-Christianity: The rabbit symbolizes the Easter holiday. The
use of the rabbit for Easter is extremely old and comes from the origins of the
holiday itself. It started before Christianity, when Anglo-Saxons in Northern
Europe held a festival around the same time as Easter (the spring equinox) in
honor of the goddess Eostre. Legend states that Eostre’s favorite animals was
the rabbit, thus why the rabbit is used for Easter today. This view of rabbits
as a symbol of spring is a very common one. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_symbolic_meaning_of_rabbit-hare)
This definitely affected the how the species has been and is
currently viewed in society. The image of the Easter bunny is very innocent and
child friendly, the same image that has been mentioned in earlier posts. It
also makes rabbits a valued companion animal because of how closely linked to
humans they are.
Adorable Easter Bunnies
-Judaism: In the Old Testament of the Bible (Deuteronomy 14) it
states: “However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof
completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the Coney. Although
they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean
for you.” In this passage it is wrongfully identifying rabbits as animals that
chew their cud, which they are not. This passage however, is why rabbits are
not considered kosher. This belief has
had some impact on how followers of the Old Testament view animals because they
are considered “unclean” and thus they are not popular pets. Some sources say
that people who handle rabbits must ritually purify themselves after handling
them. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unclean_animal)
-Islam: Al-mi'raj is a creature known to Islamic poetry as a
hare-like creature with a spiral horn coming out of the middle of its forehead.
It appears gentle, but is said to be ferocious and to kill both humans and
other animals with its horn. From the information I could find online this
belief did cause people to fear rabbits long ago when the myth originated,
however that fear does not appear to have had much longevity.
Al-mi'raj
("Al-Mi'raj".)
-On the Chinese calendar: the rabbit
represents the fourth month. “Rabbit was the fourth
animal to arrive, and thus rules over the calendar in the fourth year of every
twelve. People born into the Year of the Rabbit are said to be intelligent,
intuitive, gracious, kind, loyal, sensitive to beauty, diplomatic and
peace-loving, but prone to moodiness and periods of melancholy.” This belief
does affect the way that the people who follow the Chinese calendar view
rabbit, because of the association of rabbits with the characteristics of the
fourth month. (http://tribes.tribe.net/b9b544af-89e5-4aa7-8dec-c917f83c3bd7/thread/d4f0f217-ce30-4fad-aca1-a367787d69de)
Chinese Zodiac Birthday Card
("Al-Mi'raj".)
