For about 20/25 years we house swapped for our holidays with a national women's group. Living as we then did in Wigan, we went anywhere we could persuade people to come to Wigan, not normally on most people's holiday list. One spring (about 22 years ago) we achieved a swap to Alloway, Robert Burn's birthplace, where we enjoyed a lovely Easter. It was the first time we had ever seen people hunting Easter eggs in gardens, and we also went to the local church, where the minister suddenly ducked down in the pulpit and emerged wearing large pink card rabbits' ears. After the first startled giggles from his congregation, he then delivered a superb brief talk on the rabbit as symbol of resurrection. Neither we parents nor our four children, then aged 8-17, are likely to forget it. Happy Easter all! Jean > Message du 11/04/09 20:51 > De : Gpwilliamsgpw@aol.com > A : p.williams352@btinternet.com > Copie à : nottsgen-L@rootsweb.com > Objet : Re: [NTT] Easter & Rabbits - off topic > > > What is the origin of the Easter bunny? > > Like the origin of Easter, the origin of the Easter Bunny has roots that > go back to pre-Christian, Anglo-Saxon history. The holiday was originally a > pagan celebration that worshipped the goddess Eastre. She was the goddess > of fertility and springtime and her earthly symbol was the rabbit. > > Thus the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons worshipped the rabbit believing it to > be Eastre's earthly incarnation. > > When the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity, the pagan holiday, > which occurred around the same time as the Christian memorial of Jesus' > resurrection from the dead, was combined with the Christian celebration and > given the name Easter. > > Originally, there were some very pagan practices that went along with the > Easter celebration. Today, Easter is often commercialized, with all the > focus on eggs, the Easter bunny, etc. > > Because of this, many churches are starting to refer to it as Resurrection > Day. > > Graham Williams > > > > Notts Surname List > > http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hughw/notts.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NOTTSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > Jean Wood 11 impasse Pampanie chez Perineau 17610 Chaniers France Tel: 0033(0)5.46.93.38.71