An Homage to Berlin Bunnies

Tarot
Written By Simone von Frankenberg

Rider Waite Colman Smith tarot, the Queen of Pentacles surrounded by flowers

One of the most curious things I’ve found about living in Berlin, is probably not what most expect, rabbits! Coming from London I was well aware that you can have all kinds of wildlife living on your doorstep, I once encountered a badger while living in Purley, which is Greater London.  I admit that if you’re lucky you can sometimes see rabbits skipping about in Richmond Park, but Richmond Park is 2,500 acres of Royal Park land.  It's like a mini countryside in the middle of London.   Here in Berlin, bunnies can be found a stone's throw away from the Hauptbahnhof - Central Station.  These are intercity rabbits.  You can spot them early in the morning or at dusk when walking alongside parks or green places, nibbling on grass, alert as ever.  And like any other major European city you have the usual predators such as foxes, but here there are hawks too. What bad ass rabbits these are.  Proper tough urban rabbits living in Berlin. I was so happy to discover this and in homage to the rabbits of Berlin, I thought we’d look at how rabbits and hares show up in folklore, spirituality, tarot and land politics.  

Perhaps the most political rabbits on Earth?

Before I delve into the mysteries and mythologies associated with rabbits and hares, I’d like to note why there are rabbits here in Berlin.  During the Cold War, the Berlin Wall separated East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The strip of land in between the wall, known as the “death strip”, became home to a large population of rabbits that flourished in this no man’s land.  Due to the way rabbits live, in burrows underground, they were able to freely move from one side of the wall to the other.  That strip separating the wall must have been a peaceful place for the rabbits, undisturbed by humans, cars and busy cosmopolitan life. When the wall came down in 1989, the rabbits lost their home and fled to the surrounding parks and green spaces.  I find it very moving that while family and friends were estranged from each other, their freedom of movement restricted, one of the most fertile animals on our green planet was living in abundance and thriving in the very space that separated them. The remaining rabbits living in Berlin could be considered a political symbol.

Artists have made work in their honour. In 1999, German artist Karla Sachse created site specific installation Kaninchenfeld (Rabbit Field)  laying 120 brass rabbit silhouettes throughout the city of Berlin, citing the places where the wall once stood and the rabbits lived.  A good selection of these rabbits can be found on Chausseerstraße between the Total garage and Schwartzkopffstraße U-Bahn station.   A documentary film Rabbit à la Berlin by the Polish filmmaker, Bartosz Konopka also tells the story of the rabbits and the stress it caused them when the wall came down.  This connection to land politics reminds me of the fictional children's story Watership Down, which I saw as a child many times and didn’t fully understand why it made me feel so sad. I find it intense to watch as an adult!

Patron Saint of Hares and Rabbits

Moving across to Medieval Wales now and the story of the Hare and Saint Melangell - the patron saint of hares. Legend has it that Melangell fled to the Kingdom of Powys, Wales sometime in the 7th or 8th Century, escaping an arranged marriage in Ireland.  She was thought to have been an Irish princess and while living in Wales became a consecrated virgin.  Whilst praying one day, a hare,running away from a huntsman and his dogs,hid under the hem of her dress. The huntsman was Prince Brochwel Ysgithrog who encouraged his dogs to obtain the hare from Melangell but she refused to give the hare up and stood up to the Prince. Legend has it that the Prince was so impressed with her defiance, he wanted to marry her, which she refused on account of being married to God.  Once the Prince learnt of Melangell’s story, he donated the surrounding land to her, where she formed a community and many other women came to live. 

It is also understood that Melangell was able to tame hares and other wild animals, which are attributed to miracles. Some stories suggest a supernatural encounter between Melangell and the dogs, which I can understand, how many people physically put themselves between a wild animal getting killed in the face of authority?  I’d guess not many. Perhaps this strength came from Melangell’s personal understanding of what it's like to flee something. 

In Celtic mythology, Hares were sacred and thought to be connected to the Goddess and the land and people wouldn’t eat them - it would be like eating your grandmother.   This respect and perhaps in some cases superstition for hares was up until 1900s also practised by the locals of the Parish of Pennant Melangell, who would not kill hares due to their connection to Saint Melangell. 

Queen of Pentacles, Rabbit symbolism in the tarot 

The Queen of the suit of Earth in the tarot is also often depicted with a rabbit on the card.  In the Rider Waite Colman Smith depiction, we see the Queen of Pentacles with what I like to think of as her familiar, a little rabbit on the bottom right of the card. Her ability to manifest and create in abundance symbolically ties her to the fertility of the rabbit.  All the Queens are connected to the Empress card, however, I find that connection is most obvious when looking at RWS interpretation of the Queen of Pentacles. This earthy Queen sits nestled in a highly decorative throne, denoting luxury, wealth and abundance. She cradles the pentacle in her hands as if it were a child.  Her garden blooms, notice the roses above her head, crowning the card. Mountains can be seen in the distance, the land is fertile. She knows that in order to achieve the results you desire that you must tend to them, nurture them.  Creation is a form of magic. Making things, tending to a garden, nurturing a child, cooking good food for your loved ones and oneself.   Magic requires that we pay attention and do the work - work with the cycles of the moon, feel the soil in your hand - is it warm enough to plant that seed in the ground?  

Pentacles rule the suit of earth, which means astrologically they align to Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo - the earth signs of the Western zodiac.  Earth signs relate to all that are material, matter. The very earth is itself - flowers, trees, crystals, mountains, animals, soil, etc. Rabbits and hares are land animals. The fact that rabbits reproduce in abundance connects them to fertility, abundance and rebirth rituals.   The vulnerability of rabbits and hares also connects them to the cycles of the moon - the dark moon representing death and the new moon rebirth.  The name of the full moon in the month of May is also known as Hare’s Moon.  

The Moon, rabbits, hares and their association with the divine feminine

In cultures all over the world, the rabbit and hare appear in folklore connected to the Moon and the divine feminine. In east Asian mythology, the image on the surface of the Moon is thought to be a rabbit with a pestle and mortar, not a man. The contents of the mortar the rabbit is pounding differ depending on the country.  In Japanese and Korean mythology, the rabbit is pounding ingredients to make mochi or rice cakes.  In Chinese mythology it is believed that the rabbit is pounding the Elixir of Life.  The rabbit is also the companion to the Chinese Moon Goddess Chang’e, they live together on the Moon in the Moon Palace.  The rabbit is also one of the animal companions to the Mayan Moon Goddess Ixchel. Ixchel is a triple Goddess and is often depicted with a rabbit in her maiden aspect during spring time. She is the Goddess of pregnancy, healing, fate and weaving.  Similarly the hare was also sacred to Ostara the German Goddess of the Spring and the dawn, more on Ostara in my next post.  In Celtic mythology, to see a hare gazing at the moon was a positive omen. 

Simone von Frankenberg
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