after the chill of winter.

Rabbits and hares are also associated with fertility and were symbols linked to the goddess Eostre, a Greek mythology legend. The rabbit was first mentioned in a book by a German professor of medicine Georg Franck von Frankenau published in 1722. He recalls a folklore that hares would hide the colored eggs that children hunted for, which as early as the 18th century decorated eggs were hidden in gardens for egg hunts.

Card companies like Hallmark became big by launching images of cute little rabbits and Easter eggs on cards. Big confectionery companies like Cadbury in England started manufacturing chocolate eggs. The first edible Easter bunnies made from sugared pastry were made in Germany in the 19th century.

Today, chocolate eggs and egg hunts are a popular part of Easter celebrations around the world.

Being a Christian myself I go all out attending mass at noon on Easter Sunday, then preparing a feast with spiral ham, potatoes au gratin, asparagus spears, orange jello salad and a wonderful carrot cake for dessert. My two girls would hunt for Easter eggs in their little baskets I hid in the yard. The eggs would then be collected by me and given sparingly for them to eat. This tradition has been passed on to my daughters to give to their daughters.