Spring Time Legends & Lore
Hare
The Easter Bunny is of German origin. He shows up in 16th century literature as a deliverer of eggs, in his own way a springtime St. Nicholas bent on rewarding the good.
In Celtic mythology and folklore the hare has links to the mysterious Otherworld of the supernatural.
The Celts believed that the goddess Eostre's favourite animal and attendant spirit was the hare.
Many Buddhist and Hindu texts describe the hare as a creature of fire, but not just any fire, the same consuming sacrificial fire of the phoenix, then to rise again out of the ashes.
To the Romans, the hare is an emblem of fertility, abundance, sexuality, lust, rampant growth and excess.
Eggs
Eggs have forever been associated with spring time. Ancient Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Gauls, and Chinese all embraced the egg as a symbol of the universe.
Druids buried eggs dyed red, the color of menstrual blood, in freshly plowed fields to draw the goddess of spring from her slumber and to ensure abundance and fertility for the year.
In Egypt and Persia eggs were decorated at the beginning of the year. The decorated eggs were exchanged at the equinox, the eggs symbolizing creation and fertility.
Early humans thought the return of the sun from winter darkness was an annual miracle, and saw the egg as a natural wonder and proof of the renewal of life.
As Christianity spread, the egg was adopted as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection from the tomb. Hardboiled eggs were dyed red in memory of Christ’s blood, then given to children as a talisman to preserve their health over the ensuing twelve months.
Pace eggs are kept year-round in British households for luck.
The protective qualities of the scarlet-dyed egg are still invoked in parts of Europe to guard fields and vineyards from lightning and hail, one is usually buried on the property for that purpose
According to European superstition, once an egg is consumed, its shell must be broken up lest a witch use it to gain power over the person who ate from it. A witch might also make a boat from an intact shell, then set sail in it and wreck ships at sea. Discarded eggshells should never be burned because doing so will cause the hens to cease to lay.
Spring Deities
Anglo-Saxons worshiped Eostre, the moon Goddess of spring and fertility.
The Druids worshiped Blodeuwedd, the Goddess of fertility, magick, and dawn.
In Roman mythology, Flora is the goddess of flowers and of the season of spring.
The Ancient Greek goddess Persephone is associated with spring.
The celtic Goddess Brigit is honored at the festival of Imbolc which celebrates the first stirrings of Spring.
Freya is the Nordic fertility Goddess associated with spring growth and flowers.
Spring Flora
Clover and other three-leaved plants were once considered spring gifts from the fairies to protect us and bring us luck.
Easter Lilies symbolize purity and spring time.
Other Wives tales
An old wives tale says a wind that blows on Easter Day will continue to blow throughout the year, and that a shower of rain promises a good crop of grass but little hay.
Children born on Easter Day are deemed especially fortunate. Those born on Good Friday, however, are doomed to be unlucky.
References: motherearthliving.com, snopes.com, irishabroad.com, druidicdawn.org
May the moon light your path!
Moonlight Academy
