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Whilst we are on bunnies...
There also is of course the lucky rabbits foot. Just as some people keep shoes, over the hearth, my family kept a rabbits foot, in the glove conpartment in the car. I am guessing this is probably the same sort of thing...?
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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Rabbits sound the alarm by thumping with their hind feet. We had a house rabbit who thumped when the heating came on in the morning which was really irritating till I read about a household who were woken up by their rabbit's thumping when a burglar broke in. The family terrier slept peacefully throughout.
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Mick Harper
Site Admin
In: London
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I fell in love with a rabbit once, on a French exchange. How they laughed when later I declined to join them in eating it.
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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Makes a difference when it has a name. A presenter on a countryside programme asked if the cows being discussed had names, the farmer looked suitably bemused. In mythology the sacrifice (human or divine) is eaten as part of the end of the year ritual, but not the leg- or shank-bone.
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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It's not an anatomical leg of course. The food of the gods or sacrifice is amanita muscaria, the sacred mushroom. Only the top was eaten, never the stalk.
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Hatty wrote: | Actually a rabbit cap is rather apt, there are some very striking carvings found across Europe as far as China and in England, mostly in churches in Devon, of three hares running in a circle joined by one of their ears. The hares all face the same direction so they form a continuous circle. No-one knows what the three hares mean but hares in folklore are associated with the moon (the Chinese 'hare in the moon', moon-mad etc.).
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paderborner_Dom_Dreihasenfenster.jpg
Its all very intriguing, my interpretation after seeing a few thumbnails is that the hares are dead, the symbolism is that the hunter holds them by the ears, they are then taken home and hung by the feet.
http://www.chrischapmanphotography.co.uk/hares/index.html
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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The three hares could be a hunting reference. It makes me think of the Isle of Man flag (three legs with a spur on, significantly, each heel and joined at the thigh) which seems to be a moon (man?) symbol. Sicily has a similar emblem which featured the head of Medusa in the centre (a version of the 'crone') that may or may not be related to the Manx symbol..
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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My money is on it being a representation of some mathematical properties of the equilateral triangle.
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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Reminds me of the swastika which was all about angles. Isle of Man is Ellen Vannin, ellen meaning 'angle' (elbow). In Cornish vaen is the feminine of maen i.e. stone. Not sure if there's any connection with Lake Van, the shape of the lake is quite triangular.
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To me the circle represents moon/woman, the triangle is fire/man.
It is a simple story....
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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Your 'tsunami' reminds me that the Van cat, native to the Lake Van region in eastern Anatolia, is highly unusual because it likes water and is called the 'swimming cat', often compared to dogs on account of their intelligence and affectionate nature. They are a pure white breed with blue or amber or odd-coloured eyes. Odd being the key word for Manx cats too.
The Van cat is thought to have been part of a prehistoric Armenian cult of a mother-goddess. In Manx vane means white. I'll try to make more sense when my head has stopped throbbing. Happy New Year.
PS. A Twelfth Night, i.e. thirteenth day of the new year, custom on the Isle of Man involves a horse's head concealed under a white sheet (laare vane in Manx) being chased off the premises.
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Ishmael
In: Toronto
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Yup. That's it.
(and in future, posting the image would be helpful)
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Hatty
Site Admin
In: Berkshire
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As I said, it's the emblem of the Isle of Man (moon). Also of the island of Sicily (Cecilia=Catherine=Thrice-Great Hecate).
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