The Fertile Rabbit-

As with many holidays I will attempt to explore some it's lesser known factoids. Such as; why an egg laying rabbit on a day the Christian faith celebrates ressurection.
Here is what I have come up with:
Let's start at the name of the day- Easter- which is actually created from the name Eastre; who happens to be a pagan Saxon goddess. Eastre (or Eostre) is the Teutonic godess of Spring, Fertility, and Dawn. All elements that happen to be cyclical, pertaining to rebirth. Hmmm. The goddess Eastre was celebrated during the Vernal Equinox (I have more for you on the Vernal Equinox come Tuesday)(the Vernal Equinox marks the first day of Spring.) She was a such an important figure to the Teutonic people that the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox was given her name: Eastre. Now, why the full moon Sunday correlation?
Well, apparently, the full moon was a symbol of her impregnation by the Sun God (her husband.) Which in turn, represented the oncoming Spring, a fertile season with bountiful crops and substance for life. Now, how do we get to the egg laying rabbit? Eastre's symbols were none other than the hare and the egg- each representing fertility and in some ways rebirth which begins to tie up the loose ends as to how we got where we are at today. As far as painting easter eggs...this is a long standing pagan tradition from ancient Greece, Persia, and Egypt.
Now, lets pull all these loose clues together- switch around the name of a pagan goddess from Eastre to Easter and move the spot light to a new religion and viola! We get a rabbit that lays painted eggs in sweet hiding places on a day that now represents resurrection.
That's all I have for you tonight. The Roots will be hanging our Atlanta exhibition tomorrow- Thank you Bird, PRB, At. and JGD. I finished a small mixed media piece this morning that may lead to a new body of work. To early to say, but the piece has been on my mind throughout the day which is a good sign.
Let me leave you with the this:
Former Exxon CEO Lee Raymond's lump sum retirement payout option is 98.4 Million dollars plus his night club memberships and private use of the company jet. Wow! Talk about Cha-ching and $3 a gallon at the pump!