6 Interesting Facts About Easter
Ah, Easter! The time of year when we eagerly anticipate the arrival of a certain bunny, who’s supposedly in the chocolate delivery business.
But let’s hop past the fluffy tail and dive into the burrow to unearth some freaky facts About Easter that might just have you looking at your chocolate-filled basket a bit differently this year.
The Easter Bunny Was Once a Judge of Character
Yes, you read that right.
Our beloved chocolate-delivering mammal wasn’t always just about the sweets. Originally, the Easter Bunny, or “Osterhase” in German folklore, was a judge of sorts, deciding whether children were good or bad at the start of Eastertide.
Think of him as the Santa Claus of spring, but instead of coal, the naughty kids would get… well, probably still chocolate, because who can stay mad at Easter?
Easter Island’s Mysterious Connection
Easter Island, known for its enigmatic moai statues, actually has nothing to do with Easter… or does it?
Named by Dutch explorer, Jacob Roggeveen, who landed there on Easter Sunday in 1722, it’s a bit of a misnomer that’s led to some awkward conversations.
So, where do the bunnies fit in with the giant stone heads?”
Sadly, they don’t.
Easter and The Full Moon: A Celestial Dance
You might’ve noticed that Easter doesn’t have a fixed date and instead, moonwalks across March and April.
That’s because Easter Sunday is determined by a celestial event – the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.
If that sounds like a scheduling nightmare, imagine how the Easter Bunny feels trying to sync his watch with the moon.
The Great Easter Egg Roll Tradition
What do you get when you combine the White House lawn, a bunch of kids, and some eggs?
The White House Easter Egg Roll!
This quirky tradition was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878, because apparently, rolling eggs down a hill is the presidential way to celebrate Easter.
It’s all fun and games until someone has to explain to the Secret Service why there are yolks in the Rose Garden.
The World's Most Expensive Easter Egg
Forget your garden variety Cadbury’s; the real MVP of Easter eggs is the “Winter Egg” created by Fabergé in 1913, which fetched a cool $9.6 million at a 2002 auction.
With that kind of money, you could buy approximately 2.4 million Cadbury’s Creme Eggs, give or take a few hundred thousand.
Egg-Decorating: An Art Older Than You Think
The tradition of decorating eggs for Easter is ancient, predating Christian practices.
Decorated ostrich eggs, 60,000 years old, have been found in Africa. Fast forward to modern times, and we’re still here, trying to figure out how to dye eggs without turning our kitchen into a Jackson Pollock painting.
There we go with some freaky facts about Easter that are as bizarre as they are true.
Whether you’re in it for the chocolate, the egg rolling, or the ancient traditions, one thing’s for sure: Easter is more than just a hare-raising holiday.
