Have you ever wondered why we give out Easter baskets and what they represent? The Christmas season wouldn’t be the same without them. Wicker baskets have been a traditional springtime gift from parents to children since the dawn of time. Why do we link them with Easter, and how did it begin?

Pagan Origins

Easter is a Christian festival commemorating the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The celebration occurs in the spring, a time of rebirth and fresh beginnings. Easter baskets originated in pagan traditions before being appropriated by Christians. Because of how near Easter is timed to the spring equinox, many Christian customs have to be rethought. The Easter Baskets are most important parts here.

As the fertility and motherhood deity of the Germanic peoples, she is an important cultural figure.

The springtime use of baskets was associated with the Germanic fertility goddess Eostre, who was said to have blessed the harvest. When worshippers came to her shrine, they often brought baskets full of young plants as offerings. If the seedlings met her approval, she would do all in her power to ensure a successful harvest.

Baskets and Their Significance

Eostre was often shown with a basket of eggs, a symbol of fertility, to encourage births. As a consequence of its proximity to other symbols of rebirth, such seedlings and eggs, baskets came to stand for a fresh start. They held on to their customs even when a larger percentage of the population converted to Christianity. This reasoning is largely responsible for the continuation of the tradition of giving gift baskets full of delicacies on this day.

The Easter Bunny

Eostre, the goddess of spring, was associated with the rabbit or hare in Germanic mythology. Traditionally, the Easter Bunny would visit children on the evening before Easter to give them their Easter baskets. The tradition of the “Easter Hare” was brought to the New World by German immigrants and quickly embraced by the locals. Along with the Easter buckets this is also important part.

For What Reason Should We Combine Efforts?

It was the belief of the early Christians that many of the long-standing traditions should be modernised that gave rise to the Christian movement. They hoped that people might be drawn to Christianity as a result of their actions. They worried that even if they made it illegal for individuals to practise the old rituals, many would ignore the law and go on with their old religion anyhow. Therefore, many customs originally associated with the spring equinox were embedded in the Easter celebration. The Easter Bunny, along with other customs and traditions such as the usage of coloured eggs and baskets, developed through time.