One for the Children ... What's your favourite Easter Story?

There are many, many stories surrounding the origins of the Easter Bunny and the giving of eggs. All tell similar stories in a different way. This was my favourite as a child, and now it's my daughter's.

A long time ago, there was a Goddess called Eostre. 

Now, the Goddess Eostre loved children and, in return, they absolutely adored her.  Everywhere she roamed, she was always surrounded by them. She loved to see their vibrant, smiling, animated faces as she entertained them with stories, songs and best of all ... her magic! 

But it wasn't just the children she enchanted with her ways, animals were drawn to her as well, and one day, while sitting in a warm, sunlit meadow telling her young friends a mystical tale, a lovely songbird fluttered down to sit on her hand. 

The children all fell silent and stared in wonder at the little bird, who was singing so beautifully in Eostre's hand. The Goddess, who was used to being the center of the childrens' attention, became a little jealous of the bird. Wishing to capture their attention again, she whispered a few words, transforming her feathered friend into her favorite animal. A rabbit!

At first, this delighted the children, not to mention Eostre, especially now that she was the center of attention again! She was so happy that she didn't notice the eerie silence that had descended.  The children were no longer happy and chatting away. Only when she heard one of her little friends start to cry, did she realise they were all sad ... and scared. Scared of her! What was wrong?

Looking down at the trembling rabbit cradled in her arms,  she could now see what the children saw, feel its fear through its rapidly beating heart, and see the anguish held in its eyes, and she was ashamed. 

"By the Gods, what have I done!" She cried.

The children begged her to to release the bird from its rabbit form and she tried, she really tried, but her magic had gone! She had broken the cardinal rule of magic "An harming none, do as you will." Her powers had been removed.

Realising what she must do, Eostre took leave of her young friends, promising to seek the help of her fellow Gods, to return the songbird to its natural form.

A very tearful and contrite Eostre faced the council of Gods and pleaded for the return of her powers, so that she could right the "terrible wrong," that she had inflicted on the songbird, but they were not prepared to allow the Goddess to have her powers back in full. 

The head of the council looked down on Eostre and declared,

" In transforming the songbird, not only have you stolen its voice and freedom to enjoy life on the wing, you have prevented it from being able to fly away from danger. It is now trapped inside the body of an animal with no voice or ability to defend itself against predators.  You have broken the cardinal rule once, and we cannot allow that to go unpunished. What is to say that you wouldn't be tempted do do the same again, the next time your ego gets the better of you? In breaking the rule, you have betrayed our trust. All actions have consequences, and you must find a way to live with the results of yours."

Eostre was beside herself with grief and pleaded with the council further,

"Please! I beg you, keep my powers, I do not deserve them, cast me out if you will it, but please release the bird. It is an innocent, and should not suffer any further as a result of my poor choices."

The head of the council conferred with his peers. As Eostre looked on, there was much head shaking and nodding amidst hushed voices. Eventually, the head of the council spoke again.

"Eostre, we are convinced that you are indeed sorry for the pain and suffering that your actions have caused, your willingness to be cast out has proven that, nevertheless, we still cannot allow your deed to go unpunished ... entirely."

The Goddess, looked up with tear filled eyes, a flicker of hope held within.

"The spell you cast cannot be undone by any other than you, but as you currently have no magic, that would mean that the songbird would remain trapped in the body of the rabbit for its lifetime. As you say, the songbird is an innocent, so we have decided on the following actions..."

Eostre listened intently to what the council of the Gods had to say, and nodded her acceptance with mixed emotions. It was a compromise, but she'd take it.

The Gods had declared that as punishment for her actions, Eostre would have her powers returned but they would remain weak, until the onset of spring. At which time, she would regain her full powers. Only when her powers were at their height, would she be able to release the songbird from its rabbit shell, for a limited time, before returning once more to the rabbit form in which she had been trapped, as Eostre's powers waned.

The Gods had also instructed Eostre to care for the songbirds every need whilst trapped in her rabbit form and keep her safe from harm for eternity, to serve as a reminder of her poor decision. 

And so, every year at the beginning of spring, from that day to this, Eostre uses her power to release the songbird allowing her to soar high into the sky, sing to her heart's content and lay her eggs. To celebrate her freedom, and in recognition of those children, many years ago, who pleaded for the Goddess to set her free, the songbird in her rabbit form delivers eggs to the children of the world.

It is also said, that to remind the world of her mistake, Eostre etched the outline of a rabbit into the face of the full moon, (where you can see it facing left with its ears going back to the right) just so that it can soar safely against the sky, far removed from the perils that threaten it down here on Earth.

Next time you look at the full moon, why not see if you can find Eostre's rabbit? Let me know if you do.