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A brief history of Hot Cross Buns Easter Bunnies and chocolate Easter eggs.

Easter comes near the spring equinox when the length of day and night are equal. Throughout history cultures have celebrated this as a time of rebirth and renewal.

Modern symbols of Easter such as the egg and bunnies have their origins in paganism. Rabbits a symbol of fertility and the egg a start of all life.

Christian Easter falls on the time of the Jewish festival of Passover, which commemorates the freedom and exodus of the Israelites (jews held as slaves) from Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II.

Early Christians some from Jewish origin were influenced by stories of the coming of the Messiah as foretold by Jewish prophets and integrated the Christian Easter with the existing festival.

The date of Easter isn’t fixed but always falls on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox, making it any time between March 22 and April 25.

At the feast of Eostre, the pagan Saxon fertility goddess, an ox would be sacrificed and it’s crossed horns became the symbol of the season carved into bread. This was the origin of today’s Hot Cross Buns.

The symbols of the Norse goddess Ostara were the hare and the egg, both representing fertility. The symbol of the goddess Oestre was also a rabbit, a symbol of new life. Historians believe the Easter Bunny originated in Germany before surfacing in the 17th century in the New World.

Easter eggs have been a symbol of rebirth for centuries, long before Christianity. Colouring eggs was popular in the Middle Ages and throughout Europe different cultures have evolved their own styles and colours.

Edward I’s household accounts for 1307 has an entry of Easter eggs.

The first Faberge’ eggs were made as an Easter gift for Empress Marie of Russian from her husband Tsar Alexander in 1883.

The chocolate Easter egg developed from a simple type wrapped in paper to the beribboned variety wrapped in brightest foil and packed in a box or basket.

The first chocolate eggs were made in Europe in the early 19th Century in France and Germany.

A press to make modern chocolate Easter eggs was invented by Dutch inventor Van Houten in 1828 and the introduction of pure cocoa chocolate by Cadbury brothers in 1866.