Although we have hares at Cae Non, none would agree to pose for me, so here is a model, along with some of my Easter baking yesterday.
What on earth has a rabbit got to do with Easter – or springtime? The answer is absolutely nothing! It is not a rabbit which is associated with Easter but the magical, sacred Hare – which is physically quite distinctive from its similar-looking but much smaller cousin. Unlike the rabbit, the Hare has a long tradition of featuring in various spiritual belief systems all around the world and throughout history, and is not merely a pretty character enacting a game just for children.
In many ancient cultures the Hare was regarded as a mystical animal linked to the Moon. As the cycles of the Moon rule the Earth’s waters, and also influence the female reproductive cycle, so the Hare became an archetypal symbol of the divine feminine, fertility, longevity, rebirth and the lunar cycle from new to full and waning to dark; from conception to gestation, from growth to decline and death.
Until relatively recently, the Hare was thought to be androgynous and laid its young in eggs. (See where this is leading?) Hare was thought to be representative of the way the Moon was perceived – in some cultures the waxing Moon has a masculine aspect and the waning Moon a feminine aspect. Even today, hares remind us of these ancient ways; they embody the natural rhythms – the very spirit – of life and such concepts as spiritual fulfilment and enlightenment.
The Hare is also often seen as a messenger of the Great Goddess, moving by moonlight between the human world and the realm of deity. In some traditions, the Hare is a god or goddess in his/her own right. Others demonstrate a belief that the Hare was somehow disgraced or denigrated, either out of jealousy or as a result of its own bad behaviour. There is always a very paradoxical element to the Hare, simultaneously seen as a symbol of cleverness and foolishness, courage and cowardice, rampant sexuality and virginal purity, femininity and androgyny, a sacred world creator and wily deceiver all rolled into one. Perhaps this element to the Hare’s sacred character only goes to reflect the generally amoral and untameable character of the elemental natural world.
If you would like to learn much more about the history of the Hare – and other traditions associated with Easter and this beautiful time of year, start off by dipping into my book, ‘Spring in Your Step’.
But whatever else you do this Eastertide, look at the ‘Bunny’ traditions in a new light. Here we have the sacred Hare, sowing the winter landscape with new life in the form of eggs – in themselves a symbol of new life and regeneration.
When I was a child, in the egg hunts around our garden, I was always directed to look for my chocolate treats wherever there was a flower in bloom – a natural assumption as spring flowers demonstrate the turning of the seasons and the return of light, warmth and light to the land, brought by the magical Hare.
So pay attention to the flowers… and perhaps look beneath their petals or leaves to find your own magic!
A very happy Easter to you all!
