Persons born in the Year of the Hare (1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011) are talented and ambitious. They are popular, entertaining, and often the center of attention. Even though they are well-liked they can be melancholy. They almost never lose their temper and are very good-natured. In the business world they instinctively make right decisions. Nevertheless they are not gamblers. Hares are known for their sense of art and for this reason they often have beautiful homes.Image: Leenda K.
Image: Subject and photographer unknown.
The hare is common in the Yangtze basin and the northern regions [of China].
C. A. S. Williams, in The Encyclopaedia of Chinese Symbolism and Art Motives, notes that the hare “is an emblem of longevity, often depicted on porcelain, and it represents the fourth of the Twelve Terrestial Branches. This animal is reputed as deriving its origin from the vital essence of the Moon to the influence of which luminary it is consequently subject.”
The Twelve Terrestial Branches are the twelve signs of the Chinese solar zodiac which contains six wild and six domestic animals. The hare is the sign for the East which coincides with the Second Moon; and it also gives its name to The Year of the Hare.– Excerpted from The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson (Faber and Faber, 1972), p.117.Image: “Magpies and Hare” by Tsui Bai.
Image: Subject and photographer unknown.
Hares and rabbits have long-standing associations with spring, especially the month of March. Both hares and rabbits are lagomorphs (not rodents) and are usually interchangeable for magical purposes.. . . Many spells and charms draw on the power of these magical creatures. A lucky rabbit’s foot is merely the most famous example. In China, one might carry a green jade rabbit for luck. The fur of a live hare can empower spells for invisibility or speed. Rabbit or hare emblems often appear in rituals for fertility or virility.Some believe eating hare or rabbit meat makes them become beautiful or romantically desirable. Though taboo in some cultures, hunting rabbits and hares was often allowed for spring holidays, such as Ostara and Beltane. This is undoubtedly related to the near-coinciding fertility festivals.Altogether, hares and rabbits represent the burgeoning life force of spring, with its boundless exuberance and fruitfulness. Bringing them into your life helps attract these qualities.- Elizabeth Barrette(Excerpted from Llewellyn’s Witches’ Calendar 2009)Image: Detail of “I’m for the Hare that Runs by Night” (digital paint, 2003), part of Martin Herbert’s Totem Animal Series.
Image: Subjects and photographer unknown.
