And if you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. In the Panchatantra tales of India, for example, Hare is a wily Trickster whose cleverness and cunning is pitted against Elephant and Lion, while in Tibetan folktales, quick-thinking Hare outwits the ruses of predatory Tiger. This motif appears in numerous churches and other buildings throughout the town. Hares were given ritual burials alongside humans during the Neolithic age in Europe. https://www.learnreligions.com/egg-laying-bunnies-and-mad-march-hares-2562459 (accessed May 1, 2023). 25 Cats From Mythology Exploring the World of Mythical Cats Rabbit Power Animal Her festival celebrations occurred in April, and it is commonly believed that through ostre we have acquired the name for Easter as well as her rabbit sidekick. Cookie Settings, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, What We're Still Learning About Rosalind Franklins Unheralded Brilliance. Deities Associated With Hares and Rabbits Eostre (Anglo-Saxon) - in antiquity, worshipped in a spring festival; "Also known as: Eastre, Goddess of the Spring. Echidna is a half-woman, half-snake from Greek mythology, where she was known as the mate of the fearsome snake-man Typhon, and mother of many of the most horrible monsters of all time. In the folklore of various cultures and ancient civilizations, rabbits have represented a kind of Trickster figure. You should probably listen to him. From the Greek world through the Renaissance, hares often appear as symbols of sexuality in literature and art. Known locally as the Tinner Rabbits, thedesign was widely believed to be based on an old alchemical symbol for tin, representing the historic importance of tin mining on Dartmoor nearby -- until a group of local artists and historians created the Three Hares Project to investigate the symbols history. Freya (Norse) emblem of Freya, a mother goddess, giver of fruitfulness and love; associated with Holda, the Norse moon goddess, Hermes (Greek) God of the spoken word; the rabbit was sacred to Hermes as a fleet-footed messenger. Type of Entity: Supernatural. Are rabbits connected with Easter because they've often been considered holy? In a scene in the sixteenth century Chinese novel, The singer/composer Cosmo Sheldrake references the rabbit in the moon in their song "The Moss". 10 Creepy Shape-Shifters And Therianthropes - Listverse Origin: The myth of the rabbit in the moon is very ancient. Theres even a cartoon series based on the books, currently in its third and final season. Their strange presence symbolizes inexplicable phenomenons. From lust to Bugs Bunny the rabbit has taken on different meanings throughout history, in global folklore and artistic symbolism. In medieval societies in Europe, the March hare was viewed as a major fertility symbolthis is a specific species of lepus that is nocturnal most of the year, but in March when mating season begins, there are bunnies everywhere all day long. However, even after the first moon landing decades ago, we still see the moon as a somewhat mysterious place with a wide-ranging variety of beings living in itfrom aliens, gods and goddesses to rabbits! According to the writings of the Venerable Bede (673-735 AD), an Anglo-Saxon deity named ostre was accompanied by a rabbit because she represented the rejuvenation and fertility of springtime. Eggs and flowers are rather obvious symbols of female fertility, but in European traditions, the bunny, with its amazing reproductive potential, is not far behind. Knowing only how to gather grass, the rabbit instead offered its own body by throwing itself into a fire the man had prepared. But it is in the folk traditions of England and Germany that the figure of the hare is specifically connected to Easter. Recent books include The Truth of Myth, a textbook for World Mythology (with Gregory Schrempp) and a casebook entitled Posthuman Folklore. In some magical traditions, the wild rabbit is associated with, Rabbits and hares are able to go to ground quickly if in danger. He remains singularly devoted to his creator, even deigning to perform the Funny Bunny song and dance that delighted her as a girl (but only behind closed doors, where no one can see him cavorting about). It depicts three hares running in a never-ending circle with their ears touching to form a triangle. Okay, full disclosure: Ive never actually played Star Fox, but when I mentioned this post to Chris and Sarah here in the Tor.com offices, they immediately started yelling about Peppy Hare and wouldnt stop playing clips of all his weird wingman advice and catchphrases until I added him to the list. The rabbitfor good reasonis often associated with fertility magic and sexual energy. Br'er Rabbit is a trickster character. The "three hare" symbol is believed to have originated in a story in the Jatakas (tales concerning the lives of Buddha) about the "hare of selflessness". This idea provides the underlying rationale behind various festivities and rituals, such as the Osterfeuer, or Easter Fire, a celebration in Germany involving large outdoor bonfires meant to scare away witches. The Utes tell the story of Ta-vwots, the Little Rabbit, who shatters the sun and destroys the world, all of which must be created again; and an Omaha rabbit brings the sun down to earth while trying to catch his own shadow. Carvings of rabbits eating grapes and figs appear on both Greek and Roman tombs, where they symbolize the transformative cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Each animal represents a year in a twelve-year cycle that is based on Jupiter's orbitthe planet takes nearly twelve earth years to circumnavigate the sun. Maybe its not surprising, then, that both the book and its film adaptation are discussed in Donnie Darko, The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog probably needs no introductionin the immortal words of Tim the Enchanter, its the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on. Caesar would likely have known that in the classical Greek tradition, hares were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Meanwhile, Aphrodites son Eros was often depicted carrying a hare as a symbol of unquenchable desire. Apparently, Steven Spielberg and Disney werent so into the whole dead-cartoon-rabbit thing, and so the character was resurrected and a monster hit was born (along with at least one amazing dance move). It seems that the rabbit is an honoured creature, synonymous with celestial powers and rejuvenation not just for Christians at Easter, but across the world. It is usually depicted as a four-legged creature with a human face. Rabbits were common animals throughout the Realms. Richard Kellys Donnie Darko quickly gained a huge cult following when it was released in 2001 (and since then seems to have received a certain amount of backlash), but whether you love it or think its completely overrated, I think we can all agree that Frank is probably the creepiest rabbit-type-thing on this list, appearing to the title character in a series of visions like in the form of some kind of menacing demon-alien terror bunny. Matthew Wilson finds out. Please enable JavaScript if you would like to comment on this blog. One tradition, known as the Hare Pie Scramble, was held at Hallaton, a village in Leicestershire, England. The Three Hares Project has explored the imagery, studying its meaning and history, and points out that hares are "contradictory, paradoxical creatures: symbols of both cleverness and foolishness, of femininity and androgyny, of cowardice and courage, of rampant sexuality and virginal purity.". 2023 Smithsonian Magazine The trio has become the personifications of the holiday, when they descend to the mortal world and give out cellophane lanterns, mooncakes and gifts to children.[8]. Driven by Stewarts delightful and deeply touching performance, Harvey is a lighthearted comedy with unexpected depths, an inspiring piece of fantasy that celebrates the triumph of a kind-hearted nonconformist over worldly cynicism and the pressures of respectability. Yokai are supernatural creatures of the Japanese folklore, sometimes also considered as specters or demons. If this is right, it means that long ago, Christian iconography appropriated and adopted symbols from older, pagan religions, blending them in with its own. Protectress of fertility, goddess of rebirth and friend to all children. While it might seem very likely, the connection can never be proved for certain. ), although they certainly deserve an honorable mention along with Mr. Bunny Rabbit (of Captain Kangaroo), the psychotic-but-adorable Bun-bun (Sluggy Freelance), Mr. Bun (aka Pauly Bruckner in The Unwritten), and Tim Conways performance as F. Lee Bunny on The Carol Burnett Show. Having fallen into relative obscurity over the years, he was one of the first characters created outside of the films for the Marvel Star Wars comic series, as an homage to Bugs Bunny (who often addressed random strangers as Jackson in the old Warner Brothers cartoonshence the name.). In Rome, the gift of a rabbit was intended to help a barren wife conceive. In 1835, the folklorist Jacob Grimm, one of the famous team of the fairy tale Brothers Grimm, argued that the Easter hare was connected to a goddess he imagined would have been called Ostara in ancient German. Created by Stan Sakai in the early 1980s, Usagi Yojimbo follows the adventures of Miyamoto Usagi, a rabbit ronin, as he wanders about on a warriors pilgrimage, occasionally serving as a bodyguard. Plus its chock-full of bunnies, of course. Captain Carrot (aka Roger Rodney Rabbit of Gnu Yorkno relation to the other Roger, presumably) leads the intrepid Zoo Crew ask they face an array of sinister anthropomorphic villains and, apparently, a world filled with animal-related puns (theres a character named after Burt Reynolds.