What do rabbits, eggs and chocolate have to do with Jesus being raised from the dead? In fact, where does the name “Easter” come from? A pagan festival observed in many areas of Europe, as well as in modern times, celebrated the awakening of the land at or near the Spring Equinox. One of the fertility goddesses associated with this time was called Ostara, or Eostre, where we get the name Easter. Being a fertility festival, symbols of fertility such as eggs and rabbits became associated with the feast. When the Christians took over and found out that the people, although willing to say that they were members of the church and to duly send in their money, weren’t excited about giving up their fertility rites, they retained a lot of the old symbolism, despite it making absolutely no sense in light of the new dominant beliefs about Jesus. No problem; since when did religion have to make sense? Chocolate? Where does that fit in? Since when did anyone need an excuse for chocolate?
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