Easter is a Pagan festival adopted by the Christians called OSTARA, March 21: The celebration of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. Day & Night are equal length. It is a time for planting and celebrating the first signs of fertility and rebirth. Symbols of Ostara like eggs, chicks, and rabbits have been adopted by Christians in their Easter holiday. The word, Easter is from the goddess Eostra, Ishtar or Astarte. So the rabbit carries eggs because they are both symbols of rebirth.

The precise origin of the custom of colouring eggs is not known, although it too is ancient; Greeks to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red, the color of blood, in recognition of the renewal of life in springtime (and, later, the blood of the sacrificed Christ). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long "dead" time of winter. Other colors, including the pastels (possibly symbolizing the rainbow, another seasonal sign of luck and hope), seem to have come along later. The act of eating coloured eggs at the Spring Equinox can be considered a form of sympathetic magic or prayer for increased fertility, and for a bountiful harvest later in the year. German Protestants wanted to retain the Catholic custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, but did not want to introduce their children to the Catholic rite of fasting. Eggs were forbidden to Catholics during the fast of Lent, which was the reason for the abundance of eggs at Easter time. The idea of an egg-laying rabbit came to the United States in the 18th century. German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the "Osterhase". "Hase" means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare, not a rabbit. Only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter. Presumably, the "Oschter Haws" laid them when the children were not looking. Recently, a neopagan legend has sprung up concerning the Easter Bunny. Though it is usually circulated as an ancient Pagan tradition, it does not appear before 1990; it is presented by a fictitious character, Mrs. Sharp, created by an author of inspirational aphorisms. (Sarah Ban Breathnach, 'Nostalgic Suggestions for Re-Creating the Family Celebrations and Seasonal Pastimes of the Victorian Home'). It reached a far wider audience when in 2002 a version of the story, The Coming of Eostre, was published in the children's magazine Cricket. According to the story, the goddess Eostre found a wounded bird in the snow. To help the little bird survive the winter, she transformed it into a rabbit, but the transformation was incomplete and the rabbit retained the ability to lay eggs. In thanks for its life being saved, the rabbit took the eggs and decorated them and left them as gifts for Eostre. This story is deemed fakelore by critics, who point out that it has never appeared in any historical account of pagan celebrations, nor in any attempt to reconstruct the same by folklorists such as Grimm. There is also no historical evidence linking Ostara to the hare or rabbit. This is the most I could find to explain this question. I hope it helps you a little.

Long ago the holiday celebrated was by the pagans. It was a sign of Spring arriving and the new birth, the beginning. This was a fertility time for all new growth from animals to plants. The Catholic churches and their religion was just taking to flight and they made the Catholic holidays close to the pagan one. Thus the rabbit multiflies rapidly as he is very fertile. Eggs are a sign of fertility and new birth. Look at other holidays of pagans and chritians; they are all very similiar. Christmas and the birth of Christ was not on Dec.25th. Think about it. If the shepards were watching the flocks by night in December; it was winter and the flocks would be in a stable not a pasture. Many other reasons for all to check out. Ripley 48 in Boston, Ma.

does this answer your question

Nothing about Easter makes sense.

... the joke answer is, "He does not want anyone to know what he has been doing with the chickens." .

Possibly for the same reason that storks don't bring babies.. the first twenty years of my life was spent hunting and shooting storks to keep them away from my Girl friend.

He carries them so he can hide them ... he is embarrassed and does not want everyone to know what he has been doing with the chickens ... .

the symbol of the rabbit and the egg are symbols of fertility from pagan religion. When christianity swept through europe and tried to convert pagans into christians they aligned many christian holidays with pagan holidays in an attempt to cover the pagan holidays, consume them in essence, or make it "easier" for pagans to convert. Many other Pagan holidays we still observe though called by a different name, but many of the traditions and symbols are the same: Yule=Christmas. Before Christianity Yule was the Winter solstice, the death of the Sun god and the festival of lights, where many candles were placed to honor the Sun Chile (or the Son Child?!) Samhain=Halloween, pronounced sow-en and called Halloween today, is the ending of the Celtic year. The Celtic new year actually begins at sunset on October 31. This ritual is known as Ancestor Night or Feast of the Dead. Because the veil between the worlds is thinnest on this night, it was and is considered an excellent time for divinations. Feasts are made in remembrance of dead ancestors and as an affirmation of continuing life. Masks and costumes were worn because this was the day the dead walked again and people disguised themselves so the dead would not know they were one of the living. Imbolc, February 1st or the first Full Moon in Aquarius, is a time of cleansing and newborn lambs. The name, Imbolc, comes from the word 'oimelc' or sheep's milk. It is a festival of the Maiden in preparation for growing and renewal. Ostara/Eostre=Easter Spring Equinox or Ostara, around March 21, is when light and darkness are in balance but the light is growing stronger. Ostara was not originally a part of the Celtic year, and all of its associations were given to Beltaine until recent times. Because it was named for the Teutonic Goddess of Spring and New Life, Eostre, it is assumed that it was brought to prominence in the Celtic world by the Saxons. Time of birth and fertility. May Day=Beltaine, is May 1, or the first Full Moon in Taurus. Other names for it are May Day or Lady Day. It is primarily a fertility festival with nature enchantments and offerings to wildlings and Elementals. The powers of elves and faeries are growing and will reach their height at Summer Solstice. A time of great magic, it is good for all divinations and for establishing a woodland or garden shrine. The house guardians should be honored at this time. Summer Solstice or Litha= (No Prominent Christian or Western world association), about June 21, is when the hours of daylight are longest. The Sun is at the highest before beginning its slide into darkness. Traditionally, herbs gathered on this day are said to be extrememly powerful. On this night elves and fairies abound in great numbers. Lughnassadh=(similar to)Thanksgiving is August 1 or the first Full Moon in Leo. This is a preharvest festival, the turning point in Mother Earth's year. The last herbs are gathered. It is a celebration in honor of the god Lugh's wedding to Mother Earth. Autumn Equinox or Mabon=Thanksgiving, about September 21, was a time of rest after labor, completion of the harvest. Again the hours of day and night are in balance, with the darkness increasing. All preparations for the dark of the year and the year's ending were made, thus bringing us back to Samhain.

I guess hens could not be convinced to do the job.

To symbolize fertility, I believe it is an old pagan belief.

Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols of extreme 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 saying "mad as a March hare" refers to the wild caperings of hares as the males fight over the females in the early spring, then attempt to mate with them. Since the females often rebuff the males' advances before finally succumbing, the mating behavior often looks like a crazy dance; these fights led early observers to believe that the advent of spring made the hares "mad."[5] This bold behavior makes the hares, normally timid and retiring animals, much more conspicuous to human observation in the spring. Rabbits and hares are both prolific breeders. The females can conceive a second litter of offspring while still pregnant with the first. The two litters are born separately.[citation needed] This phenomenon is known as superfetation. Lagomorphs mature sexually at an early age and can give birth to several litters a year (hence the sayings, "to breed like rabbits" or "multiply like bunnies"). It is therefore not surprising that rabbits and hares should become fertility symbols, or that their springtime mating antics should enter into Easter folklore.

Yes they do !!! Follow a rabbit and you'll see a trail of little brown eggs. Just DON'T put them in your mouth !! LOL :)

It's all about this goddess that has to do with fertility....it's all a pagan thing....nothing to do with the death of JESUS or HIS RESURRECTION.

Apparently he's the same as Santa! A mythical creature who will bring and hide coloured eggs for children to find:)

Easter is a Pagan holiday named after the Saxon Goddess of Fertility in Northern Europe named "Eostre" The Egg and the Rabbit are both symbols of fertility.

I eat rabbit pie for Lunch on Easter Sunday! It's tradition!! :-/

Ya they do, what are you smokin? LOL.

what rabbits dont lay eggs?

The chickens have contracts with the Bunny Rabbit Union..after the chickens lay the eggs, they're kinda tired and don't have the energy to go out and deliver them. That's where the Bunny Rabbit Union comes in! Their slogan is "we deliver after you deliver"! :)

Easter Duck or Easter Hen right?