“white rabbits!”

On the first day of each month it is customary at our house to say: “white rabbits!” as the first utterance we make. This superstitious habit is of unknown origin but was apparently first documented in 1909 in the book ‘Notes and Queries’. The author of this book wrote: ‘My two daughters are in the habit of saying ‘Rabbits!’ on the first day of each month. The word must be spoken aloud and be the first word said in the month. It brings luck for that month. Other children, I find, use the same formula’.

I am not sure how it became part of our family’s practice, although I suspect my mother’s interest in superstition and dating members of the airforce during the Second World War may be the cause. Apparently, it was a common belief among RAF bomber aircrew that saying “white rabbits” the very first thing on waking up would protect them.

Nevertheless, we are in good company as President Franklin Roosevelt, World War I war correspondent Sir Herbert Russell, and author and journalist Simon Winchester, are all recorded as doing it too.

The superstition may be related to the broader idea that rabbits or hares are ‘lucky’ animals. Many reasons are suggested for the luck brought by rabbits. Some say rabbits are lucky because they are notoriously fertile and associated with spring and renewal. Others link rabbits with the moon and the cyclical nature of darkness and light equating this with death and rebirth – so that rabbits are thought to live under the shadow of death. Alternatively, the survival defences of the animal – eyes on the side of the head (which see both forward and backward), sensitive ears and nose, the ability to run at high speed with erratic shifts in direction and sudden freezing rendering ‘invisibility’ – ensures longevity.

Whatever the reasons, rabbits have been the subject of art for millennia. In Classical Antiquity, authors ranging from Herodotus to Pliny to Aristotle, focussed on the animal’s fertility. Rabbits or hares were symbols of sexual desire and vitality and, as well as being a gift between lovers, were an attribute of Aphrodite.

The association of rabbits with the moon is widespread. For example, in India the dark splotches on the surface of the moon are thought to be due to the presence of a rabbit. Ami Ronnberg in ‘The Book of Symbols’ relates a Jataka story from India where the Buddha, in the shape of a rabbit, leaps into a fire to become a Brahmin’s dinner. Duly sated, the Brahmin can perform his priestly duties, and the rabbit is rewarded eternally with his image pressed on the moon’s surface.

In Chinese culture, the rabbit is the fourth animal in the zodiac and considered to be one of the luckiest. This rabbit is a symbol of beauty, grace, intelligence and mercy and is also connected with the moon. The Jade Rabbit (Moon Rabbit) is a companion to the Moon Goddess. It never grows old and makes medicine by grinding herbs and spices (especially cinnamon) with a mortar and pestle – connecting it with good health and longevity. Not surprisingly ‘rabbit parts’ are often components of Chinese medicine.

While rabbits symbolise luck in Japan, they are also considered symbols of ambition, advancement, progress, and self-devotion. Their connection with the moon is shown in the belief that rabbits on the moon constantly make mochi – the pounded rice cakes that are enjoyed at the New Year. Although rabbits are valued for their many positive qualities in Japan, and can be found as decoration on fans, kimonos and silk screens, they may also take on a trickster role which is particularly common in their European counterparts.

The Young Hare (1502) by Albrecht Dürer is probably one of the most famous depictions of an animal in the history of European art. This watercolour painting is part of the artist’s nature studies and is unlikely to have a symbolic meaning. However, it has become an often-repeated motif and, as well as being reproduced in many forms, has been adopted by other artists who have reinterpreted the image. Ottmar Hörl has created many colourful plastic versions; Sigmar Polke has used the hare in his installations; and Dieter Roth has made a copy ‘Köttelkarnikel’ (1975) out of rabbit droppings.

Small animals with fur, like rabbits and hares, allowed artists to showcase their ability painting this difficult ‘material’. Dead hares appear in still life paintings as both hunting trophies and as part of foodstuffs in kitchen settings in the Dutch Golden Age. Many of these works indicated the wealth and luxurious lifestyle of the patron. However, others alluded to religious precepts including ‘voluptas carnis’ (lust of the flesh) and memento mori.

In many pagan traditions, rabbits act as spiritual messengers – moving between the human realm and the underworld. This notion of the rabbit as psychopomp (a guide between worlds) is seen in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Here the white rabbit becomes Alice’s guide, leading her onto a new chapter of her life as she delves below the surface of her consciousness.

By contrast, their appearance in Judeo-Christian mythology and symbolism is very limited and mixed. The Old Testament considers rabbits unclean as, despite chewing cud, they do not have a divided hoof.  However, in the 16^th century, the ability of rabbits to multiply and spread out led to them becoming a symbol of the Jewish diaspora and the ‘three hares’ motif was a prominent part of many synagogues.

The ‘three hares’ motif was also appropriated by Christianity with the triangular representation of the  animals becoming a symbol of the Holy Trinity as seen in Albrecht Dürer’s The Holy Family with Three Hares (1496).

Dürer also included a rabbit in his 1504 engraving of Adam and Eve. In this picture, the artist is less interested in the Biblical story than in his fascination with ‘ideal forms’ and symbols. As well as showing Adam and Eve in ‘perfect balance’, several animals are included: the tropical parrot (whose call was believed to sound like ‘Eva-Ave’), and four animals exemplifying the four humours or human personality types with the elk representing melancholy, the ox being phlegmatic, the cat choleric and the rabbit sanguine. Dürer’s placid animals signify balance and perfection in the Garden of Eden before the Fall.

The connection of white rabbits with chastity and purity, and the erroneous belief that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity,  led to their inclusion in depictions of the Virgin Mary. During the Medieval period, rabbits were often included in illuminated manuscripts.  A particularly famous example of a rabbit in this context is The Madonna of the Rabbit  (1530) by Titian which is in the Louvre Museum.

As we prepare for chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts tomorrow it is interesting to reflect on how this popular annual event has evolved. The ancient association of rabbits with rebirth and resurrection perhaps explains their role in Easter with the resurrection of Christ and is often cited with respect to their prominence at this time.

Recently, artist Joseph Beuys, would often find a place for a rabbit in his works using it to symbolise a resurrection. In his best-known performance work ‘How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare’ (1965) – in which he performed the work’s title – he said that the rabbit “has a direct relationship to birth … For me, the rabbit is the symbol of incarnation. Because the rabbit shows in reality what man can only show in his thoughts. He buries himself … in a deep depression. He incarnates himself in the earth”.

However, a more likely explanation links the Easter Bunny with the Lutheran appropriation of the German mythological egg-laying hare the ‘Osterhase’ which appears in spring. The hare was considered to be the sacred animal of Ēostre or Ostara ((a West Germanic spring goddess) and was transformed by the goddess from a bird into an animal that laid eggs. This ‘Easter Hare’ originally acted as a judge of childrens’ behaviour at the start of Eastertide.  In 1682, Georg Franck von Frackenau’s ‘De ovis paschalibus’ (‘About Easter Eggs’) refers to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing eggs for children.

A less ‘palatable’ explanation of rabbits and Easter comes from the connection of laurices with Lent. Laurices are foetal rabbits prepared without evisceration and consumed as a table delicacy, with their first recorded gastronomic mention coming from Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia. The consumption of laurices during Lent was cited by Gregory of Tours c. 590 CE as a condemnation of the practice, but it led to the myth that another Gregory – Pope Gregory -had authorised their consumption during fasting declaring them to be a marine species (like fish) as the foetuses ‘swam’ in amniotic fluid. Nevertheless, the myth persisted establishing another reason why rabbits and Easter go together.

Like many rituals and celebrations, there is a long, complex and confusing history. As I delved into the many and varied ideas about rabbits, it only consolidated my intention to invoke ‘white rabbits’ on a monthly basis. The other well-known saying for the first of the month is: ‘a pinch and a punch, first day of the month’. (This is thought to have originated in the Middle Ages when witchcraft was something to be reckoned with. Salt was believed to make witches weak, so the pinch of salt would enable the enfeebled witch to be punched away). According to playground rules, ‘a pinch and a punch’ should be followed immediately with the words “white rabbits, no return” – preventing being pinched back. If ‘white rabbits’ can bring luck and offer protection from witchcraft, I’m all for it!