' In the old days, hares were animals sacred to the Goddess—they brought luck, fertility, transformation, and healing. But as with other sacred animals, such as the cat and snake, Christianity degraded and inverted their symbolism. The close association between cats and hares is seen in their both having the nicknames of "pussy" and "malkin," and in medieval times it was commonly believed that witches could shape-shift or skin-turn into hares—to go milking at night, or to travel over great distances. It is possible that the "Hares' Parliament," in which hares sit in rings, reminded observers of the witches' circle, with each member of the ring being in reality a witch who had disguised herself as a hare.
A hare's foot was often carried as a protection against rheumatism, or by an actor to help with "shape-shifting" into a role, but in Scotland if a hare's foot was discovered on a fisherman's boat it was considered a curse, and the word "hare" was never to be spoken at sea. Similarly, seeing a hare crossing one's path when setting out on a journey was considered unlucky. It was also believed that the "machinations of the fairies"produced hare lips, or that in pregnancy the mother had accidentally startled a hare.
Rebirth, Resurrection and the Corn Spirit
As bearers of good fortune, and as animals sacred to the Goddess, hares, or figurines of them, have been found buried in ritual pits. As a grave companion the hare is ideal, for it symbolizes the power of the Goddess to bring rebirth and immortality. This power is often represented in the Corn Spirit, who embodies the magical ability of the life-sustaining crops to die in the fall only to be reborn in the spring. The pagan underpinnings of Christianity become abundantly obvious at Alban Eiler, the Spring Equinox. Here the hare is the original "Easter Bunny"—the word Easter being derived from the Saxon goddess Eostre, to whom the hare was sacred. Hares sleep outdoors in "forms," which look remarkably like lap-wings' nests, and in spring when these nests are filled with eggs, it seems as if the hares have made them magically appear—they become the gifts of the Sacred Hare. As goddess, the hare has brought new life—rebirth—at the Equinox. The Christianized version becomes the moon-determined time of Easter, when the appearance of "bunnies" and chocolate or painted eggs marks the time of the resurrection of Christ.
The hare reappears again at the other side of the year—at the time of Alban Elued, the Autumn Equinox—when the promise of the spring is fulfilled in the autumn harvest. The last sheaf of corn to be cut was called "the hare" and its ritual cutting was known as killing or cutting the hare. If a hare happened to bolt out of this last sheaf as it was cut, this was considered extremely auspicious.
Grandmother Hare
Since the hare was sacred to the Goddess and symbolic of the Corn Spirit, eating it was taboo. In Kerry they still say that to eat a hare is to eat one's grandmother. But like horsemeat, hare's flesh was forbidden only in Britain and Ireland, except that the Kings of Tara were allowed to eat the hares of Naas. In Gaul the hare was the most popular of hunted animals. In Ulster "chasing the Cailleach" (the hag-goddess) was allowed immediately following the harvest, and in some parts of Britain hare-hunting was allowed on the one day of Beltane.
Hare-coursing was a later introduction, probably of the Romans, but the image of the hare being pursued by the grayhound is powerfully invoked in the story of Taliesin—in which the fleeing Gwion turns himself into a hare to escape the goddess Ceridwen, who then shape-shifts into a grayhound to continue her pursuit.
Virtually impossible to raise in captivity, supremely fertile, the hare when caught cries like a human child. In the Western tradition, and in many other traditions throughout the world, it is strongly associated with the moon, whiteness, dawn and the east. '
Presented by The Druid Oracles app from The Fool's Dog.
t.me/IntuitiveCelt/332
t.me/IntuitiveCelt/333
A hare's foot was often carried as a protection against rheumatism, or by an actor to help with "shape-shifting" into a role, but in Scotland if a hare's foot was discovered on a fisherman's boat it was considered a curse, and the word "hare" was never to be spoken at sea. Similarly, seeing a hare crossing one's path when setting out on a journey was considered unlucky. It was also believed that the "machinations of the fairies"produced hare lips, or that in pregnancy the mother had accidentally startled a hare.
Rebirth, Resurrection and the Corn Spirit
As bearers of good fortune, and as animals sacred to the Goddess, hares, or figurines of them, have been found buried in ritual pits. As a grave companion the hare is ideal, for it symbolizes the power of the Goddess to bring rebirth and immortality. This power is often represented in the Corn Spirit, who embodies the magical ability of the life-sustaining crops to die in the fall only to be reborn in the spring. The pagan underpinnings of Christianity become abundantly obvious at Alban Eiler, the Spring Equinox. Here the hare is the original "Easter Bunny"—the word Easter being derived from the Saxon goddess Eostre, to whom the hare was sacred. Hares sleep outdoors in "forms," which look remarkably like lap-wings' nests, and in spring when these nests are filled with eggs, it seems as if the hares have made them magically appear—they become the gifts of the Sacred Hare. As goddess, the hare has brought new life—rebirth—at the Equinox. The Christianized version becomes the moon-determined time of Easter, when the appearance of "bunnies" and chocolate or painted eggs marks the time of the resurrection of Christ.
The hare reappears again at the other side of the year—at the time of Alban Elued, the Autumn Equinox—when the promise of the spring is fulfilled in the autumn harvest. The last sheaf of corn to be cut was called "the hare" and its ritual cutting was known as killing or cutting the hare. If a hare happened to bolt out of this last sheaf as it was cut, this was considered extremely auspicious.
Grandmother Hare
Since the hare was sacred to the Goddess and symbolic of the Corn Spirit, eating it was taboo. In Kerry they still say that to eat a hare is to eat one's grandmother. But like horsemeat, hare's flesh was forbidden only in Britain and Ireland, except that the Kings of Tara were allowed to eat the hares of Naas. In Gaul the hare was the most popular of hunted animals. In Ulster "chasing the Cailleach" (the hag-goddess) was allowed immediately following the harvest, and in some parts of Britain hare-hunting was allowed on the one day of Beltane.
Hare-coursing was a later introduction, probably of the Romans, but the image of the hare being pursued by the grayhound is powerfully invoked in the story of Taliesin—in which the fleeing Gwion turns himself into a hare to escape the goddess Ceridwen, who then shape-shifts into a grayhound to continue her pursuit.
Virtually impossible to raise in captivity, supremely fertile, the hare when caught cries like a human child. In the Western tradition, and in many other traditions throughout the world, it is strongly associated with the moon, whiteness, dawn and the east. '
Presented by The Druid Oracles app from The Fool's Dog.
t.me/IntuitiveCelt/332
t.me/IntuitiveCelt/333