In Saxon times the Goddess Oestara or Eostre was said to rule over the spring and the dawn. Her sacred animal was the hare which was also the symbol of the moon. Coincidentally, the gestation period of a hare is 28 days which is comparable with the moons monthly cycle. And whilst talking cycles it is also interesting to note that the female monthly cycle is affected by the hormone oestrogen and also lasts about 28 days.Howard goes on to note that the moon hare was supposed to have laid the Cosmic Egg from which emerged all life. (1995 pp. 58-9). It is from Eostre that we get the festival of Easter which originally celebrated the coming of spring.
It was only when the Christians came along that the festival was bastardised to represent their celebration thus overshadowing the origin pagan concepts. The very symbols of the pagan festival were transformed into Christian icons, the 'hare of Eostre' became the 'Easter Bunny' and the 'Cosmic Egg' became the Easter egg.
In pagan time special cakes were baked as sacrificial offerings to the moon goddess and were marked with an equal-armed cross to divide the cake into four quarters. These represented the four lunar quarters. The cake was then broken up into pieces and buried at the nearest crossroads as an offering.
Yet again this has been plagiarised into the cake becoming the 'hot cross bun' and the cross representing the cross of Christ. Believe me, the more you study folklore, myth and custom the more you realise that the early Christians didn't have an original idea amongst themselves.
