Okay, I admit it, I have a thing for rabbits...which is why, I suppose, so many of the people in my drawings and paintings end up with bunny ears. So I fell in love with this brief, evocative poem: "Cassel Road" by Sandra Maddux-Creech (published in Margins, the on-line magazine for magical realist fiction and poetry). The very same thing (as recorded in the poem) happened to me one pre-dawn morning this summer on a country lane near my home.
Sandra Maddux-Creech received a B.A. from Antioch College and an M.F.A. from Colorado State University. Her work has appeared in Margins, Ballyhoo Stories, Glimmer Train, Many Mountains Moving, and other publications. Her flash fiction "Soul Cats on the El" was a finalist in Many Mountains Moving's 2005 Flash Fiction competition, and her story "White Fleet Taxi" was a finalist for Glimmer Train's Very Short Fiction Award.
Rabbits and hares abound in myths and folktales all around the world, from the Chinese rabbits of immortality to the goddess-companions of the British Isles (forerunners of the Easter Bunny) to the world-creating Trickster hares of various Native American tribes. You'll find more information here in Endicott's Journal of Mythic Arts.
The "Three Hares" symbol (drawn here by Brian Froud) is known locally as "The Tinner Rabbits" in the village where I live, on the edge of Dartmoor. It was believed to be based on an old alchemical symbol for tin, relating to the thriving tin industry on the moor in centuries past. But the good folks of The Three Hares Project (Sue Andrews, Chris Chapman, and Tom Greeves) have discovered that the symbol is older and more mysterious, spreading far beyond Dartmoor and across continental Europe to Russia and China. Visit the Three Hares Project website to see more pictures of the symbol and learn more about its fascinating history.
Speaking of hares and rabbits, I don't seem to be the only mythic artist intrigued by the critters. Here (from left to right, top to bottom) are paintings and sculptures by Brian Froud, Julie Morstad, Jeanie Tomanek, and Miel Margarita Paredes. (See Midori's previous post on the latter artist here.)
You'll also find some wonderfully tricksy hares and rabbit-people in mythic fiction. Check out Midori's contemporary faery novel Hannah's Garden, Graham Joyce's folklore-infused novel The Limits of Enchantment, and Charles de Lint's deeply mystical Medicine Road (illustrated by Charles Vess) -- all highly recommended. (You'll also find a shy little rabbit girl wandering through my novel The Wood Wife.)
You might enjoy another rabbit-woman piece by Katrina Sesum: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/28632110/
Posted by: Desiree Isphording | October 22, 2006 at 11:54 AM
Wow, thanks for the link. Sesun's work is lovely!
Posted by: Terri Windling | October 24, 2006 at 01:05 AM
You're very welcome!
Posted by: Desiree Isphording | October 24, 2006 at 06:21 AM