Busy Easter Bunnies, A GIF Created for LMAC Contest #32

Happy Easter! @shaka's beautiful picture invited us this week to dwell on life and renewal. That's a nice place to rest our thoughts. And a little fantasy doesn't hurt.

The Easter Bunny
I used to think this magical creature was a commercial notion introduced into a religious celebration. But the bunny has roots that reach back into history, and across cultures. According to several sources, the Easter Bunny and the Easter Egg are linked as symbols of life.

One source, The Local de, explains that in Germany the tradition existed in the Middle Ages--and even earlier. The custom was brought to the United States in the 1700s by German immigrants.

The picture below is from a 1907 postcard (public domain)

Egg coloring has been traced to the fourth century A.D. Colored eggs from that period were discovered in a sarcophagus, in Worms (Rhineland-Palatinate). The Easter Bunny in Germany was known as the Osterhase, Easter Hare.

Reference to the Osterhase can be found in writings from the 16th century. Then, as now, the bunny was expected to bring colored eggs to good children. The children would get ready for this visitation by making nests in which the bunny could place the decorated eggs. These nests might be made of caps and bonnets.

Why were eggs and rabbits chosen as Easter symbols? According to The Local, there are several theories. One is that rabbits are born with their eyes open, so people thought “that they were ‘always awake’ from birth,...Therefore (rabbits) became a symbol of eternal life, likewise with the egg." Another theory described by The Local is that in the Middle Ages, landlords used to accept taxes in the form of eggs and slaughtered hares. Payment was due on the Thursday before Easter, and so the association between eggs/hares and Easter was established.

There are other theories, but in each rabbits and eggs are associated with life and renewal, which is the essence of the Easter holiday.

My Picture
This was great fun. Almost everything came from Paint 3D, except for the rabbit. The rabbit (without the wings) is credited to Gellinger on Pixabay.

My process:
@shaka's picture as a foundation:

Then I started to play around. I knew that the Hive would be a theme so I picked a beehive on Paint 3D and put it in the tree. Bees followed. The rabbit joined in. Flowers were added, of course.

After the second bunny joined, it was just a matter of juggling everything and putting it together. Lots and lots of bees and flowers. The balloons were an afterthought (actually inspired by @muelli, who always finishes his pieces with drama).

As always, thank you @shaka, but especially now, this is therapy for me. Shaka's contest, which is amazing, and which attracts amazing, creative people, may be found by following this link: LMAC #32

Happy Easter, or Passover, or whatever joyous occasion you celebrate. Let there be joy and life.