Easter and Leporiphobia, the Fear of the Easter Bunny

Each Easter, store owners make lots of money from selling candy, Easter baskets, stuffed rabbits, chocolate rabbits, and other things aimed at the Easter holiday. Have you ever stopped to wonder where the cute little Easter bunny came from? Did he just magically appear one day?

Leporiphobia is a fear of rabbits. It’s hard for me to imagine being afraid of a cute little bunny rabbit so much that it interferes with life whenever a rabbit hops across one’s path. They are so cute! And unless they are sneaking into your garden and eating your growing veggies, they don’t bother anyone. But are all bunny rabbits cute? To a person with leporiphobia, all bunnies are terrifying, even the Easter bunny.

Origin of the Easter Bunny
Where did a bunny who lays eggs and hops around to deliver those same eggs and other sweet treats to children come from? Rabbits do not lay eggs. That raises another question: how did an egg-laying rabbit become associated with Easter?

To discover the origins of this egg-laying bunny, we need to go back to ancient Germany. Many different gods and goddesses were worshiped during the 13th-century in pre-Christian Germany. One of these goddesses was Eostre, the goddess of spring and fertility. Because rabbits bred so fast, they became a symbol for her. On the vernal equinox, feasts were held for this goddess. Spring speaks of life and rebirth. And rabbits are a symbol of fertility.

In the 15th-century, Roman Catholicism surpassed the worship of Eostre and the other gods and goddesses. It didn’t take long for their pagan beliefs to merge with their new Christian beliefs. Since the egg symbolized new birth, it was looked upon as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. But that still doesn’t explain how the Easter bunny made it to America or how it began delivering treats to children on Easter.

Stories about Oschter Haws filled Germany in the 1600s. This bunny didn’t deliver colored eggs to children, but he—yes, this bunny was believed to be a guy—would lay a nest of colored eggs for them. He would then hide these eggs in the garden for the children to find.

When German immigrants first came to this country, they brought Oschter Haws with them. Over time, Easter morning surprises grew to include chocolate and other sweets along with the colored eggs which were laid in a decorated basket on top of a nest of fake grass.

Leporiphobia
While some phobias may seem outrageous or unreasonable to you, I assure you it is not unreasonable to the person experiencing it. When someone encounters something he has an excessive fear of, he experiences the following: rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, anxiety, panic, terror, and/or dread. You should never make fun of anyone who has a phobia, but their fear can be used in your writing.

Leporiphobia is simply the fear of rabbits. Cute little baby bunnies could send a person with this phobia running out of the room. Mutant bunnies would have this same person screaming in terror. An adorable stuffed bunny given to this person on Easter morning would not be appreciated at all. And I highly doubt that a person with leporiphobia would ever eat Trix for breakfast.

What would make someone so afraid of bunny rabbits? Maybe a scary book or movie that murderous rabbits play a part in are responsible. Pictures of scary rabbits could have turned a dislike of rabbits into a phobia. A nightmare about killer bunnies could be the reason for this fear. I’ve never had such a nightmare, but I’m reasonably sure someone out there has.

Unfortunately, one tragic reason that a child could be petrified of the Easter bunny is because the child was molested by someone dressed as this animal that should bring joy. I honestly never thought about this until I saw this newspaper article this morning—Sex offender playing Easter bunny at Minot mall arrested. There are truly some horrible people in this world.

Here are some clips from movies that could have inspired this fear. The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog is featured in the following scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Could the rabbits from Watership Down be the reason for leporiphobia?

In Night of the Lepus, rabbits are no longer strictly plant eaters; they have turned carnivorous, and they are huge! This B movie could have given many people nightmares.

Writing Prompts
Legends were written about Oschter Haws, the rabbit that was eventually transformed into the Easter bunny. Write your own story about an anthropomorphic Oschter Haws and how he either reached the decision to become the Easter bunny. Did he do this willingly, or was he forced to?

Write about a little girl who becomes terrified of rabbits after seeing a scary picture of one. How do others help her overcome this fear?

There is a treasure hidden deep within a cave, and a guard has been placed there to protect it. This guard is a bunny rabbit, but this rabbit is fierce and no one gets past him. It doesn’t take long for word of his viciousness and ferocity to spread. Write about how his fame spread and how it made others afraid of rabbits that were friendly. Did what this guard rabbit was capable of eventually lead to the eradication of all other rabbits? Or did this fierce rabbit raise up an army to defeat the humans?

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A Colony of Rabbits
Crime Novels and the Easter Witch