Myth is the primordial language natural to [the] psychic processes, and no intellectual formulation
comes anywhere near the richness and expressiveness of mythical imagery.
– Carl Gustav Jung
Carl Jung is LIVID!
I also go on familial adventures through ancestry.com. In these ancestral jaunts, I have found that I come from a line of interesting folk. One of which is Cassasndra Southwyck. She was a rebel Quaker among Puritans, was kicked out of the community for sticking to her Quaker ways and her children were put up for auction to pay legal fees.
Provided Southwyck was the first recorded white woman auctioned into slavery – except no one would buy her (There is a Country song in here somewhere). She married a Gaskill. The couple is documented in the infamous Salem Village Witch trials as witnesses against the charges of witchcraft. They tried to save lives. They didn’t.
The Gaskill line leads to more witchy shenanigans in the form of Pennsylvania Dutch Powwows (a Christian Healer/Conjurer). And that line leads to my Grandmother (a Powwow herself) who, well, leads to me (not a Powwow). In the course of all of this, I am also reading up on my Celtic Roots (My name sake and all), and the Midwifery/Witchiness involved. Apparently, these folks stick together.
The symbolism for Rabbits and Hares is endless and fascinating. They represent the gamut of humanity. Different cultures focus on different aspects. In America’s past, Rabbits and Hares were considered “familiars” for witches. How appropriate!
It is believed this “devil-connection” was surmised from the Celtic beliefs surrounding the little ones. My stronger Celtic interests provide more hare symbolism than I can write here. However, I want to share this gem:
In Ireland, it was said that eating a hare was like eating one’s own grandmother — perhaps due to the sacred connection between hares and various goddesses, warrior queens, and female faeries, or else due to the belief that old “wise women” could shape–shift into hares by moonlight…
The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares
It was believed that rabbits burrowed underground in order to better commune with the spirit world, and that they could carry messages from the living to the dead and from humankind to the faeries.
by Teri Windling
I read the above quotes out loud in my living room and one of the other humans responded:
“You’re a shape – shifter! That explains a LOT.”
For the record, It’s called “Menopause.”
I dwell in a rather droll household.
So, you may ask (maybe you didn’t, but I digress), what is it Raging Bunnies takes away from all of this research?
Well… allow me to show you:
Yes, that is me and one of my lovies (modified pink Chuck Taylors inclusive)
For more on Mythic Arts, this is a fantastic place to start:
THE ENDICOTT STUDIO
