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Rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. The species' role as a prey animal also lends itself as a symbol of innocence, another Easter connotation. Additionally, rabbits are often used as symbols of playful sexuality, which also relates to the human perception of innocence, as well as its reputation as a prolific breeder.
Folklore and mythology The rabbit often appears in folklore as the trickster archetype, as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies. - In Chinese literature, rabbits accompany Chang'e on the Moon. Also associated with the Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year), rabbits are also one of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese Zodiac for the Chinese calendar. It is interesting to note that the Vietnamese lunar new year replaced the rabbit with a cat in their calendar, as rabbits did not inhabit Vietnam. - In Japanese tradition, rabbits live on the Moon where they make mochi, the popular snack of mashed sticky rice. This comes from interpreting the pattern of dark patches on the moon as a rabbit standing on tiptoes on the left pounding on an usu, a Japanese mortar (See also: Moon rabbit). A popular culture manifestation of this tradition can be found in the character title character of Sailor Moon, whose name is Usagi Tsukino, a Japanese pun on the words "rabbit of the moon." Similarly, Japanese-American Stan Sakai's comic book character Usagi Miyamoto from Usagi Yojimbo is an anthropomorphized rabbit who is a samurai, based loosely on Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. - A Korean myth similar to the Japanese counterpart also presents rabbits living on the moon making rice cakes (Tteok in Korean), although not specified as mochi (rice cakes that have sweet red bean paste fillings). - In Aztec mythology, a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known as Centzon Totochtin, led by Ometotchtli or Two Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness. - In Native American Ojibwe mythology, Nanabozho, or Great Rabbit, is an important deity related to the creation of the world. - In the folklore of the United States, a rabbit's foot is frequently carried as an amulet, and is often used as keychain, where it is thought to bring luck. The practice derives from the system of African-American folk magic called hoodoo. - In Central Africa "Kalulu" the rabbit is widely known as a tricky character, getting the better of bargains. [citation needed] - In Jewish folklore, rabbits (shfanim) are associated with cowardice. On the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK, the rabbit is said to be unlucky and speaking its name can cause upset with older residents. This is thought to date back to early times in the quarrying industry, where piles of extracted stone (not fit for sale) were built into tall rough walls (to save space) directly behind the working quarry face; the rabbit's natural tendency to burrow would weaken these "walls" and cause collapse, often resulting in injuries or even death. The name rabbit is often substituted with words such as “long ears” or “underground mutton”, so as not to have to say the proper name and bring bad luck to one’s self. It is said that a Public House (on the Island) can be cleared of people by calling out the word rabbit and while this was very true in the past, it has gradually become more fable than fact over the past 50 years. Other fictional rabbits The rabbit as trickster appears in American popular culture; for example the Br'er Rabbit character from African-American folktales and Disney animation; and the Warner Brothers cartoon character Bugs Bunny. Anthropomorphized rabbits have appeared in a host of works of film, literature, and technology, notably the White Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; in the popular novel Watership Down, by Richard Adams; Cream the Rabbit, daughter to Vanilla the Rabbit, from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series; and in Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit stories. Also they appear as Rabbids in the Ubisoft game Rayman Raving Rabbids and in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, there is the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog which is killed by the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, and rabbits are featured in both The Goodies episodes (Invasion of the Moon Creatures and Animals). Rabbits are also the subject of one of the first children's stories The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, as well as the Little Golden Books story "The Lively LIttle Rabbit". The Pokémon franchise has also released two new rabbit pokémon, Buneary and its evolution Lopunny. Urban legends It was commonly believed that pregnancy tests were based on the idea that a rabbit would die if injected with a pregnant woman's urine. This is not true. However, in the 1920s it was discovered that if the urine contained the hCG, a hormone found in the bodies of pregnant women, the rabbit would display ovarian changes. The rabbit would then be killed to have its ovaries inspected, but the death of the rabbit was not the indicator of the results. Later revisions of the test allowed technicians to inspect the ovaries without killing the animal. A similar test involved injecting Xenopus frogs to make them lay eggs, but animal assays for pregnancy have been made obsolete by faster, cheaper, and simpler modern methods. |
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