Some holiday and mythical figures such as Santa Claus and the Toothy Fairy have vague mythical and/or psychological origins.

The Easter Bunny, on the other hand, is an astronomical and astrological delight.

Easter is clearly connected to the seasons, to the cycles of our planet earth. Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox (start of Spring).

Easter is about spring in its moon-fullness.

What else happens at this time?

Flowers rise from the dirt, male birds sit in trees outside your window calling for mates while puppies and kitties and bunnies are born.

Spring represents fertility.

The first sign of the zodiac, the sign that marks the beginning of spring is Aries.

Is Aries about fertility?

Aries is ruled by Mars, the god of war. How does war relate to fertility?

Well, how shall we say it – in nature there are no fancy restaurants with fine wine.

Male cats don’t ask female cats for their phone numbers, spend time getting to know her habits (I wake at 6 a.m., bug my owner for food, then use the litter box at 7 a.m.), while waiting for the right moment to put his paw on her paw.

It goes a little more Arian than that in nature.

Aries is the energy that makes us get up, do something, take action and penetrate life. Aries is male energy because it is outward directed.

Aries is the flower that breaks through the dirt to reach the sun. Aries is the chick that breaks through the egg. Aries breaks things to become itself.

No wonder the Aries in your life always seem to be causing trouble . . .

Aries is the sexual drive, if not the fertility. The fertility, to me, appears in the next cardinal sign, Cancer.

The Easter Bunny

This brings us to the Easter Bunny who, if you recall from your trip to the grocery store Easter section, also lays eggs.

Both bunnies and eggs represent fertility. The bunny is the Aries yang sexual energy and the egg is the Cancer yin fertility energy.

Aries is active, Cancer is receptive.

This is so nice, so natural.

But how does it affect our children?

Does eating chocolate Easter bunnies and eggs promote promiscuity?

There is some talk out there on the Internet that the pleasure one gets in eating chocolate is similar to the pleasure one has during orgasm. While that appears to be untrue, chocolate does seem to provide an intense sensual pleasure that is more than one has when eating, say, green beans.

So, let’s think about this.

We’re providing sexual (bunny) and fertility (egg) images in elation-producing chocolate to our children at the beginning of spring.

Wow.

I see so much concerned parenting and worry over negative influence that I wonder how Easter slipped past. While I wouldn’t call Easter a negative influence (in fact, I like it more than ever now), it does seem to promote some non-studious behavior.

I hate to worry parents in America, but it may be time to re-evaluate what one puts in the Easter basket for one’s children.

Possibly keeping bunnies and eggs is okay, but removing the chocolate. How about Easter Bunny bread? Or Easter Egg meatloaf?

Off to buy some chocolate

Writing about chocolate has produced a craving for a candy bar in this OHA writer. I think I’ll stick to my usual square bars of chocolate. This writer needs no fertility at the moment.

Square, I know. But I am an earth sign.