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Animals and Witchcraft

(The Witches Familiar)

Rabbits & Hares

By Patricia J. Martin

Time to hop into Spring! And who better to do it with than those adorable long-eared and short fluffy-tailed creatures, the Rabbit and his cousin, the Hare - both of whom are well associated with fertility, Spring, creativity and new beginnings.

The Rabbit and Hare have also long been associated with the Goddess and were the totem of several - the hare to Artemis and Hecate, the sacred rabbit to Aphrodite, to Holda who was accompanied by several torch-bearing hares, to Cerridwen and Freyja who both had hare attendants, and, of course, to Eostre who was said to have taken the shape of a hare at each full moon and whose Anglo-Saxon counterpart, Ostara, was often depicted with a white hare by her side. There are many more goddesses associated with or attended to by both rabbits and hares and, in such, these gentle creatures can assist us in becoming more attuned to the lunar cycle. All rabbits in general are associated with the Moon, magick, luck, love, creativity, success, sensitivity, agility, spontaneity, abundance, rebirth and, of course, fertility.

There is something to be said about the "March Hare" who is typically seen this month darting around at all hours of the day and night when normally they are nocturnal creatures, and there stands reason behind the old saying "mad as a March Hare," for March is the beginning of their mating season. The males will be seen acting strangely and appear quite "mad" in their antics, especially if rebuffed by the female.

Rabbits are also out and about at this time of year, and are there to teach us that fertility has returned to the land and to us too, in all respects. Ostara is the time to rejoice in the return of the Goddess in her maiden form, and in the growth and early maturity of the God who is youthful and now coming into his own. It is a time to awaken and continue welcoming the return of the Sun, as we cast off the cloak of winter and are now ready to begin to put into play all that we have thought about and mulled over during our own internal musings during the slow, cold months we've been delivered from. And it is a time to give thanks for the resurrection of life, once dormant, but now once again alive and fertile. The Rabbit and Hare are most happy to attend to the season and to welcome it in. And with this Totem, our own lives and endeavors are assured to grow in leaps and bounds.

There are striking differences between rabbits and hares. Newborn rabbits are called kittens, while newborn hares are called leverets. And while baby rabbits are born naked, helpless and blind, baby hares are fully furred at birth and are able to move independently and able to immediately see. Hares can actually live on their own very soon after birth. As each matures, the common Cottontail Rabbit will be smaller than the Hare (who has much larger ears, back legs and overall mass), and will have a year-round lighter brown color fur, whereas hares usually have splotches of black in their coat, and the overall color will change from grayish-brown in summer to white in winter. But even with their slight differences, both will

Since rabbits are often prey for many larger animals, they are usually on guard and can be quite timid or leery of the slightest movement in their surroundings. Their ears are large and will stand straight up when they detect danger. They keep their eyes trained on both land and sky. Luckily, rabbits are also quick thinkers and quick movers. In a protective move, they are known to double back to elude a predator. Those with Rabbit Totem will find themselves more quickly capable of seeing all sides of an issue, having an increase in clairvoyance and especially clairaudience, and becoming much more acutely aware of their surroundings - all making for clearer visions and rapid, auspicious decisions. This Totem teaches us how to never again box ourselves into any corner, and thus frees us from limitation.

While teaching of freedom, Rabbit will also teach us the value of knowing when to speed up, when to slow down, and when to double back to revisit something we may have missed or need to set right. This includes all species of Rabbit, including the Cottontail, Snowshoe Rabbit, Hare, Jackrabbit, and even all varieties of domestic rabbits. In watching this animal, we see that it is not uncommon for it to stand stone-still while, ever on the alert, it assesses its situation. Alternately, we can also see that it knows when to dart away from danger or to run like the wind whenever it needs to. For this, rabbits are often associated with fear. Even in the story we see the White Rabbit (white symbolic of the purest essence of one's Self) showing his fear of being late and yet leading Alice into a fantastic world of adventure. Fear has its place in situations of survival, as it attempts to show us how to be careful and mindful as we go after our new goals. But by having this Totem, we will also be reminded to not let fear hinder nor keep us from moving forward toward where we want or need to be. They also teach us that how we think, will often manifest. So we must dispel old fears that are not serving any purpose other than to thwart our movements. But with increased intuition coming into play with this Totem, we are assured of success and for good fortune to follow if we stay mindful and alert during all our new adventures. Like Rabbit, we must rely on finely-tuned senses, agility and wit.

This quick-witted animal, who expects us to view and confront our own fears, is known as a "trickster" in more than one ancient tradition. Certain Native American tribes credit the creation of the earth to the "Great Hare" and view him as a hero, while others see him as more the trickster clown. Either way, Hare or Rabbit's style of trickery, while gently teaching a lesson, is always soft and simply wise. In Chinese myth, it is said that the Buddha called forth all animals to his side before he was to leave this world, but only 12 came - the rabbit being the fourth to come bid him farewell. Buddha rewarded the 12 animals by naming a year after each, and the Rabbit came to rule every fourth year of every twelve in the Chinese Zodiac. In Indian legend, it was said that Buddha was a hare in one of his earlier incarnations. Within the Christian adaptation we have the Easter Bunny. In Greco-Roman myth, the hare is symbolic of romantic love, abundance, sexuality and tremendous fertility. In fact, Pliny the Elder wrote that eating hare meat would increase sexual attraction for nine days, and that it could be a cure for sterility. And in Egyptian lore, the rabbit is connected to the very essence of being. These mystical creatures, known throughout the world in legend, lore and literature, are gentle leaders, pushing us toward fertile grounds, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Rabbits are vegetarians, eating soft bark, leaves, herbs and fruit. As a Totem, they will encourage us to start eating more lightly too. Fresh salads with baby greens, new early Spring vegetables, and a lighter menu in general will be most beneficial as we head into the more active time of year. Gone are the heavier and more substantial Winter meals. Rabbit shows it is time to be light on our feet, more active and more playful.

Rabbits and Hares have long been associated with magick and the ability to walk between the worlds and commune with the faeries. This is because both are most often seen at those magickal 'tween times of dusk and dawn when it is safer for them to be out and about. During the day they stick close to home, which is usually a hidden burrow or, as with the North American Cottontail, in thickets or dense brush. Their ability to dart quickly amidst the shadows as they walk between the earthly realm and the spirit realm, often disappearing and reappearing in the blink of an eye, makes them privy to hidden knowledge and wisdom. It is no wonder rabbits and hares have often been witches' familiars. And it is no wonder that throughout the centuries it has been thought of as lucky to carry a rabbit's foot in one's pocket, for they are a quite magickal Totem.

Even in the stars we can see the mysticism of Rabbit. Across the night sky, the constellation Lepus is the Hare that forever eludes Orion's hunting dogs.

In the black furror of a field
I saw an old witch-hare this night;
And she cocked a lissome ear,
And she eyed the moon so bright,
And she nibbled of the green;
And I whispered "Whsst! witch-hare,"
Away like a ghostie o’er the field
She fled, and left the moonlight there.

(19th century children's poem by Walter de la Mare)

Sources:

Animal-Speak by Ted Andrews

http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrRabbits4.html

Rabbit and Hare, themselves

Pari lives on the East Coast of America and is a Shamanic Witch.

http://www.peacefulpaths.com

Best wishes and Blessed Be

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Sabbats and Festivals:

The Sabbats in History and Mythology / Samhain (October 31st) / Yule (December 21st) / Imbolc (February 2nd) / Ostara (March 21st) / Beltane (April 30th) / Litha (June 21st) / Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st) / Mabon (September 21st)

Rituals contributed by Crone:

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Tools:

Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing

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Trees:

In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder

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Rocks and Stones:

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Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin:

Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble

Wisdom and Inspiration:

Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods / I have a Dream by Martin Luther King /

Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:

Murdered by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark

Old Masters of Academia:

Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras

Biographies

A "Who's Who" of Witches, Pagans and other associated People

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Remembered at Samhain

(Departed Pagan Pioneers, Founders, Elders and Others)

Pagan Pioneers: Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others

Abramelin the Mage / Agrippa / Aidan A Kelly / Albertus Magnus - “Albert the Great” / Aleister Crowley - “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders - “King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Allan Bennett - the Ven. Ananda Metteyya / Allan Kardec (Spiritism) / Alphonsus de Spina / Amber K / Ann Moura / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Balthasar Bekker / Biddy Early / Barbara Vickers / Bridget Cleary - The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / Carl " Llewellyn" Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christopher Penczak / Christina Oakley Harrington / Cornelius Loos / Damh the Bard - "Dave Smith" / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Donald Michael Kraig / Doreen Valiente / Dorothy Morrison / Dr. John Dee & Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Edain McCoy / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone - “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake / Fiona Horne / Frederick McLaren Adams - Feraferia / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gerald B. Gardner - The father of contemporary Witchcraft / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Herman Slater - Horrible Herman / Heinrich Kramer / Isaac Bonewits / Israel Regardie / Ivo Domínguez Jr. / Jack Whiteside Parsons - Rocket Science and Magick / James "Cunning" Murrell - The Master of Witches / Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone / Jean Bodin / Jessie Wicker Bell - “Lady Sheba” / Johann Weyer / Johannes Junius - "The Burgomaster of Bamberg" / Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim - the “Hexenbrenner” (witch burner) / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman - "Pow-wow" / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave and the Kibbo Kith Kindred / John Michael Greer / John Score / Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Lady Gwen Thompson - and "The Rede of the Wiccae" / Laurie Cabot - "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Lodovico Maria Sinistrari / Ludwig Lavater / Madeline Montalban and the Order of the Morning Star / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Michael Howard and the UK "Cauldron Magazine" / Margaret St. Clair - the “Sign of the Labrys” / Marie Laveau - " the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Martin Antoine Del Rio / Matthew Hopkins - “The Witch-Finder General” / Max Ehrmann and the "Desiderata" / Michael A. Aquino - and The Temple of Set / Monique Wilson / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellars / Mrs. Maud Grieve - "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Morning Glory / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Olivia Durdin-Robertson - co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Paracelsus / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Paul Foster Case and the “Builders of the Adytum” mystery school / Peter Binsfeld / Philip Heselton / Raven Grimassi / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Richard Baxter / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and the "The White Goddess" / Rosaleen Norton - “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Rossell Hope Robbins / Ross Nichols and the " Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids" (OBOD) / Rudolf Steiner / Sabrina Underwood - "The Ink Witch" / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox - founder of "Circle Sanctuary" / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer and the " The Golden Bough" / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - (includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather ) / Thomas Ady / T. Thorn Coyle / Vera Chapman / Victor & Cora Anderson and the " Feri Tradition" / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / Walter Ernest Butler / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest /

Many of the above biographies are briefs and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with additional information, please contact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)

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