Sunday, March 31 was the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox…which is called by Christians “Easter Sunday“. This day (and week before) honors the Christian story/history of Jesus, however it has also been celebrated by many for generations by honoring the Easter Bunny too. Spring holidays and rituals of pre-Christian Europe far outdate Easter. Many children in American homes color Easter Eggs, hide them, and receive Easter baskets filled with candy, brought by the magical being called the Easter Bunny.
For the last three Easter Sundays, ISA (Institute for the Shamanic Arts) has celebrated this day called Easter by hosting a shamanic journey circle (which is hosted every Sunday) in honor of the Spirit of the Great Rabbit.
The Rabbit is often thought of as a fearful, yet cute, creature by many lay people in everyday American culture, but Rabbit shows up in many cultures as an important cultural and mythic icon in many Earth honoring cultures around the world, in addition to an important food source for many beings throughout time.
There are all the interesting facts about Rabbits, and there are many cultural stories about Rabbit as well. Links take you to sites with stories of Rabbit. Rabbits have been known as a Trickster, Creator and even being in the Moon. The photograph above is of Mayan Goddess Ix Chel and her beautiful companion (consort), Rabbit.
Journeyers arrived at a city park in Tucson on the morning of the Day of the Great Rabbit. An altar was created of Rabbit items, (including a drawing by ISA Director Elisabeth Black, of an old Rabbit who once told Earth Web Media President Quynn Red Mountain in a journey that shamanic people are like Rabbit. There are many, and while one or another might be “taken out” (his words for being killed), the energy of Rabbit (animism/shamanism) can never all be taken out. We are prolific and many. So, have no fear. ) and attendees prepared for the two weekly drum journeys. This session’s intentions were to connect with helpful aspects of the Great Rabbit Spirit.
While the description of Rabbit in the Medicine Cards speaks of Fear in relation to Rabbit, there are many other attributes associated with Rabbit in other cultures. For the second journey, Quynn wrote some of these positive attributes on divination cards for people to pick. These included : Lucky, Burrowing in, Creator of Worlds, Seeing Above, Sacred Scribe, Moon Rabbit, Dancing, Quick Escape, Listening, Trickster, 28 Day Cycle of Birth, Namer of Things (plants, alphabets), Food Source for All, Rabbit in the Sky, Creative Fertility, Innocence and Alert Awareness.
Rabbit is a great teacher, and should not be discounted as a ‘small’ or insignificant Animal Guide. Any day of the year can bring important messages from the Great Rabbit Spirit. You can journey with a drum track and use any of the material included in this post as your prompts to ask Rabbit for help and guidance about your life.
Finally, for some fun with this Rabbit energy, we leave you with the Church of the Cosmic Bunny. This site was found while researching for this circle. We thought we would share… To find out more about our circles please visit our meetup group.
