The Rabbit People born under the rabbit are lucky, happy, good at what they do, shy, a gambler, independent, humble, and aloof. They might have many children They might have many children Rabbits are well-mannered and seldom use harsh words or foul language. Rabbit (Hare) represents longevity, discretion and good luck. Learn years of the Rabbit, personality, lucky numbers, compatible signs, 2020 horoscope etc.
In some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world, including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. In variations of this superstition, the donor rabbit must possess certain attributes, such as having been killed in a particular place, using a particular method, or by a person possessing particular attributes (e.g., by a cross-eyed man).
It has been suggested by Benjamin Radford that the rabbit's foot could be connected to a European good luck charm called the Hand of Glory, a hand cut from a hanged man and then pickled.[1]
Humorist R. E. Shay is credited with the witticism, 'Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.'[2]
In North American culture[edit]
Why Are Rabbits Considered Lucky
The belief in North American folklore may originate in the system of folk magic known as 'hoodoo'. A number of strictures attached to the charm are now observed mostly in the breach, namely that it must be the left hind foot of a rabbit which was shot or otherwise captured in a cemetery. Some sources tell that the rabbit must be taken by the full moon, and others specifying the new moon. Some say instead that the rabbit must be taken on a Friday, or a rainy Friday, or Friday the 13th. Some sources say that the rabbit should be shot with a silver bullet, while others say that the foot must be cut off while the rabbit is still alive.[3]
The various rituals suggested by the sources, though they differ widely one from another, share a common element of the uncanny, and the reverse of what is considered good-omened and auspicious. A rabbit is an animal into which shapeshiftingwitches such as Isobel Gowdie claimed to be able to transform themselves. Witches were said to be active at the times of the full and new moons.
The cover to 'Rabbit Foot Blues', a blues song by Blind Lemon Jefferson, links the rabbit's foot tradition with the bones of the dead.
These widely varying circumstances may share a common thread of suggestion that the true lucky rabbit's foot is actually cut from a shapeshifted witch. The suggestion that the rabbit's foot is a substitute for a part from a witch's body is corroborated by other folklore from hoodoo. Willie Dixon's song 'Hoochie Coochie Man' mentions a 'black cat bone' along with his mojo and his John the Conqueror: all are artifacts in hoodoo magic. Given the traditional association between black cats and witchcraft, a black cat bone is also potentially a substitute for a human bone from a witch. Hoodoo lore also uses graveyard dust, soil from a cemetery, for various magical purposes. Dust from a good person's grave keeps away evil; dust from a sinner's grave is used for more nefarious magic. The use of graveyard dust may also be a symbolic appropriation of the parts of a corpse as a relic, and a form of sympathetic magic.[3]
Rabbit's feet were also considered lucky because of their association with the dead body of a criminal. According to Newbell Niles Puckett, a 20th-century folklorist, “the more wicked the person who is dead, the more effective the charm associated with his remains.' Puckett observed that during the 1884 election campaign of Grover Cleveland, he was said to have received the foot of a rabbit that had been killed on the grave of Jesse James, the American outlaw.[1]
In any case, the rabbit's foot is dried out and preserved, and carried around by gamblers and other people who believe it will bring them luck. Rabbit's feet, either authentic or imitation, are frequently sold by curio shops and vending machines. Often, these rabbit's feet have been dyed various colors, and they are often turned into keychains. Few of these rabbit's feet carry any warranty concerning their provenance, or any evidence that the preparers have made any effort to comply with the rituals required by the original tradition. Some may be confected from fake fur and latex 'bones'. President Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography that he had been given a gold-mounted rabbit's foot by John L. Sullivan, as well as a penholder made by Bob Fitzsimmons out of a horseshoe. A 1905 anecdote also tells that Booker T. Washington and Baron Ladislaus Hengelmuller, the ambassador from Austria, got their overcoats confused when they were both in the White House to speak with President Roosevelt; the ambassador noticed that the coat he had taken was not his when he went to the pockets searching for his gloves, and instead found 'the left hind foot of a graveyard rabbit, killed in the dark of the moon.'[4] Other newspaper stories reported the incident, but omitted the detail about the rabbit's foot.
In addition to being mentioned in blues lyrics, the rabbit's foot is mentioned in the American folk song 'There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight', once popular in minstrel shows; one line goes: 'And you've got a rabbit's foot To keep away de hoo-doo'.[5]
See also[edit]
The Rabbit's Foot Company (also known as the Rabbit's Foot Minstrels)
References[edit]
^ abLittle, Becky (August 13, 2019). 'Why Are Rabbits—And Rabbits' Feet—Considered Good Luck Symbols?'. HISTORY. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^R.E. Shay quotation.
^ abEllis, Bill: Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture (University of Kentucky, 2004), ISBN0-8131-2289-9
^Harlan, Louis R. The Booker T. Washington Papers Volume 8: 1904–1906. University of Illinois. p. 437. Archived from the original on January 17, 2005. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
^Finson, Jon W. (1997). The Voices That Are Gone: Themes in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Song. Oxford University Press. p. 222. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rabbit%27s_foot&oldid=976987701'
Why Are Rabbits Feet Lucky
Even if most of us today don’t carry rabbits’ feet around with us, most of us are aware of them as a superstitious symbol of good luck. Why do we consider the rabbit’s foot lucky? Are casinos legal in texas.
Of all animals, why is a rabbit’s foot lucky? In fact, why would any animal be seen as lucky?
Several millennia ago, around 600 BC, long before people knew anything about science and evolution, it was believed that humans were descended from animals. Where ancient thought deviated from modern evolutionary thought was in the ancient belief that different tribes of humans evolved from different animals. This belief is known as “totemism”. People found parallels between human traits and animal behaviors until eventually certain animals were seen to be lucky for particular things. The animal’s luckiness was also influenced by other ancient spiritual beliefs. For example, the animal’s believed magical powers were sometimes based on its interaction with “gods” like the sun, the earth or the skies.
Choy sun doa. The symbolism of rabbits Rabbits were a symbol of several particular traits:
Fruitfulness: One of the things the rabbit is most famous for is for its talent for procreation! Observed by our ancestors, they would have linked the rabbit with human traits like: - Prosperity, - Successful harvests, - Fertility, reproductive and romantic success, - Growth - Abundance - Longevity of your family line - Birth and rebirth, as occurs in spring (which may partly be why we have the Easter bunny that pops up in spring time)
Wisdom: Since the rabbit and the hare are born with open eyes (unlike humans) this made ancient people think that rabbits must know a lot about where they came from and about the mysteries of procreation. Based on this, people began connecting rabbits and hares with wisdom. The rabbit’s cleverness was not only believed to be limited to knowledge about creation. Throughout folklore the rabbit is seen to use its quickness and wiliness to outwit his enemies, not too unlike Bugs Bunny!
Protection from evil forces and connection with ground spirits: There is a theory that rabbits may have been imbued with protective power against evil. It is thought by some that ancient humans used to believe that hellish entities lived underground in the underworld. Since burrowing rabbits could survive in spite of spending much of their time close to these evil entities, they must have special protective powers again these forces, giving the rabbit a lucky, protective power. Other people think that the rabbit’s burrowing ability simply gave people the impression that the rabbit was in good terms with a world humans knew little about: a world imbued with spirits that could make your crops grow and spirits that looked after all things buried. By holding onto a rabbit a human could therefore let some of the good vibes between the rabbit and these underground spirits, rub off on them. Finally the rabbit’s burrowing ability in darkness may have lent it luck for venturing into the unknown.
Of all body parts, why did they choose the rabbit’s foot?
Although various parts of rabbits were used as lucky charms, including the tail, ears and even the innards, the foot was always considered the luckiest part of the rabbit. Why? It’s possible that luck was attributed to the foot because it resembled a phallus. Ancient cave paintings seem to include rabbits’ feet in this context, using them as a phallic symbol.
Are Rabbits Lucky
From ancient superstitions to the present
It’s amazing that our culture retains remnants of beliefs that arose millennia ago and that these stay with us despite the advancement of human knowledge. Hopefully we’ve become more humane over time and most of us wouldn’t want to kill animals for the sake of luck. I for one would definitely favor a lucky pet rabbit over a decrepit foot on a keychain. I reckon its foot should be just as lucky if not luckier when it is permeated with life force and when attached to the cute little critter.
Related Articles See the Culture section for more interesting “say why do I”s.
Related Products How to win at american roulette every time.