Punkin Pie
Pirate Lord
There are a lot of bunnies around this time of year and as one was frolicking by, a friend asked me where the idea of "lucky" rabbit's feet came from. I had to investigate that myself.
How "lucky" can a rabbit's foot be?
If you consider where it came from - it certainly wasn't lucky for the wearer.
Soooo... where did the idea of a Lucky rabbit's foot come from?
Experts cannot agree why the rabbit's foot has become synonymous with good luck.
In some cultures, the foot of a rabbit is carried as an amulet believed to bring good luck. This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world, including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. In variations of this superstition, the donor rabbit must possess certain attributes, have been killed in a particular place, killed by a particular method, or by a person possessing particular attributes (e.g., by a cross-eyed man).
The belief in North American folklore may originate in the system of African American folk magic known as "hoodoo".
- First, not any foot from a rabbit will do: it is the left hind foot of a rabbit that is useful as a charm.
- Second, not any left hind foot of a rabbit will do; the rabbit must have been shot or otherwise captured in a cemetery.
- Third, at least according to some sources, not any left hind foot of a rabbit shot in a cemetery will do: the phase of the moon is also important. Some authorities say that the rabbit must be taken in the full moon, while others hold instead that the rabbit must be taken in the new moon. Some sources say instead that the rabbit must be taken on a Friday, or a rainy Friday, or Friday the 13th. Some sources say that the rabbit should be shot with a silver bullet, while others say that the foot must be cut off while the rabbit is still alive.
The Celts are known to have associated rabbits with good fortune- the whole rabbit, not just the foot. According to Celtic folklore, the fact that rabbits lived in burrows deep underground meant that they were in direct communication with the gods and spirits of the underworld.
It isn’t clear whether this contributed to the very modern practice of the lucky rabbit’s foot that popped up around the turn of the twentieth century in America. These Celtic beliefs did evolve somewhat, carrying over into certain other European cultures. For instance, in the 16th century, there is a work by Reginald Scot that mentions that a good way to ease the pain of arthritis was to carry around a rabbit’s foot.
It’s possible this was then blended with aspects of African American folk magic. Or, it may be that the specific lucky rabbit’s foot tradition simply came from traditions in the African folk magic that were unrelated to the European traditions associated with the rabbit. We just don’t have the hard documented evidence to be able to discern the exact lineage. But, in either case, it is generally thought that African folk magic played a role in the modern tradition, and possibly is the most direct ancestor to the superstition.
I would think that in order to get all of those conditions listed above met, that would prove to be lucky in itself. Rabbits need their feet much more than we do.
Do you think a rabbit's foot is lucky?
Do you have anything that you think brings you luck?
