How the Christians stole Easter
Care2 Causes
In much the same way that Christmas and Hanukkah co-opted Paganism, so Christianity also grafted itself onto the Pagan celebration of spring and called it Easter.
The Hebrews were of course Pagan before they converted to one god, and much of the Old Testament was taken from the days before they converted. They just changed the name of the particular deity in each story to God.
Christianity continued this tradition: as Christians came into contact with Pagan cultures, they Christianized them, and made them their own. The idea was that non-Christians would be more likely to embrace Christianity if they were allowed to retain their Pagan practices, especially if some Christian correspondence with their traditions could be established.
Ostera, Anglo-Saxon Goddess Of Spring
Thus, the name Easter comes from Ostera or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, for a spring festival celebrating fertility and the renewal of life, which was held annually for thousands of years before the birth of Christ. It is from this Pagan festival that many of our Easter customs have come.
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This snip is about the name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter
The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre.[nb 3] The most widely accepted theory of the origin of the term is that it is derived from the name of a goddess mentioned by the 7th to 8th-century English monk Bede, who wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English 'Month of Ēostre', translated in Bede's time as "Paschal month"was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month".[25]
In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was and is called ?ά???, Pascha, a word derived from Aramaic פסחא, cognate to Hebrew פֶּסַח (Pesach). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival, known in English as Passover, commemorating the story of the Exodus.[26][27] Already in the 50s of the 1st century, Paul, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth,[28] applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual.[29] In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek and Latin Pascha.[3][30]
So it sounds like it really had nothing to do with Ēostre like Ash Wednesday is not stealing from Woden, etc..
Sunday -- Sun's day
Monday -- Moon's day
Tuesday -- Tiu's day
Wednesday -- Woden's day
Thursday -- Thor's day
Friday -- Freya's day
Saturday -- Saturn's day
Bunnies/hares first Christian association was with Mary because they were believed to be partheonogenetic. Some people apparently still believe this ("born pregnant" .
Rabbits/hares appear in medieval art, eg., the Unicorn Hunt tapestries, as symbols of gentleness, vulnerability and the beauty of spring and summer. They're incorporated into church windows, prayer books, pillar capitals and "misericordiae,". which are narrow shelves in choir stalls that allowed monks and nuns to half-sit during the long hours of the Daily Office.
The first appearance of the Easter Hare was among Protestants in 17th. century Germany. Their descendants brought the Easter Bunny to America.
And, shades of Dan Brown: Icons of Mary Magdalen frequently show her holding a red egg.
