THE UBIQUITOUS BUNNY
(Page 2 of 7)
Be all of that as it may, there are a few
recognizable distinctions: Most hares are larger than most
rabbits and have bigger ears in proportion to body size,
and most hares have black-tipped ears while most rabbits
don't.
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Additionally, rabbit kittens (yes, odd as it seems, that's
what baby bunnies are called) are born blind, naked, and
helpless in nursery nests constructed especially for the
occasion by the expectant mother-while hare kits are born
in the open, wherever Ma happens to be at the time, and
enter the world with vision, a cozy coat of fur, and-within
a bare few minutes of birth-the ability to scamper out of
harm's way.
To bring all of this to bear on our original question,
then, Peter Cottontail-technically speaking-should never
have been honored in song as the Easter creature because
the prototypical Easter rabbit was in fact a
hare and a cottontail technically is a
rabbit (which is born without hair while hare kits
are hairy).
Quite so.
The question properly becomes, then: How in heaven's name
did anything as silly as a male, egg-laying hare
ever manage to become so closely associated with one of
Western religion's most sacred observances?
Thereupon hangs the remainder of the tale already begun.
Just as Easter for Christians honors a resurrection from
death and holds a promise of eternal life, to pre-Christian
European ancients the egg and the hare were important
symbols of the springtime rebirth of nature following the
dead zone of winter. The two traditions, sharing the same
season as they did, were bound to cross paths. To wit . . .
The egg as a symbol of fertility and birth - what could be
more appropriate?-has been traced back to the beginnings of
history in a great many cultures. The hare, likewise, was a
major symbol of fertility for many ancient peoples. In the
religious mythology of the Celts, the prolific little
creature was the loyal sidekick of Eostre, the goddess of
spring. Around the time of the vernal equinox (March 21)
each year, this unlikely couple was honored with various
pagan (earth centered) ceremonies-most of which were
intended to assure success in the coming season's
agricultural and hunting endeavors.
Thus, the Celts' springtime celebration of life's conquest
over death-with the hare and egg as symbols of this
triumph-significantly predated the arrival of Christianity
in Europe. Additionally-according to the English historian
The Venerable Bede (672-735), the word Easter
derives from the Celtic goddess Eostre, whose name means,
literally, "fertile."
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