where did the rabbit in easter come from
Easter Bunny
The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art . In ancient times , it was widely believed ( as by Pliny , Plutarch , Philostratus , and Aelian ) that the hare was a hermaphrodite . The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary , with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child . It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity , as in the three hares motif . Eggs , like rabbits and hares , are fertility symbols of antiquity . Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring , these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox . 
The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art . In ancient times , it was widely believed ( as by Pliny , Plutarch , Philostratus , and Aelian ) that the hare was a hermaphrodite . The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary , with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child . It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity , as in the three hares motif . Eggs , like rabbits and hares , are fertility symbols of antiquity . Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring , these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox .
The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.
The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary , with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child . Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring , these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox .