A rabbit can promise a month of good luck in one recorded American formula, while a hare crossing a traveler’s path was treated as an unlucky interruption in Irish folklore. Elsewhere, rabbit feet became personal charms, hares were linked with witchcraft and stolen milk, and historical Chinese records treated rare white rabbits as favorable omens. The animal itself remains the same broad motif, but the expected outcome changes sharply with place and circumstance.
Rabbit and hare beliefs also show why similar-looking traditions should not automatically be merged. A spoken formula involving the word “rabbit,” a rabbit-foot amulet, a hare encountered on a road, and a supernatural hare accused of stealing milk belong to different strands of folk belief. Some are luck rituals, some are omens, some are folk-medicine practices, and others belong to legend traditions about witchcraft.
Rabbits Invoked for Luck
Saying “Rabbit, Rabbit” at the Start of the Month
American folklore archives record a rule that “rabbit, rabbit” should be spoken before any other words on the morning of the first day of a month. The expected reward is luck for the month ahead. Records from Nashville, Tennessee, and other U.S. locations show that the precise number of repetitions varies.
Saying “Tibbar” When the Morning Formula Is Forgotten
Some American versions include a corrective ritual. If the first-of-the-month rabbit formula was forgotten, the word could be reversed to “tibbar” and spoken before sleep. Records from Michigan and Tennessee preserve versions of this practice, sometimes with the belief that the recovered luck would be weaker than if the morning rule had been followed.
The Graveyard Rabbit Luck Formula
A Nashville folklore record gives a more elaborate first-day formula invoking a rabbit’s foot, the left hind leg of a graveyard rabbit, and the dark of the moon. Unlike the simple “rabbit, rabbit” custom, this version joins spoken luck magic with ideas found in rabbit-foot charm traditions.
Rabbit Feet as Charms and Folk-Medicine Objects
Carrying a Rabbit’s Foot for Luck
Rabbit feet became portable luck charms in the United States and were manufactured in forms suitable for carrying or attaching to personal belongings. A mid-20th-century example in the Bowers Museum was made in New Mexico and described as a lucky charm, probably for the tourist market. Such objects document the practice without proving a single cultural origin for it.
A Rabbit’s Foot Carried Against Rheumatism
A different rabbit-foot tradition is preserved in the Science Museum Group collection. An object from Suffolk, England, dated to roughly 1860–1905, was carried by an older man as protection against rheumatism. This was a folk-medicine amulet, not a medically effective treatment, and its purpose differed from the better-known general luck charm.
When a Hare Crosses the Way
A Hare Crossing the Path as an Unlucky Omen
An Irish folklore record from Shanagolden, County Limerick, lists a hare crossing one’s path among omens of ill luck when setting out on a journey or beginning new work. Older comparative folklore literature records similar fears in several parts of Europe, but the strength and exact consequence of the omen varied locally.
A Hare Crossing Before a Pregnant Woman
A County Meath record says that if a hare crossed a pregnant woman’s path, she should immediately put tar on her skirt or petticoat to prevent the baby from being born with a cleft lip. Other archival versions prescribe damaging or splitting clothing instead. The historical records use an outdated term for cleft lip; the belief has no medical predictive value.
Hares, Witchcraft, and Stolen Milk
The Witch in Hare Form Who Steals Milk
Irish legend collections repeatedly describe a suspicious hare approaching cows and taking their milk, after which the animal is pursued or injured and a similarly injured woman is discovered nearby. The story expresses a belief that a witch could assume hare form to interfere with milk or butter production. Related witch-hare traditions are also documented in Nordic folklore.
The Created Milk-Stealing Hare of Nordic Folklore
Nordic material includes a related but not identical tradition. Folklore scholarship distinguishes stories in which a witch becomes a hare from traditions in which a supernatural creature is created and sent to steal milk or dairy produce. Hare-like forms are especially documented in parts of Sweden and, more sporadically, Norway, while transformation traditions also occur in Denmark.
Hares Around Boats, Weddings, and Homes
Avoiding the Hare’s Name at Sea
Historic folklore accounts describe fishermen on the northeast coast of Scotland avoiding the word “hare” while at sea, with a comparable naming taboo reported among fishermen in western Ireland. In this maritime setting, the animal’s name itself could be treated as ominous rather than merely an encounter with the animal on land.
A Hare Meeting the Wedding Party
Nineteenth-century comparative folklore records a Russian belief that a hare meeting the vehicle carrying newlyweds was a bad omen for the marriage. This is a narrower form of the crossing-hare motif: the encounter is not simply unlucky travel, but an omen attached specifically to a wedding journey.
Keeping or Seeing a Hare Around the House
Irish archival records preserve localized household warnings. In County Westmeath, hares were described as unlucky animals to keep as pets. A County Donegal collection separately records a white tame rabbit as unlucky and treats a hare lingering around a house as an unfavorable sign. These are local records rather than a general Irish rule.
When the Rabbit Becomes a Favorable Omen
The White Rabbit as an Auspicious Chinese Omen
Historical Chinese written traditions give the rabbit a very different role. Scholarly discussion of early and medieval sources notes that rare white rabbits could be interpreted as auspicious portents associated with virtuous rule. Court records preserve white rabbits among unusual animals presented as favorable signs, contrasting sharply with European crossing-hare omens.
Documented Country and Culture Variations
| Country or Culture | Documented Variation | Meaning | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Say “Rabbit, Rabbit” before any other words on the first morning of the month | Good luck for the month | Nashville folklore record collected in 1970 |
| United States | Say “Tibbar” at night if the first-day rabbit formula was forgotten | Recover monthly luck | Michigan archival version, with a related Tennessee record |
| United States | Invoke the left hind leg of a graveyard rabbit caught during the dark moon | Good luck | Nashville folklore formula |
| United States | Rabbit foot made and carried as a luck charm | Good luck | Mid-20th-century museum object, likely made for the tourist market |
| United Kingdom | Carry a rabbit’s foot as a protective folk-medicine amulet | Protection against rheumatism | Suffolk object dated 1860–1905 |
| Ireland | Hare crosses the path when a person starts a journey or new work | Bad luck | Recorded in the National Folklore Collection’s Schools’ Collection |
| Ireland | Pregnant woman encounters a hare and puts tar on her skirt or petticoat | Traditional protective action concerning the unborn child | County Meath folklore record |
| Ireland | Woman takes hare form and steals milk from a cow | Loss of milk and dairy produce | County Westmeath legend record |
| Sweden | Supernatural hare-like creature sent to steal milk | Loss of dairy produce | Documented in Nordic folklore scholarship |
| Norway | Witch-hare and occasional hare-like milk-stealing creature traditions | Misfortune involving livestock or dairy produce | Recorded more sporadically than in neighboring traditions |
| Denmark | Witch transforms into a hare | Witchcraft and misfortune | Part of the Nordic witch-hare tradition complex |
| United Kingdom | Avoid saying the word “hare” at sea | Avoid an unlucky maritime omen | Historic Scottish fishing folklore |
| Ireland | Avoid the hare’s name among fishermen | Avoid maritime ill luck | Historic western Irish fishing tradition |
| Russia | Hare meets the vehicle carrying newlyweds | Bad omen for the married couple | Recorded in 19th-century comparative folklore literature |
| Ireland | Keeping a white tame rabbit or having a hare around the house | Bad luck or unfavorable sign | Localized County Donegal folklore record |
| China | Rare white rabbit appears or is presented to the court | Auspicious omen associated with virtuous rule | Historical Chinese literary and court traditions |
One Animal, Opposite Directions of Luck
The strongest contrast is not simply between “lucky rabbits” and “unlucky hares.” Context changes the meaning. In the American monthly formula, the animal is invoked verbally to attract luck. In the Irish road omen, an unexpected hare interrupts a journey and warns against what lies ahead. A rabbit’s foot turns part of the animal into a carried charm, while the witch-hare traditions treat the living animal as a possible supernatural disguise.
Color can reverse the pattern again. Historical Chinese writing could treat an unusual white rabbit as a favorable portent, whereas one localized Donegal record describes keeping a white tame rabbit as unlucky. These examples should remain attached to their documented settings rather than being combined into a universal rule about white rabbits.
The Easter Hare Is a Separate Folklore Question
The Easter hare belongs partly to seasonal custom and children’s tradition rather than to the omen and charm beliefs documented here. Claims that the Easter hare comes directly from an ancient goddess called Ostara require caution. Research published by the Library of Congress traces the familiar story in which Ostara turns a bird into a hare to 19th-century scholarly speculation and later retellings, not to an identified ancient myth. The older German Easter-hare tradition is real, but that does not make every proposed explanation of its origin equally well documented.
📚 Roots of Belief
- University of Detroit Mercy Libraries — James T. Callow Computerized Folklore Archive, “Rabbit, Rabbit” — University folklore archive record from Nashville documenting the first-of-the-month spoken formula and its association with good luck for the rest of the month.
- University of Detroit Mercy Libraries — James T. Callow Computerized Folklore Archive, First-of-the-Month Rabbit Records — Archive results preserving American versions of “Rabbit, Rabbit” and the backward “Tibbar” corrective formula from Tennessee and Michigan.
- University of Detroit Mercy Libraries — Graveyard Rabbit Luck Formula — Nashville archival record invoking a rabbit’s foot, a left hind leg, a graveyard rabbit, and the dark of the moon as part of a spoken luck formula.
- Bowers Museum — Rabbit Foot Charm — Museum catalogue record for a mid-20th-century rabbit-foot luck charm from New Mexico. The catalogue notes that the object was likely produced for sale, which cautions against treating it as evidence that the wider rabbit-foot belief originated within Zuni tradition.
- Science Museum Group Collection — Rabbit’s Foot Amulet — Museum record for a Suffolk rabbit’s foot dated 1860–1905 and carried as protection against rheumatism, documenting a folk-medicine use distinct from general luck charms.
- National Folklore Collection, UCD — “Beliefs and Omens,” Shanagolden — Irish archival record listing a hare crossing one’s path while setting out on a journey or undertaking new work as an omen of ill luck.
- National Folklore Collection, UCD — “Pishogues etc.,” Moyaugher — County Meath record describing the belief that a pregnant woman crossed by a hare should put tar on her skirt or petticoat to prevent a feared birth outcome.
- National Folklore Collection, UCD — “Superstitions about the Hare,” Ballinahowen — County Westmeath material recording both the idea that hares were unlucky pets and a legend in which a woman assumes hare form to take milk from a cow.
- Bodil Nildin-Wall and Jan Wall — “The Witch as Hare or the Witch’s Hare: Popular Legends and Beliefs in Nordic Tradition” — Peer-reviewed Folklore study distinguishing witch transformation traditions from supernatural milk-stealing creatures and mapping variations across Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and other Nordic areas.
- Charles J. Billson — “The Easter Hare,” Folklore, 1892 — Historical comparative folklore study preserving records of hare-name taboos among fishermen, crossing-hare omens, and the Russian wedding-party omen. Its broad comparisons are treated as historical documentation rather than proof of present-day national belief.
- Sanping Chen — “‘Godly Worm’ and the ‘Literati Prism’ of Chinese Sources,” Journal of the American Oriental Society — Scholarly study discussing the favorable image of rabbits in Chinese written sources and the historical treatment of rare white rabbits as auspicious omens.
- National Folklore Collection, UCD — “Superstitions in this School District,” Carrowmore — County Donegal record stating that keeping a white tame rabbit was unlucky and that a hare coming around a house was regarded unfavorably.
- Library of Congress, American Folklife Center — “Ostara and the Hare: Not Ancient, but Not As Modern As Some Skeptics Think” — Folklore research tracing the popular Ostara-and-hare transformation story through 19th-century scholarship and explaining why it should not be presented as a securely documented ancient origin story for the Easter hare.