Talk:Easter Bunny

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[edit] Mythology Makeover

• It seems people do create mythology, but in this case once again, those who do not like Pagan mythology attack it by trying to make it seem false. The claim that the wounded bird version is only dated to 1990 is incredulous, as my family has told the story "of the chicken turned to a hare by the goddess Ishtar for many decades." Note the name was slightly different from the Goddess listed in this account, as I am sure it morphs to reflect differing cultures through the millennia. It is the nature of oral traditions that the names will vary from culture to culture. These stories were told to me in the late 1960s, and early 1970s, in Kansas long before the internet, and in the infancy of MILNET and ARPNET, so I must ask say the Mythology portion of the Easter Bunny page needs to be updated, and the Christian propaganda removed.

First off, whomever wrote the above, please sign your comments with four tildes. Okay, I added the pagan myth fact not bc I think the article was weighted with "Christian propaganda", Easter is after all a Christian liturgical holdiday in its modern incarnation. However, it suprised me that such a common piece of knowledge was missing entirely. I tried to make the section NPOV, plus a citation for the legend. As far as the particular goddess involved goes, Eostre is the Anglo-Saxon root word to Easter; but fertility goddesses are pretty syncretic in ancient pagan traditions, so I think it pretty much covers Ishtar too. VanTucky 21:29, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

I would like to point out that there is hardly any historical evidence that there ever was an Anglo-Saxon Goddess called Eostre. The Anglo-Saxon root word for Easter is actually Eostremonath, the name for April (roughly). The Venerable Bede speculated, many years later, that this name derived from a Goddess but she is otherwise unattested. Lkewise there is not evidence of any connection to Ishtar, no evidence of a connection to hares, rabbits or anything of the sort. Tales told in the 20th century do not constitute historical evidence for the early middle ages. Dmottram (talk) 11:57, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Have a heart please

• Couldn't you guys have been a little less explicit regarding the Easter Bunny's "fictional" nature (much like you did Santa Claus)? My nine-year-old daughter read your entry and realized the Easter Bunny was "a fraud". While I applaud the veracity, I denounce your directness.

Not real? since when! Opuscalgary 04:50, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

"Have a heart?" This is an ENCYCLOPEDIA. Facts are to be represented here.

I agree with the mother above. No wikipedia should not be censored and its perfectly okay to have naughty articles in the article about the penis for example. But word the easter bunny, tooth fairy and santa articles carfuly. Say they are part of folklore, or mythic, but don't use the word fake or fictious. The first two words say the same thing but kids might not know what mythic means. We don't have to lie but we can have some tact. And to those who object, do you suppose some adult might think that a bunny actually comes and hides eggs in your yard if you didn't use the word fictious? --Jon in California 11 August 2007

That's besides the point. You say that Wikipedia should not censor itself, then you argue that it should censor itself in this case. What about a sheltered teenager? There's always an exception. Klosterdev (talk) 02:44, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Already 8 and still thinks the bunny exists. It's better to have the encyclopedia do the dirty work than have an evil aunt drop the bomb instead. Either way, adults end up looking like liers and lose the trust of their children. It's a natural part of growing up. 19:43, 18 February 2008 (UTC) Still believes in Santa —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.228.52.221 (talk)

Lots of children are very excited about easter bunny bringing the chocolates but they do not know the real meaning of christmas. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.153.215.52 (talk) 07:49, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestions for Additions

• I'd be interested in seeing information on the rise of the commercialization of the Easter Bunny. It seems like the icon and holiday is becoming more like Christmas - with the distribution of gifts - Themepark

[edit] Dubious

Regarding "In France,the eggs are not laid by rabbits, but dropped from the sky by "les cloches de Pâques", flying church bells coming back from Rome where they spent Easter.", I suspect they are comming back from Lent in Rome, not Easter. I don't know though.―BenFrantzDale 05:18, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

• The bells are in Rome from the evening of Holy Thursday till Easter Sunday, not for the whole lent. They fly to Rome after the Gloria sung in the Holy Thursday mass. --Peter 16:20, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

• Given the response above, I'm removing the inline dispute tag from the article (which isn't proper protocol). Please feel free to correct the article and provide a reference if you feel the information is incorrect. Cleanr 23:30, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Easter bells - les cloches de Pâques

On the Thursday before Easter, the bells in all the churches stop ringing. It is because of the sad days that follow (Good Friday) till Easter day when at twelve o'clock they ring again and we are all happy because of Christ ressurection. It is said to the children that the bells went all the way to Rome to see the Pope and they come back on Easter day. On their way home, they bring back some easter eggs, and they drop them on their way to their church. And yes, we, as children, imagine them with wings... Wonderful memories.!!!! because, the eggs fall down in the garden and get stuck in branches in trees or on bushes, in nests or baskets... if you check google with the french words, you will get some recipies as well as some other informations.... You might use the translation machine http://catholique-nanterre.cef.fr/faq/fetes_paques_traditions.htm http://www.prologue.qc.ca/bibli/conte-legende/cloche.htm http://vivrelafoi.cef.fr/tps_fete/p_clochespaques.php

[edit] Redirection?

should redirecting from "ishtar bunny" be allowed here :)

[edit] Amateur artwork allowed?

Is there a rule against amateur artwork being allowed on Wikipedia? Was under the impression self-created artwork was OK to use... Anthony Dean 03:42, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, if you're the creator of original artwork, it should be free to use if you're publishing it under GDFL. 惑乱 分からん 18:39, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pisicem Eporas

This film exists, the screenplay was already written. It WILL be released in 2008-2010. Production started Oct 25,2006.

[edit] Is there anyone else...

who thinks this page needs a picture? I think a picture of someone in an easter bunny costume would be suitable. Clamster5 13:54, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

I think soooooooooooooooooooooooo!~!!~@#~$%~~*()) --Noahwoo 03:11, 14 Đecember 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spoiler warning

I just removed this "spoiler warning" from the article for the second time: Template:Spoiler-blank I've explained on User talk:Dss971 why a spoiler warning is inappropriate for this page. -- Jim Douglas ^(talk) _(contribs) 16:39, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Exactly. That spoiler warning is counterproductive. Junulo —Preceding comment was added at 21:17, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] POV

The Mythology section is definately in need of POV wrangling. It is making assertions of fact on one side only with no supporting documentation to back it up. Slavlin 18:18, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, the Easter Bunny is prone to attract crackpot New Age theories. The articles about Eostre and Ostara looks okay, but this is rather messy... 惑乱 分からん * \)/ (\ (< \) (2 /) /)/ * 17:58, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Is Peanuts an acceptable example of the easter bunny in popular culture?

I think not. It is also unsourced user:Jamestown James.

[edit] Easter "B"unny?

Should the "b" be capitalized? Is it a proper name? Maybe him/her/it will come by and tell us today. Jason McHuff 09:27, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Money Egg

The money egg is a common tradition that in which the easter bunny leaves a small amount of money for the "finders" of any house hold to find and keep. The amount of money depends on how pure of soul the finder is.

[edit] Sentence Structure

"In the United States, the Bunny supposedly hides decorated hard-boiled eggs, plastic eggs filled with candy or money, and children hunt for them."

This seems to imply either that hard-boiled eggs are plastic and filled with candy, or that the Easter Bunny hides money without eggs. Perhaps "or" should be before "plastic" or something. 71.192.64.235 23:43, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed move of Easter article

Hi. I've started a discussion regarding moving Easter (disambiguation) to Easter (after having moved Easter to Easter (Christian festival) (or something similar). Discussion to please take place at Talk:Easter_(disambiguation)#Requested_move, NOT here. Many thanks! --Rebroad 10:31, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sentence cut out

"Some families participate in the roles of this myth without believing in it literally as a form of play or tradition." - I removed this sentence from the introductory section. It is redundant after what is said earlier about mythology and tradition, unless the sentence specifically aims at torturing the small ones who happen to read the article (I guess it is isn't). --Korovioff 15:20, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism?

From the origins section:"this also occurs in the human race with the common "Chav" being able to get "up the duff" again whilst already pregnant , usually from 2 seperate unknown male aquaintances ." I hardly think this is proper for an encyclopedic entry or even correct for that matter. Vandalism? --85.83.127.1 12:09, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Origins

Sorry if this repeats earlier debates, but the entire Origin section is full of original research and/or synthesis. Is there any way to reference, not to mention organize, this material? Williamroy3 00:01, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Local traditions

In Finland, especially among Finland-Swedish families, there is a tradition of parents hiding easter eggs and other treats either in the house or in the garden, and children perform a treasure hunt for the treats.

In Romania and Hungary, the children, together with their parents, decorate the Easter eggs on Thursday or Saturday. The Easter Bunny delivers presents to the children on the night between Saturday and Sunday. In some families, the presents are delivered on the night between Friday and Saturday.

In Brazil, the Easter Bunny brings chocolate eggs to the children. It is also customary to give chocolate eggs as gifts to friends and relatives.

Anyone have a source for any of this stuff? I have removed it since it was unverifiable. I tried and found nothing. Burntsauce 20:47, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

People who live in these countries have added the corresponding local traditions (I know that this isn't according to the Wikipedia policies.). For example, if I am living in a country where is a special local tradition which isn't documented anywhere, do you think I must create a site about it before adding it on the Wikipedia, even if it is correct? If you really feel the urge to verify this stuff, you could talk to people that live in those countries. Xammer 11:57, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Issues with the article

As the article stands now, it is not factually consistant with other Wikipedia articles on Easter temrs. For example, look at the article for Eostre and note that it contains more precise language about the origins of the term and it's purported relationship to pagan godesses. The Easter Bunny article is peppered with various neopagan beliefs about these terms which are not rooted in fact. It would be awkward for me to simply rip out all the shaky assertions. I could use some help with this and welcome suggestions on how best to go about replacing neopagan revisionist history with actual facts. Thanks.LiPollis (talk) 02:30, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of Easter bunny

The origin of Easter bunny is not unknown ! It is Alsace in France. Presumably the protestant regions of Alsace. See German wiki http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterhase (22.3.2008 13:46) and my discussion on the french talk page lièvre de pâques [1] and for an actual written source the regional german newspaper (Die Rheinpfalz, Nr. 70, Samstag 22. märz 2008, Unterhaardter Rundschau). I will change that in the Easter bunny article. Christophe Neff (talk) 12:51, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Additional statement: perhaps one should also check the Rheinpfalz source – because one never knows if they simply copied the information from german wikipedia without testing it critically – but as I wrote yesterday in the French talk page of Lièvre de pâques – it sounds logically and plausible – with respect to historical geography of Alsace. Christophe Neff (talk) 14:31, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I have tried to include the information that easter bunny tradition comes from Alsace but this information was reverted more than one time by user User:Ohnoitsjamie. He did’nt accept my sources. The tradition of easter bunny comes formerly from protestant Alsace. The first description of the easter bunny tradition has been accorded to Georg Franck von Frankenau in 1682, who descriped it in Alsace. It was more or less unknown in Germany before the beginning of the 19 th century- because until this date the easter eggs were brought by foxes, ciconia and Cuckoo and even Rooster. You can check this in German Wikipedia or in a good ethnological compendium ! Christophe Neff (talk) 15:59, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

As noted on my talk page and in my edit summaries, (1) other wikis are not to be used as sources and (2) you're not following WP:REFERENCE guidelines. OhNoitsJamie ^Talk 16:38, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

in citing the Die Rheinpfalz, Nr. 70, Samstag 22. märz 2008, Unterhaardter Rundschau I am exactly following the WP:REFERENCE guidelines. Strange to see that other statements in the article are accepted without any reference- or a reference is accepted even if this reference has nothing to do with the Easter Bunny as the Grimm reference. ! Christophe Neff (talk) 16:59, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Last time I checked, this: <ref > written source Die Rheinpfalz, Nr. 70, Samstag 22. März 2008, Unterhaardter Rundschau </ref>. is not the correct way to make a reference. OhNoitsJamie ^Talk 17:04, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Newspaper articles may use the name of the newspaper and the date of publication after the sentence (The Guardian, December 17, 2005).from WP:REFERENCEis exactly what I have done (ok I have written source - but with a little bit of good faith) - its more than clear that you will not accept it ! Christophe Neff (talk) 17:12, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

"The Easter Bunny is a mythological rabbit who brings gifts and candy to children on the Easter holiday, most likely based on pre-Christian customs honoring the fertility goddess Eostre" - the second part of the sentence can not be referenced by a verifiabel source or reference - this is more or less nonsense - caused on a misunderstanding (or bad translation) of the Grimms. Christophe Neff (talk) 16:20, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

a last contribution from my part to the discussion – I fully agree with User:Lisapollison that the article actually is peppered with neopagan revisionist history and the article is far away from reality or the historical reality Christophe Neff (talk) 17:07, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Possible Roots in older Jewish Faith

Many ancient Jewish holidays have been morphed into Christian holidays. Purim is the celebration that occurs at the same time as Easter. Purim is also know is the Feast of Ester, the Jewish princess that saved her people in ancient Iran. The name Easter is a simple addition of the letter 'a' the Ester. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcc42 (talk • contribs) 15:23, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Interesting. if you can find some scholarly sources that assert this, please add to the article.LiPollis (talk) 23:33, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Be mindful of not deleting references when you update the article

Today I went back thru older versions of the article and found 3 citations that should not have been deleted. Please, when rewriting articles with a heavy hand, make sure you don't throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak. I can see how this happened here during a major rewrite that cut out a lot of nonsense but still, if the cites are valid and support remaining facts, please relocate them appropriately. Having to go and find them again via google or looking in books is unecessary re-invention of the wheel! Thanks!LiPollis (talk) 23:33, 9 April 2008 (UTC)