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Which is better, Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny? That's the first elementary school theological argument that I can remember getting into.

(Both figures, of course, represent a kind of temporary children's autonomy. For both, you're up early, before anyone else, and in full control of the house; not only that, but you get rewarded for it.)

For most of the other kids, the answer to this question was a no-brainer, but I can remember—characteristically enough—holding out for the minority position.

Santa just brings you clothes and socks and stuff that you don't want anyway, went my argument.

(In rather poignant hindsight, I can rephrase this as: Santa brings you things that you would want if you were who they thought you were, or rather, if you were who they wanted you to be. Thus, Santa and his gifts paradoxically embody a kind of existential parental rejection.)

The Bunny, on the other hand, brings you bad stuff.

Really: what other day of the year do you get to gorge on candy before breakfast?

On top of which, he makes you work for it.

(In retrospect, I can see here also the stirrings of an early proto-pagan instinct: Santa : culture :: Easter Bunny : nature.)

Sorry, folks: more than 50 years on, I stick with my original position.

The Bunny is way better.

 I shall go into a hare, with sorrow and sighing and mickle care,

and I shall go in the Devil's name; aye, till I come home again.

(Isobel Gowdie)

The first theological argument that I can remember getting into had to do with which was better, Santa or the Bunny.

Everybody else liked Santa best, but I held out for the Bunny.

Santa just brings you clothes and underwear and stuff that they think you want or that they want you to want, but that you don't really want at all.

But the Bunny not only brings you bad stuff.

He makes you work for it.

Once the chocolate eggs are eaten up and the baskets put away, we tend to forget about the Ostara Hare.

We shouldn't.

Five years ago, I wrote a blog post titled Rabbit Symbolism in the Tarot. With Easter/Ostara fast approaching, I thought I'd examine rabbit symbolism in light of pop culture. This article was interesting to research, and I hope you find the historical tidbits as fascinating as I do.

March Hare – From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Host of the Mad Tea Party. Also known as Haigha in Through the Looking-Glass. Carroll noted that "Haigha" rhymes with "mayor". "Mad as a March hare" is an English expression based on observing the behavior of Lepus europaeus during March breeding season. Supposedly, female hares not wanting to breed would repeatedly kick aggressive males with their forelegs to repel them (it used to be believed, incorrectly, that these leporidae fisticuffs were males fighting for supremacy). Sir John Tenniel’s illustration of March Hare featured haphazard pieces of hay on its head, a Victorian symbol for madness.

Colorful eggs, hopping bunnies, fuzzy yellow chicks – these are inherent Pagan symbols. Just because Christians conveniently borrowed (OK, out and out stold) one of our unique seasonal special days does not mean that we have to step aside. Have a Pagan Easter Bunny Day, instead.

Invite some of your closest over this Sunday to boil and hand-dye eggs. Beets, carrots, and the skin of red onions make some great all-natural dyes. Boil the veggies in separate pots and save the water to dip the hard-boiled eggs in, once they've cooled. You can always add to the decoration with colored pencils, crayons, and stickers, if you like (again after they're good and dry). The key to all of this is the perfect hard-boiled egg, of course. Here is a recipe for success:

     HOW TO MAKE PERFECT HARD BOILED EGGS
     Place the eggs in a single layer at the bottom of a saucepan. Cover with at least an inch or two of cold water. The more eggs that are crowding the pan the more water you should have over the eggs.
     Heat the pot on high heat and bring the water to a full rolling boil.
     Adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the water may help keep egg whites from running out if an egg does crack while cooking. Also some people find adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the water helps prevent cracking as well as making the eggs easier to peel.
     Turn off the heat, keep the pan on the hot burner, cover, and let sit for 10-12 minutes.
     If you have the type of stove burner that doesn't retain any heat when turned off, you might want to lower the temp to low, simmer for a minute, and then turn it off.
     Depending on how cooked you like your hard boiled eggs, the eggs should be done perfectly in 10-12 minutes. That said, depending on your altitude, the shape of the pan, the size of the eggs, the ratio of water to eggs, it can take a few minutes more. Or, if you like your eggs not fully hard cooked, it can take a few minutes less. When you find a time that works for you, given your preferences, the types of eggs you buy, your pots, stove, and cooking environment, stick with it.
     If I'm cooking a large batch of eggs, after 10 minutes I'll sacrifice one to check for doneness, by removing it with a spoon, running it under cold water, and cutting it open. If it's not done enough for my taste, I'll cook the other eggs a minute or two longer.
     I also find that it is very hard to overcook eggs using this method. I can let the eggs sit, covered, for up to 15-18 minutes without the eggs getting overcooked.
     Strain the water from the pan and run cold water over the eggs to cool them quickly and stop them from cooking further. Or, if you are cooking a large batch of eggs, remove them with a slotted spoon to a large bowl of ice water.
     I find it easiest to peel the eggs under a bit of running water.
     The best way to store hard boiled eggs is in a covered container in the refrigerator. Eggs can release odors in the fridge which is why it helps to keep them covered. They should be eaten within 5 days.
     (Recipe from Elise Bauer)
   
Hide them in the backyard and have a hunt. The one who finds the most eggs wins a dark chocolate bunny. Heck, deck out a whole festive basket for them: they now have organic jellybeans, believe it or not. Remember those chocolate "nests" made with coconut and jelly beans in the middle, from your local small-town specialty chocolate shop? Yummy!

Throw together a simple brunch to share of hot ham and rolls and mimosas on the side. If weather allows, chow down outdoors. Remember what it was to be a child at this time of year, pondering all the possibilities of a fresh new start to spring. Pay attention to the especially chirpy birds and notice everything beginning to bud. Wonder at the concept of one little bunny (or one giant one, kind of Stephen King-ish) assembling and hiding all those baskets in your house when you were a kid.


References:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_perfect_hard_boiled_eggs/

Photo by Stuart Miles from freedigitalphotos.net

This past week was a whopper, primarily because we in the northeast got walloped with an all-consuming blizzard. About 3 days before the blizzard, my son Gabriel and I were outside at his rabbit hutches getting them ready for foul weather, and we noticed that one of his female rabbits, Soot, was carrying straw and building a nest. We decided to move her from her shared hutch with 3 other females to a private hutch where she could give birth in private. We moved her and waited, but days went by and she didn’t birth any bunnies. I even noticed that she didn’t look pregnant anymore—she was much skinnier.

In the meantime, the Blizzard of 2015 struck. I found myself caring for my son’s rabbits far more than I probably should have. I felt a certain calling to tend to them frequently: replacing frozen water bottles, shoving more hay into their hutches, sweeping 6 inches, then 1 foot, then 2 feet of snow off the tops of their hutches and shoveling it away from the fronts so we could access them. I donned every bit of warm clothing I have and spent an inordinate amount of time tending to the rabbits, giving them extra feed, and cutting cardboard boxes and pressing the cardboard into the fencing of their hutches to create windbreaks. In all this time, Soot didn’t give birth.

If ever there were a “breeder” card in the Tarot, it would be the Queen of Pentacles.