The Egg-Laying Rabbit

Spring Equinox

(Full Moon Ritual included)

I greet you in the name of Artemis, She who is also known as Diana, goddess of the hunt and of the moon. She is a Maiden Goddess, potential and possibility, the promise of things to come. She is the bringer of the growing season, the fertile field that will bear its fruit in the harvest time.
We gather tonight to bear witness to that promise and to claim our portion. We celebrate the fullness of the moon as it shines bright upon the earth and we prepare for the Spring Equinox. This is a time of planting and sowing, the moment to place the seeds of that which we would reap deep into the soil.
Please stand as you are able. Hold the hands of those on either side of you. Breathe in. Breathe out. Close your eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out. Let go of today's stress, the commute, the job, even the normal tensions
of family life. Feel it flow out of you, back into the ground. Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel the energy of each person here, flowing in a circle through the linked hands. Let it flow over and through you, like standing
in water, like standing in moonlight. Breathe in. Breathe out.

We will now welcome the quarters into our circle. Keeping your hands linked, continue to let the energy of the group flow but feel it move to the right, flowing in from your left hand through your body and out your right hand. In your mind's eye, picture this flow, going around and around the group. It shines a little brighter in the east, making yellow tendrils off of the energy flow.
Welcome East! You are Air, bringer of messages and communication, our inspiration. Flow through us and around us; awaken us to the possibilities of our lives. Hail and welcome!
The flow continues around as the yellow fades a little back into the main current. Now there is a reddish glow to the south, as tendrils of crimson flare off of the energy.
Welcome South! You are Fire, our heart's passion and the driving force of our actions. Flow through us and around us; awaken us to the intent of our lives. Hail and welcome!
The red simmers down to join the yellow in the flow and we now see a blue gleam in the west, blue feathers of energy that waft from the current still circling us.
Welcome West! You are Water, life's blood and creator-force. Flow through us and around us; awaken us to the joyous effort of making things happen in our lives. Hail and welcome!
The blue feathers get caught in the red and yellow streams that flow in our circle of energy. To the north, we see green glow, like blades of grass, rising up from our energy.Welcome North! You are Earth, the reality of our physical lives and the tangible evidence of life. Flow through us and around us; awaken us to the concrete evidence of our lives. Hail and welcome!
The green bends into the other colors and they mix but do not blend and they circle, faster and faster.
We will now welcome the Divine into our circle. Still holding hands, still feeling that energy flow around and around through our connection to each other, we picture this in our mind's eye: suddenly the colors that have been chasing each other around split, each color going to its cardinal direction and they send out shafts of their
color towards the center of our circle, where they meet and make a pure silver-white light. We can see a round, glowing orb of white light in our center, a full moon of energy. We know that this energy is our potential,
our drive to create, the act of creation and the realization of that potential, all together. Even as we watch the orb, it splinters and shatters, sending out rays of its light into each person here, filling us with the sacred presence of the Divine as it reaches into us, touching our own sacred spark.
We greet the Divine, whatever name we give it. We open our arms and our hearts to receive the abundance that the Divine will give us. We feel the Divine go through us and in us and around us and beyond us. Our spirits
dance with the joy of the Universe and we are together in sacred space.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel the energy all around us, the circle between the worlds that we are now in. Breathe in. Breathe out. You may let go and be seated.

(We now discuss the mysteries.)

We are preparing to celebrate the Sabbat of Ostara this weekend. We know that it is the Spring Equinox, when night and day are the same length. We know that rabbits, eggs and fertility are a huge part of this ritual. Tonight I would like to focus on the rabbit and just what it means to the Sabbat. I want to read an essay to you from Wren Walker, written for WitchVox in April of 1999. She has done me the favor of having to compile the myth and the lore of the Easter Bunny. Here is her essay:

There's a Rabbit In The Moon And He Ain't Just Laying Eggs - (April, 4th., 1999) -by Wren Walker

Maybe it's all this Easter Bunny talk; maybe it's because my animal spirit guide is a rabbit (It almost seems inevitable since I was also born in the Chinese month of the hare.); or maybe it's simply because here in the Northern Hemisphere SpringTide is nibbling at the portals Whatever the reason, I suddenly have bunnies on the brain.

While the prevailing "fluff-bunny" rhetoric in the Neo-pagan community tends to label the rabbit as a trickster, empty-headed or pretty darn foolish, and more often than not-can this be a coincidence, my Dianic friends?-feminine, many old stories and myths concerning rabbits depict them as intelligent, cunning, healers, masculine and sometimes even as gods.

Native Tales: In a Sioux tale about how the rabbit lost his tail (in a tail-related tug of war with a pack of wolves), Rabbit is the brother of the wind/thunder god. Rather than restoring the lost appendage, with typical "brotherly love" the exasperated WindMaker tells Rabbit that he looks better with a short tail anyway...

And perhaps because Rabbit is related to the gods, a Western Rocky Native tale has a three legged rabbit (who later makes himself a fourth leg from wood-the first artificial limb no doubt. Clever bunny!) shooting down the sun because everything on earth was just too hot!

From the two whites of the sun's eyes, he made the clouds, from the pupils he made the sky and from various solar internal organs, he made the moon and stars. Finally from the sun's heart, he made the night. From that time to this, the heat of day is relieved by the passing clouds or the cool of the dark hours.

In the Aztec empires of Mexico, the rabbit was associated with moon. Likewise the Mayans saw a rabbit in the moon and often depicted the Lunar Goddess holding a rabbit. Both cultures built pyramids which they named, "Temple of the Moon". An Aztec metaphor states: "The earth, in conjurings, was called 'face-up' rabbit, for thou art resplendent mirror..". Here the rabbit is the reflection of the earth upon the heavens. As above, so below.

From The East: According to legends of the Buddha, when he was about to leave the earth, he summoned all the animal kingdom. Only twelve animals responded to his call and so these were rewarded for their faithfulness with a spot in the Chinese zodiac.

The rabbit here "symbolizes graciousness, good manners, sound counsel, kindness and sensitivity to beauty. Their soft speech and graceful nimble ways embody all the desirable traits of a successful diplomat or seasoned politician. Likewise, a person born under this sign will lead a tranquil life, enjoying peace, quiet and congenial environment. Rabbits are reserved and artistic and possesses good judgment. Their thoroughness will also make them a good scholar."-(Chinese Zodiac)

We are currently in a Year of the Rabbit. Looks like we are going to need that political prowess real soon, too...

In a Korean tale, the king of the sea is very ill. He is told that by eating rabbit flesh or eyes, he will be well again. The tortoise tricks the rabbit into joining him into the sea, but the rabbit tells the sea-king that these are not really his eyes, but "spare eyes.". His real eyes, he says with great seriousness, are hidden in a secret spot upon the land. Rabbit is taken back to land in order to fetch his "real eyes" and, of course, escapes.

In the Chinese story of the Jade Rabbit, there were three sages who transformed themselves into pitiful old men and begged for something to eat from a fox, a monkey and a rabbit. The fox and the monkey both had food to give to the old men but the rabbit empty-handed, offered his own flesh instead.

He jumped into the fire and cooked himself. The heavenly beings were so touched by the rabbit's sacrifice that they let him live in the Moon Palace where he became the Jade Rabbit.

He is believed to be constantly pounding the jade elixir of immortality in a large mortar on the moon.

Western Rabbit Lore: In many Celtic countries, it is believed to be unlucky to meet either a hare or a rabbit, one variant stating that a rabbit which crosses one's path in front is a good omen and one which crosses behind is a bad one. Since Boadecia (Celtic Iceni queen who led an uprising against Caesar) is said to have used rabbits in divining the path that her army should take in order to ambush the enemy, perhaps the good-bad luck lore of following the rabbit track depends on whether the tale is being told by the winner or the loser.

In English Suffolk, black rabbits were thought to be ancestral spirits. Lest you think that this seems a bit odd, consider this: "Br'er Rabbit is more closely related to humans than most people suspected. If not brother, maybe Cousin Rabbit."

"Although rabbits and hares long have been classified as close relatives of rodents (mice, rats, squirrels), a new study has concluded that the long-eared hoppers are really more closely related to primates, the mammalian order that includes monkeys, apes and humans."

"The new findings, published in Nature by Dan Graur, a zoologist at Tel Aviv University, and colleagues at Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France, are based on comparisons of the detailed structures of 88 proteins common to all mammals. The results showed overwhelmingly that rabbits are more like primates as a whole than like rodents, and very much more like tree shrews (order Scandentia), a group that is thought to have given rise to the primates."-(Feb. 5, 1996, The Detroit News)

White rabbits were presumed to be Witches. Tales from the Scottish Highlands recount how Witches were often "found out" after being wounded while in their rabbit guise and then discovered to be carrying the same wounds once they regain their human form again. But whether the Celts thought that the rabbit was an ancient ancestor or just the Witch next door in disguise, either way, they were in big, big magickal trouble if they shot one!

Another Welsh custom is to say 'Rabbits' or 'White Rabbits' either once or three times on the first day of the month as a good luck charm. It must be the first word(s) said in the morning or you've just blown your opportunity for the next thirty days.( StarLore)

Rabbit As Teacher: Throughout history stories of the rabbit, the bunny and the hare, have taught us lessons on how to adapt to strange conditions (They are especially adept at obtaining help from others), how to escape from the follies of our own actions (Cunning bunnies are very creative at both rescuing others and being rescued themselves.), how to pace ourselves (Rabbits leap only when they have to escape danger or are especially pleased about something.) and in general how to manifest the cunning, intelligence, ingenuity and outright brazenness that has enabled mankind to survive, adapt and learn from experience.

Rabbit makes mistakes because he is not afraid to try something new. Rabbit learns how to get out of the mess he often creates by using his wits. Then Rabbit often "tricks" us into a similar situation so that we can learn the lesson as well. And while tossing us down the bunny-hole, Rabbit initiates us into new experiences and levels of being.

Rabbit As Initiator: Anpu (Anubis) was also worshipped under the form "Wepuat" ( or "Upuaut-"Opener of the Ways"), sometimes with a rabbit's head. Anpu knows the way through the different levels of existence-hence he makes a most excellent guide for astral travelers-and not only conducted the souls of the dead to their judgment, but also monitored the Scales of Truth to make sure they gave a fair judgment of the heart. Don't try placing you finger out there to try and tip the scales either. You sure can't fool this particular "rabbit"!

"The name of the hare in Egyptian is Un, which signifies open, to open, the opener, especially connected with periodicity, as the word also means the hour. The hare is the hieroglyphic sign of the opener, which can be variously applied to the phenomena of opening; to the sun as well as the moon. The hare is an especial emblem of the god Osiris in the character of Un-Nefer, the good opener; in later phrase, the good revealer! It is as the seer that both hare and cat are associated with the witch as types of abnormal seership."-(Moon Magic, Gerald Massey)

So the next time anyone calls you a "fluff-bunny," you can simply roll your eyes up at the moon and retort, (in your very best "soup-nazi" voice) "No Jade Elixir For YOU!" (Let them look it up if they want to find out just what that means. They may learn something.)

We never know just when Rabbit may decide to 'weigh in" with a little lesson plan of his own. After all, even Bambi's little bunny friend was called "Thumper"...

Since ancient times, rabbits have been a symbol of sex and fertility, symbols of lust, sexual vigor and reproduction. In the traditions of Egypt and Persia there are such rabbit gods, and they were particularly honored in the Springtime. Osiris, the Egyptian god of resurrection, was sacrificed to the Nile each year in the form of a hare to guarantee the annual flooding of the river which Egyptian agriculture depended upon.

The hare is an emblem of many lunar goddesses such as Hecate, Freyja, and Holda. In legend, the shadows of the moon's surface are believed to be rabbits. Hares are thought to be the moon's lovers or brothers. The hare or the rabbit were associated with the moon and the Goddess in ancient America and China, also.

This all comes together in our Easter customs in the pagan tradition of Oestre (Estre), the Goddess of Spring. In that story, there was a great bird who intensely desired to be a rabbit. The Goddess Oestre (Estre) graciously turned the bird into a rabbit and in gratitude the rabbit (who could still remember how to lay bird eggs) came each Spring, during Her Festival and laid beautiful eggs for the benevolent goddess. And this is how we got a supernatural, egg-laying rabbit god in our Spring Equinox tradition.

Discussion

We have gathered and entered sacred space. We have talked about rabbits and how they came to symbolize Spring, fertility, cunning and even the gods or goddesses themselves. We leave each other now and go back into the world, hopefully a little more aware of the sacredness of that world and of ourselves.

Please stand as you are able and hold hands again. Breathe in. Breathe out.
We gratefully acknowledge the four elements of our lives. We thank Air for its inspiration and the messages it brings. We thank Fire for its passion and driving force. We thank Water for its creativity and ability to shape
our dreams. We thank Earth for the reality of our lives, the realization of our hopes and desires. We thank each of them for their presence with us tonight. Hail and farewell!
We honor the Divine wherever we find it. We thank the Divine for being with us and within us, especially tonight. Hail and farewell!

The circle is open but unbroken/may the peace of the Goddess be forever in our hearts
Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!