The Easter Bunny originated with the pagan festival of Eastre, a goddess. Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons. The rabbit was her earthly symbol. Later the Germans brought the holiday of Easter with a Easter rabbit to America. The German story says a poor woman hid some brightly colored eggs in her garden. She had them as treats for children for Easter. While the children were hunting the eggs, they saw a hare in the garden. They thought that the hare had left the eggs. So every Easter, German children would make nests of leaves and branches in their gardens for the hare. The hare became a rabbit as the Easter story came to America. Now, the Easter bunny comes every Easter to bring all the children a Easter basket full of eggs and candy..

The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. We celebrate Easter, the day he rose from the dead. To remenber his death and His rebirth, then the Cross began a symbol of Easter. The Cross is a symbol of Easter because it celebrated Chirst rising from the death after his death on the Cross. In A.D. 325, the Council of Nicaea Constantine decreed that the Cross was the official symbol of Christianity.

The Lamb

Jesus is called the Lamb of God because he was sacrific to save the sins of the world. In the old testament, people would kill a lamb and offer it to God. The lamb was sacrificedso God would forgive their sins. Jesus' blood was shed so our sins will be forgiven.

The Easter Egg

Symbols and celebrations of spring were associated with Easter. One of the oldest spring symbols in the world is the egg. In ancient Europe, color eggs were given as springtime gifts. The rich gave gold-covered eggs as Easter gifts in the middle ages while the poor dyed their eggs by boiling with flowers . In early America, children still decorated their eggs by using store brought dyes.

Bonfires and Candles

The Celts, an ancient people, believed in a sun god. They believed evil spirits scared the sun god away brought winter. So every Spring, they would lit up huge bonfires to frighten away the evil spirits into releasing the sun so there could be nice weather. The lighting of bonfires are replaced by lighting of candles. The candles being lit represent the light coming to the world through Christ. The candle is also used to symbolize Christ as the light of the world.

Easter Lily

In ancient Rome, people worshipped the goddess Flora. She believed she made the flowers bloom. They celebrated the Festival of Floralia by having big parades with flower garlandsevery Spring. Easter represents the rebirth of life, Christ coming back to life again after his death on the cross. A flower is a symbol of a flower reblooming after it's winter's death. The Easter lily is popular easter flower. The easter lily was brought into the United States from Bermuda in the late 1800's. The color white is chosen to represent purity since Chirst was born pure without sin and died for our sins on the cross.

The Palm

It was a Roman custom to welcome royalty by waving palm branches. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on a donkey on Sunday before his death. The people welcomed him with palm branches and cheers. On Palm Sunday today, Christians would carry palm branches in religious parades. They make them into crosses and garlands to decorate their Church and homes.

Easter Hats

Easter symbolizing a new beginning. The tradition of wearing bonnets to church at Easter probably grew out of the excitement going to Church for the Easter Service, since Easter is on a Sunday every year in spring. In this country after the Civil War, mothers and daughters began wearing colorful flowered hats and elaborate corsages as part of the celebration. Easter and spring bonnets are usually straw. The tradition is to wear a felt hat to keep one warm in the winter. Woman wear a new straw hat as kind of a coming-out event, such as an Easter parade or church services.

Faberge Eggs

Peter Carl Faberge designed eggs from gold, silver and other precious gems. He made them for kings of Europe and czars of Russia. These eggs are priceless now. They are found only in museums and private collections now.