The pagan roots of Easter can be located in the celebration of the Spring Equinox, a date that has been treated as an important holiday by many different religions and for many millennia. Occurring every year on March 20, 21, or 22, the Spring Equinox marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Biologically and well as culturally, this date represents for cultures in northern climates the end of a "dead" season and the rebirth of life, as well as the importance of fertility and reproduction.

The Easter festival's name in the English and German languages, and much of the symbolism now commonly associated with Easter in English-speaking countries but not in all traditionally Christian countries, are alleged to derive from Eostre, a Germanic pagan goddess, if a remark by the 8th century English historian the Venerable Bede to that effect is to be believed. Her primary festival, according to Bede, fell in the spring during her month, Eostremonat. According to the Bede, the word "Easter" is derived from the Old Norse Ostara or Eostre, a festival of spring at the vernal equinox, March 21, when nature is in resurrection after winter, hence, the symbolism of rabbits, notable for their fecundity, and the eggs, colored like rays of the returning sun and the aurora borealis.