The Leaper

The following is excerpted from The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson.

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A symbol is a sign or object that stands not exactly, but by association or resemblance, for something else. In primitive writing a picture stands for the object named, but as the art of writing develops the same picture is adapted and used for abstract ideas.

This process can be traced in language too: “haring away” for running off in action or thought, “hare-brained” for foolish or a mind that takes unpredictable leaps. The hare is, literally in several languages, the leaper, the one who springs or starts up, and so becomes linked with creation, the springing up of life, and with the quick mind. We often speak of an intelligent mind as one which leaps to a truth where others plod their way by stages; the fool and the genius share essential qualities.


Image: 1: Paul Jenkins
Image2: Sarah Cheese