April Fools Day

April Fools’ Day—celebrated on April 1 each year—has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, though its exact origins remain unclear.

While its exact history is a bit of a mystery, some historians believe that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar (illustrated below), as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. 

In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1. 

People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” 

These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

Historians have also connected April Fools’ Day to festivals such as Hilaria (Latin for joyful), which was celebrated in ancient Rome at the end of March by followers of the cult of Cybele. 

It involved people dressing up in disguises and mocking fellow citizens and even magistrates and was said to be inspired by the Egyptian legend of Isis, Osiris and Seth.

Hello April

 

April takes its name from the Latin word aperire, meaning 'to open' (just like flowers do in spring).

The Romans called the month Aprilis.

The Full Moon

 

Bunnies and Easter

The story of the Easter Bunny begins with the first German immigrants, who arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. According to History.com, the settlers told a legend in their homeland about an "Osterhase" or "Oschter Haws"—a rabbit who laid eggs. 

German children made nests for the bunny to encourage him to leave the brightly colored treats, a custom which continued.

As the years passed, the story of the egg-laying rabbit spread and developed, with the bunny eventually dishing up a basket filled with candy, toys, and eggs.

The Bible contains no reference to the Easter Bunny. 

He has nothing to do with the supposed resurrection of Jesus. 

Instead, the rabbit's beginnings can be traced back to ancient paganism, and the deity Eostra. 

The goddess of spring, rebirth, and fertility, her icon was the rabbit.

Perhaps Christians named Easter after Eostra as a way of recognizing the symbol of the bunny.

The first Easter celebration is said to have taken place in the 2nd century, but historians believe it probably occurred earlier, as the Vernal Equinox festival in honor of Eostra transitioned into the Christian holiday. 

By the 17th century, Protestants in Europe had firmly connected rabbits and Easter, although throughout the world other animals are associated with it. 

They include the bilby, a rabbit-like marsupial in Australia, Switzerland's Easter Cuckoo, and even the Easter fox, chick, stork, and rooster in Germany.