Where does the iconic Easter Bunny come from? Why is the death and resurrection of Christ symbolised by this common creature?
A prohibited pet in the state of Queensland where I grew up, and a pest throughout most of the world, this is the one time of the year when rabbits are cool.
Rabbits are detested by farmers, sexualised by the pornography industry, and cartoonised by film-makers of our youth. But without the common rabbit, we wouldn't have Elmer Fudd, the energiser bunny or Peter Rabbit.
As a year-round rabbit lover, I'm going to use this once-in-a-265-day opportunity to reflect upon the little-known intelligence of all the little Easter Bunnies around the world.
My castrated pet rabbit, Leo, is inexperienced in the virility that his species is so famous for. Whilst he frequently sheds his soft sleek hairs all over the house, I would certainly not turn him into a woollen scarf. And our neighbourhood butcher must be kept away from our house for all his jokes of rabbit pie. With all these feature removed, what then, is there left to worship?
Only at Easter do we prize the common rabbit, in the hope that chocolate eggs will somehow fall out of his orifice, ready for human consumption. Any rabbit owner who has ever witnessed little Flopsy munching on cecals late at night, might find this mythology mildly disgusting.
Rabbits symbolise the good things in life: sex, chocolate, and snuggling up with a nice blanket.
But I'm more amazed by Leo's brain. Sometimes I pat his little bunny skull behind his ears, and wonder exactly what's going on in there. Perhaps he's reflecting on how Easter contributes to the growing obesity problem in children these days? Or perhaps he's wondering whether he should start on the caramel egg or the Lindt bunny next? (the Lindt bunny it seems).
Rabbits are not the stupid creatures we are perhaps lead to believe throughout the rest of the year. What he lacks in philosophical reasoning ability, he makes up for in social skills. The longer that I co-inhabit with this little bunny, the more I am amazed by just how much inter-species communication is possible.
Thump! says Leo, scared by a cat outside. Thump! Eyes alert, he looks to see how we react. Minimally, he discovers, so he hops over to see what I'm eating (Easter eggs).
For whatever reason, rabbits are a symbol of life and love at this time of year. At the end of all this, I don't know why, I'm an atheist.
"For more information on rabbits and religion, I would suggest reading my best-selling book, Are you There, God, it's Me, Thumper." writes Matt Suddain, in the latest edition of the Sunday Star Times. I laughed the whole Easter Sunday.
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