March 2024 Yin Fire Rabbit/Hare Month – Jia Chen (甲⾠)

Hares Equinox Creation

The month of March is always ruled by the rabbit/hare. In Chinese astrology,  the two animals are used interchangeably and they epitomize gentleness, refinement, elegance, creativity, fertility, discretion and bringing good luck (remember the rabbit’s foot people used to wear!). This year, it is the fire rabbit/hare who rules.

Since this month brings the magical doorway of the Spring Equinox, I was reminded of the cross cultural image of the three spinning hares also opening a mysterious portal. It is a fascinating circular motif of creation appearing worldwide at sacred sites from the Middle and Far East to Africa to Turkmenistan, Pakistan, the Himalayas. Iran, Egypt, Syria, Germany, France, and England.

The hares, were considered androgynous or hermaphroditic by most cultures and therefore had the ability to reproduce without loss of virginity.  They generally live alone, but there are certain times of the year when they congregate in mass (for unknown reasons.) One of these times is the Spring Equinox. It brings a certain energy and the hares go crazy – jumping and boxing! They become as mad as “a March Hare,” or the famous “Mad Hatter” in Alice in Wonderland.

They don’t build their homes in burrows like rabbits, but instead make little nests (like a bird nest) in the grass on the ground. The Mother builds a nest not only for herself, but one for each baby. Another oddity about the hares is they give birth to baby hares that are fully furred and have open eyes.  From the day these babies are born, they are very self sufficient.

They are also closely associated with the moon, particularly the full moon. There are several reasons for this: they are nocturnal, feeding and traveling at night, and sleeping during the day. And while in the west, we might talk about the man in the moon, in many parts of the world, it’s a tradition to see a hare or a rabbit in the moon. Besides being associated with the light of the moon, in China and Japan, the hare is also the “greeter of the dawn,” ruling the “hour of the hare,” 5 am – 7 am. Then they go to sleep!

Because of the belief that the hares were androgynous or hermaphroditic, male one month and female the next, they were considered very mysterious. To our ancestors globally, the hare represented the union of opposites, and were thought to embody the actual creative powers of the universe. For example, in ancient Egypt, Osiris, the God of rebirth and immortality, was sacrificed to the Nile each year in the form of the Hare, to guarantee the annual flooding that Egypt depended upon. The Egyptian hieroglyph “Wn” stands for the “essence of life” and depicts a hare over flowing water. For The Algonquin, the Great Hare appeared on earth and laid the foundation of the world. He instructed people in the medicine dance and other forms of life; he fought the oceanic monsters; he reconstructed the earth after the deluge, and on his departure he left it as it is today other forms of life; he fought the oceanic monsters; he reconstructed the earth after the deluge, and on his departure he left it as it is today.

The earliest known example of the Three Hares motif (above) can be found in China. It can be seen on the ceilings of some of the temples in the Mogao Caves (or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas). There are at least 17 temples in this complex where the Three Hares motif is depicted on the ceiling. The paintings date back to the 6th century AD.

The three running hares are usually found spinning counterclockwise.  While each individual hare has two ears, the three hares together have a total of only three visible ears instead of six. There is much speculation on the meaning of this mysterious arrangement.

Several researchers into scared geometry have said that the curvature of the ears can be traced onto the 3 interlocking circular pattern found in many cultures representing various trinities.

But, if one takes the circle pattern through four more steps the “seed of life” pattern emerges. It is believed that these seven two dimensional patterns that becomes spheres in three dimensions are the blueprint for the formation of life.

In Genesis it is said God created the universe in 6 days and on the 7th day, He rested. Many believe that the 6 outer circles represent the 6 days of creation and the 7th circle (in the center) represents God, Source, or Consciousness. It seems the three spinning hares are symbolically empowering creation!!