Observations placeholder
Cirlot on hares
Identifier
004803
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
The hare is, in many cultures, a symbol of the Created as opposed to the Creator, called in this quote the 'demiurge'. One reason is that it has a split lip and is thus 'dual' symbolically, half spirit and half physical [incidentally one reason why those with cleft lips were once revered]
The hare is, as consequence of its association with the Created role, also an animal symbolically aligned with the Moon and the path of reincarnation.
A description of the experience
A Dictionary of Symbols – J E Cirlot
Among the Algonquin Indians, the Great Hare is the animal demiurge. The myth was also known to the Egyptians.
In Greece, the lunar goddess Hecate, was associated with hares. The German equivalent of Hecate, the goddess Harek, was accompanied by hares.
It was the second of the twelve emblems of the Emperor of China, symbolic of the Yin force in the life of the monarch. The Chinese conceived of the hare as an animal of augury and it was said to live on the moon.