What does the Easter Bunny have to do with Easter?

Have you ever wondered what Easter and and our modern day traditions have to do with each other? What in the world does the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Easter Bunny have to do with one another? How did this far fetched story begin and why do we keep this tradition going?
Easter is named after a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre. Eostre was the ancient Greek goddess of the spring. Our English word for the female hormone, estrogen, derives from her name. Ostara was a fertility goddess. She brought in the end of winter, with the days growing longer and brighter after the vernal equinox. Ostara had a passion for new life. The rabbit, well known for its rapid reproduction, was her
sacred animal. Ancient Greeks began to hold pagan festivals to welcome Eostre and welcome the onset of spring.
The Pagan festivals always coincided with the vernal equinox on the 21st of March every year. Though the Greek did not know how or why the spring came, they believed they must please Eostre so that she would return year after year. The festivals were lavish feasts that celebrated the feeling of rejuvenation that is inherent of spring.
The Christian church however, changed the Pagan festival from a celebration of spring to a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. In 325 A.D. the church also changed the date of the festival. The festival was no longer held on the spring equinox. Instead, per the Church Council, it was to be held on the very first Sunday following the full moon on or after the vernal equinox. Today Easter is celebrated on different dates every year and can occur as early as March 22nd or as late as April 25th.
In later Christian tradition the white Hare was depicted at the Virgin Mary's feet to represent triumph over lust of the flesh. The rabbit's vigilance and speed came to represent the need to flee from sin and temptation. It was also a reminder of the swift passage of life.
Some people even believe that Easter is related to the Hebrew celebration, the Jewish Passover. Passover is celebrated to mark the freedom of the Israelis from bondage and slavery after 300 years. It was during Passover in 30 A.D. that Christ was crucified for being blasphemous. The resurrection happened three days later on what is today known as Easter Sunday. The early Christians, many of whom were raised as Jews considered the resurrection and Easter as a new part of pascha. Thus the early celebration of Passover came to be celebrated as Good Friday and Easter.
Let the Easter Egg Hunt begin...
Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny are both featured in the spring festivals of Ostara. Eggs are an obvious symbol of fertility, and newborn chicks an adorable representation of new growth. Brightly colored eggs, chicks, and bunnies were all used at festival time to express appreciation for Ostara's gift of abundance.
Folklore suggests that Easter egg hunts arose in Europe during "the Burning Times", when the rise of Christianity led to the shunning and persecution of the followers of the "Old Religion". Instead of giving the eggs as gifts the adults made a game out of hiding them, gathering the children together and encouraging them to find the eggs.Some believe that the authorities seeking to find the "heathens" would follow or bribe the children to reveal where they found the eggs so that the property owner could be brought to justice.
The Fable of the Goddess Ostara and the Easter Bunny
Feeling guilty about arriving late one spring, the Goddess Ostara saved the life of a poor bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow. She made him her pet or, as some versions have it, her lover. Filled with compassion for him since he could no longer fly (in some versions, it was because she wished to amuse a group of young children), Ostara turned him into a snow hare and gave him the gift of being able to run with incredible speed so he could protect himself from hunters.She also gave him the ability to lay eggs in all the colors of the rainbow, but only on one day out of each year. Eventually the hare managed to anger the goddess Ostara, and she cast him into the skies where he would remain as the constellation Lepus (The Hare) forever positioned under the feet of the constellation Orion (the Hunter). He was allowed to return to earth once each year, but only to give away his eggs to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring. The tradition of the Easter Bunny had begun.