Easter and the bunny.

Easter and the Easter Bunny, in the United States is held in large, at shopping centers saw orderly lines of parents with their small children waiting for their turn to be pictured with the "Easter Bunny", to my surprise among the some Hispanic and others, for me this celebration, the Easter´s bunny, has no religious or cultural significance, in my country Guatemala, today is big celebration, The Resurrection of Jesus, for Christians of different denominations after an intense week rich in folklore and rest.

I was amazed by the media coverage and marketing. I started asking around and beyond about the meaning of the celebration and origin, and strangely no one, nor Americans or others, could explain, then: Why celebrate? “Not need to know” side responded with some surprise.

Doing my homework about the origin of “Easter and Rabbit” celebration met the following: The celebration has ancient origins of Germanic peoples, in some countries to the festival of Passover is called "Easter”. “Easter” was originally a spring festival in honor of the Teutonic goddess “of light and spring”, who was known in Anglo-Saxon “Easter”. Even before Christ, the rabbit was a symbol of fertility associated with the Phoenician goddess “Astarte”, who also was devoting the month of April.

The eighth century Anglo-Saxon Catholics Was transferred with that name to the party celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. To justify the adoption of that party, invented the story about the origin of Easter´s rabbit, the story tells that in Jesus’ time a rabbit kept in the thumb with Jesus and witnessed the resurrection. Leaving the thumb with Jesus, is said, the rabbit have been chosen as a messenger to tells and remind to all children the good news, giving colored eggs, and now also giving chocolate eggs and other chocolate confections Easter, similar to what happens with Santa Claus at Christmas.