Jimmy Stewart stars as good-natured kook Elwood P. Dowd, who spends his days at his favorite bar in the company of his best friend, Harvey, an invisible, six foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall talking rabbit. A mystical hare inhabits the moon in Japanese folklore, as shown in Rabbit Pounding the Elixir of Life Under the Moon by Mori Ippo, 1867 (Credit: New Orleans Museum of Art). Often darker, weirder, and more introspective than The Simpsons, I loved reading the Life in Hell books and comics in the free Philadelphia City Paper as a kidGroenings rabbits were both funny and oddly therapeutic, perfect for weird kids, smartass teens, and stressed-out adults alike. In Greece, the gift of a rabbit was a common love token from a man to his male or female lover. "Egg-Laying Bunnies and Mad March Hares." It is often portrayed as taking the form of an animal, such as a rabbit or a horse, and is known for playing tricks on humans. Along with Sam, a wise-cracking, fedora-wearing dog, Max works as a private investigator with a healthy disrespect for the law; where Sam is grounded and professional, Max is gleefully violent and maybe a tad psychotic (in a fun way!) Later, it appears in both the writings of Sir Thomas More, with "As mad not as a March hare, but as a madde dogge,"and later in a 16th-century book of proverbs. Their ears are interlocked, and form a perfect triangle. 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". The legend of Lumiuk (Lumak, Lumaag) tells of an abused blind boy who finds refuge in the sea, where he . Hares are fast and agile runners, which may account for the general perception of them as either wily, or mysterious and obscure. Lust is one of the seven deadly sins, and when artists depicted it in allegorical form ("Luxuria"), it sometimes took the form of a woman with a bunny. https://www.learnreligions.com/egg-laying-bunnies-and-mad-march-hares-2562459 (accessed May 1, 2023). The first reference of Echidna is in the Greek mythology of Hesiod called Theogony, written probably around the turn of the 7th-8th century BCE. All that, and he still looks great in a wigBugs is a true paragon of rabbitkind. Numerous folk tales tell of men led astray by hares who are really witches in disguise, or of old women revealed as witches when they are wounded in their animal shape. The Easter bunny therefore seems to recall these pre-Christian celebrations of spring, heralded by the vernal equinox and personified by the goddess Eostre. Bakeneko means "changed cat" in Japanese. The Federation is run by mammals and exists in a parallel universe from our own, where they are at war with the evil Toad Empire (ruled by a sinister computer system known as KOMPLEX, which has brainwashed all the toads. He was the son of the demoniac god Loki and a giantess, Angerboda. The demon fox uses a magical stone to extract the soul of its besotted victim. White Rabbit has been a trippy byword for psychedelic drug use since the 1960s, as well as a recurring trope in both Lost and the Matrix movies (apparently, he moonlights as a harbinger of not-very-satisfying conclusions). The Japanese anime Mad King Granzrt has characters who are humanoids with rabbit ears and they are natives of the Moon. I could go on, but I dont have much to say about Radagasts sleigh-pulling Rhosgobel Rabbits (big! 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. In Rome, the gift of a rabbit was intended to help a barren wife conceive. And in a slightly more recent mythos, bunnies were the bte noir of a certain thousand-year-old former vengeance demon. A scholar traces the folk figures history from the Neolithic era to today. Wenenut (Egyptian) "Deified rabbit-headed goddess. In Potawatomi myth, Wabosso is the Great White Hare (and the younger brother of Nanabozho) who travels north to become the greatest of magicians among the supernaturals. It's impossible not to see cartoon rabbits including Bugs Bunny also following in this ancient tradition of the animal's craftiness. Deities Associated With Hares and Rabbits Eostre (Anglo-Saxon) - in antiquity, worshipped in a spring festival; "Also known as: Eastre, Goddess of the Spring. The March Hare, on the other hand, is simply certifiable (Lewis Carroll was playing on the English expression mad as a March hare, making him the perfect companion for a certain wacky, riddle-loving Hatter). [8] Indigenous American folklore [ edit] Rabbits and hares are both good and bad in Trickster tales found all the way from Asia and Africa to North America. 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. More like this:- The ancient enigma that still resonates today- Why magic's secret symbols fascinate us- The symbol that spread around the world. Bugs has been consistently foiling Marvin the Martian in his attempts to destroy the Earth since 1948, while still finding to torment a certain vengeful Norse demigod in Whats Opera, Doc? Archaeologists have interpreted this as a religious ritual, with hares representing rebirth. In Sweden, popular folklore states that at Easter, the witches all fly away on their broomsticks to feast and dance with the devil on the legendary island of Blkulla, in the Baltic Sea. The philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), for example, noted how rabbits could breed at jaw-dropping speed. 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. A similar expression is found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in the Friar's Tale: For though this man were wild as is a hare,To tell his evil deeds I will not spare. Whether hovering above us in the arms of a moon goddess or carrying messages from the Netherworld below, whether clever or clownish, hero or rascal, whether portent of good tidings or ill, rabbits and hares have leapt through myths, legends, and folk tales all around the world -- forever elusive, refusing to be caught and bound by a single definition. Elves were often portrayed as morally ambivalent. This article is about the mythological character. Such astonishing skills in biological reproduction certainly had an impact on European symbolism. Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/egg-laying-bunnies-and-mad-march-hares-2562459. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine If they ever do end up taking over the world, its not like we havent been warned. Protectress of fertility, goddess of rebirth and friend to all children. So how can you channel this frantic, fertile energy into a magical working? For example, the Virgin Mary is often shown with a white hare or rabbit, symbolizing that she overcame sexual temptation. 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. Eventually, Jinora urged the spirits to reveal themselves to Tenzin, Korra, Bumi, and the rest of her family, and they helped the group gain access to the spirit world. Eostre, too, was a shape-shifter, taking the shape of a hare at each full moon; all hares were sacred to her, and acted as her messengers. Rabbits were sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and marriage -- for rabbits had the gift of Aphrodite (fertility) in great abundance. Gary K. Wolfs original novel, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? Protectress of fertility, goddess of rebirth and friend to all children. Its not long before the village is being terrorized by a giant, vegetable-crazed Were-Rabbit, and Wallace and Gromit must solve the mystery before the monster can ruin the annual Giant Vegetable Competitionand if you havent seen this movie, you probably should. In Greco-Roman myth, the hare represented romantic love, lust, abundance, and fercundity. 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. This notion is supported by later texts, including the Song-era Taiping Imperial Reader. In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean mythology, rabbits live on the moon. But, you may ask us, what do they hunt? In 2002, David Lynch released a series of avante-garde video films featuring a trio of humanoid rabbits, which he refers to as a nine-episode sitcom. The horror-comedy vibe of these shorts is reflected in the series creepy tagline, In a nameless city deluged by a continuous rainthree rabbits live with a fearful mystery. The nature of that mystery is never quite revealed, as the rabbits mainly wander around the sitcom-style set uttering curious non-sequiturs or reciting esoteric poetry; they are occasionally interrupted by a random, effusive laugh track. Could the Easter Bunny have derived from this ancient Buddhist symbol? Read the original article. Fortunately for Lepus, he had a better fate than other tulpas and gods who were demonized by the Church. Rumors that he may be closely related to Jaxxson remain unconfirmed. 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. Does this close the case on the origins of the Easter Bunny? Moon folklore from certain Amerindian cultures of North America also has rabbit themes and characters. No matter what shape the pca takes, its fur is always dark. His name is Byrd Rentals. He gains superpowers when a meteor fragment strikes his hot tub and becomes Rubberduck.) Or a total stranger tells you something that, when followed up, turns out to be an amazing opportunity. For the Chinese Lunar Rover, see, "Jade Hare" redirects here. The Bible offers mixed attitudes towards rabbits. is significantly different from the blockbuster Disney hit it was eventually turned into. But your good fortune comes in the oddest of ways. Advertising Notice As we head into the Easter weekend, Id like to take a minute to pay tribute to some of the more memorable bunnies and assorted rabbit-like creatures who have hopped, time-traveled, and occasionally slaughtered their way through science fiction and fantasy, beginning (in no particular order), with everybodys favorite hard-drinking, invisible lagomorph. 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. In the folklore of various cultures and ancient civilizations, rabbits have represented a kind of Trickster figure. Apparently inspired by a medieval carving on the faade of Frances Amiens Cathedral (in which the vice of cowardice is represented by a knight fleeing from a rabbit), this scene is now a permanent contender for the title of greatest two minutes in bunny-related movie comedy history. Pages in category "Mythological rabbits and hares" The following 19 pages are in this category, out of 19 total. In Mayan art, glyphs, hieroglyphics, and inscriptions, a rabbit frequently is shown with the Moon Goddess and another deity related to the Moon. Br'er Rabbit is a trickster character. To amuse children, Eostre changed her beautiful pet bird into a rabbit. Released in 1972, Night of the Lepus was a monumental flop, completely panned by critics for its horrible plot, premise, direction, acting, and special effects, and for utterly failing to make giant bunnies seem scary (presumably forcing audiences to wait with bated breath another six years before they could be properly traumatized by the film version of Watership Down). Kaltes, the shape-shifting moon goddess of western Siberia, liked to roam the hills in the form of a hare, and was sometimes pictured in human shape wearing a headdress with hares ears. The character of the "Easter bunny" first appeared in 16th-century German writings, which said that if well-behaved children built a nest out of their caps or bonnets, they would be rewarded with colored eggs left in the night by an Easter Hare. Cookie Policy The Aztecs worshipped a group of deities known as the Centzon Totochtin, a group of 400 hard-partying rabbits who were the gods of drunkenness. 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. From the Greek world through the Renaissance, hares often appear as symbols of sexuality in literature and art. Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play, Harvey embodies everything strange and brilliant and wonderful about classic Hollywood. | The further we chase the origins of the Easter Bunny, the more he disappears down the dark warrens, teasing our desperation for a logical answer to a surprisingly complex puzzle. Due to Tecciztecatl's cowardice, the deities felt that the Moon should not be so bright as the Sun, so one of the deities threw a rabbit at his face to diminish his light. The eating of the hare may have been associated with various longstanding folk traditions of scaring away witches at Easter. In both the original comics and the spin-off media, Bucky fearlessly leads his crewwhich includes a telepathic cat, a four-armed pirate duck, a Berserker Baboon, a one-eyed android named Blinky, and a presumably confused pre-teen who becomes stranded in the Aniverseagainst the rising toad menace. Indigenous North and Central American culture have very similar myths that connect hares and rabbits with the moon, presumably because they also detected lagomorphic markings on the lunar surface. One of the most important and popular stories in the Chinese canon, the tale of Chang'e plays a central role in the annual Mid-Autumn Festival. Though now associated with the Holy Trinity in Christian iconography, the original, pre-Christian meaning of the Three Hares design has yet to be discovered, but we can glimpse possible interpretations by examining the wealth of world mythology and folklore involving rabbits and hares. Spring equinox, or Ostara, is a time for fertility and sowing seeds, and so nature's fertility goes a little crazy. The moon does indeed have a marking on its surface which looks (with a little imagination and squinting) like a hare. 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. Set in Japan during the early Edo period, the series was lauded for its attention to detail in terms of period architecture, weaponry, clothing, etc., and drew heavily on Japanese samurai films (particularly the work of Akira Kurosawa, given the title) as well as Japanese history and folklore. They are both part of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, and the family Leporidae, and have often been treated in the same way in religions, fables, and in visual culture. This list may not reflect recent changes . Woods, W. David; MacTaggart, Kenneth D.; O'Brien, Frank. From 2013 to 2017, he was the editor for Western Folklore. But it is in the folk traditions of England and Germany that the figure of the hare is specifically connected to Easter. According to the legend, on clear nights, Rabbit still may be seen riding the Moon. It may be found in diverse cultures in China, Japan, India, Korea, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Chang'e dances into Smite, brings Jade Rabbit with her. Hares were associated with the Artemis, goddess of wild places and the hunt, and newborn hares were not to be killed but left to her protection. In The Madonna of the Rabbit (1520-30) by Titian, a bunny symbolises chastity (Credit: Getty Images). You cant really separate the Simpsons from their origins in Life in Hell, the long-running comic strip dedicated to Matt Groenings ruminations on life, love, work, death, and all the fear, humor, irritations, and anxiety that existence entails. Bede noted that in eighth-century England, the month of April was called Eosturmonath, or Eostre Month, after the goddess Eostre. furry! Comments (10). You should probably listen to him. Did You Know? They come in various appearances, and can look like animals, humans and even objects. Always. In the book, its the Hare, not the Rabbit, that loves to partyand maybe they were only drinking tea when Alice first encounters the March Hare, but something tells me he would fit right in with a certain clique of ancient Aztec party bunnies. The rabbit is seen as a trickster figure in many western mythologies. C Cabbit Centzon Ttchtin H Hare Hare of Inaba J Jackalope Jiibayaabooz K Kaltes-Ekwa L Lepus cornutus M Macuiltochtli Al-Mi'raj Milk rabbit Moon rabbit R Rabbit (zodiac) Wigington, Patti. For a long time, this was scoffed at, but recent science has proved that hares are indeed capable of such a feat. When exposed to negative energy, dragonfly bunny spirits may turn into dark spirits, but otherwise make great pets and I totally want one. 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. Jerk.) window.__mirage2 = {petok:"Iwx8igBLrh._vaB3F.M1nIvgLLkAz9idDEzaf7xttaE-1800-0"}; "Egg-Laying Bunnies and Mad March Hares." 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. 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. Touched by the rabbit's virtue, he drew the likeness of the rabbit on the Moon for all to see. 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". If we dig a little deeper into their stories, we find that they are also contradictory, paradoxical creatures: symbols of both cleverness and foolishness, of femininity and androgyny, of cowardice and courage, of rampant sexuality and virginal purity. In Chinese folklore, the rabbit is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess Chang'e, constantly pounding the elixir of life[1] for her and some show the making of cakes or rice cakes; but in Japanese and Korean versions, the rabbit is pounding the ingredients for mochi or some other type of rice cakes; in the Vietnamese version, the Moon rabbit often appears with Hng Nga and Ch Cui, and like the Chinese version, the Vietnamese Moon rabbit also pounding the elixir of immortality in the mortar. The Moon rabbit legend is popular and part of local folklore throughout Asia. The idea that the witches of winter should be banished at Easter is a common European folk motif appearing in several festivities and rituals. It is said the lunar image is still draped in the smoke that rose when the rabbit cast itself into the fire. Okay, its complicatedif you want an excellent rundown of the film, go herebut all you really need to know is that if Frank shows up on your doorstep with a basket of Peeps and jellybeans, you should probably run for the hills and dont look back. Sam & Max have attracted a rabid cult following over the years, initially appearing in comics, then a series of video games and TV series in the late 90sI first encountered them in the now-classic LucasArts adventure game Sam & Max Hit the Road, which I cant recommend highly enough12-year-old me was a little obsessed with it, back in the day, and Im pretty sure it holds up, even now. 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. Hare of Inaba is a demon in the series. In Vietnamese mythology, the Jade Rabbit on the Moon is often accompanied by the Moon Lady and Cui, who sits under a magical banyan. Our Privacy Notice has been updated to explain how we use cookies, which you accept by continuing to use this website. Fans of Brian Jacques Redwall series will recognize this handsome gentleman as Basil Stag Hare of the Fur and Foot Fighting Patrol. The rabbits are played by Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, and Scott Coffey (all of whom appeared in Lynchs Mulholland Drive), and the set and some footage from the series were used in Inland Empire, lending fuel to the theory that all of Lynchs films are somehow interrelated in some crazy way. Theres even a cartoon series based on the books, currently in its third and final season. A famous poet of Tang China, Li Bai, relates how "The rabbit in the moon pounds the medicine in vain" in his poem, "The Old Dust".[3]. Egg-Laying Bunnies and Mad March Hares. 1. Could the Easter Bunny be connected to this classical idea of fertility, used to express the rejuvenation and fecundity of springtime?
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