Easter began as a celebration of the Anglo-Saxon’s goddess of spring, Eostre. Since then it has corresponded with the coming of spring and the celebration of fertility. It was only after missionaries moved across most of Europe that Easter became more of a Christian tradition. Some of the symbols, however, still retain their original meanings.

The Easter bunny happens to have been incorporated into the holiday. Its origins actually lie in Germany, where children were told tales of an “Easter hare” that laid eggs in hidden places. It was up to the children to find these eggs, as the hare itself was a symbol of fertility and birth. Later traditions have many confectionary companies creating sweets with the shape of a bunny to commemorate Easter, including chocolate.

Easter eggs are now very popular among those who celebrate the holiday. Like the Easter bunny, these eggs are symbols of new life and fertility. Egg traditions in Eastern Europe go as far as painting hard-boiled eggs with intricate patterns and splattered in different colors—from silver and gold to neon green and pink. In places such as Poland and Ukraine, wax was applied to the eggs to preserve their colors and then boiled again to create different shades.

In current traditions, Easter egg hunts are conducted across the country. This holiday game usually encompasses an egg that contains a prize inside. Hollow plastic eggs can be used to contain loose change or chocolate—or perhaps the eggs themselves are made out of chocolate. These eggs usually come in different colors and are hidden for participants to find.

There are other ways that the Easter holiday is observed worldwide. Contrary to the Christian view, Swedish children celebrate Easter by dressing themselves up as hags or witches. This goes along with the legend that witches flew to church bell towers during Easter Eve. The children would visit neighbors with Easter cards and hope to gain candies or coins—similar to the Halloween tradition in America.

Iztapalapa, Mexico, celebrates Easter by putting on a huge play in which the whole town participates. Latvians play an egg-breaking contest, where participants tap the ends of their eggs with their team member—the last one with an unbroken egg is the winner. Reading detective novels and crime thrillers—a tradition called Paaskekrim, or “Easter crime”—became a favorite Easter pastime in Norway.