Yesterday morning I eventually made my way to the computer and checked Facebook. Just to see what people had been up to lately. There was one post that popped up in my news feed that made me chuckle. It was just one word. Nothing more. Just one word. Rabbits.
Why rabbits? Got me. In fact, no one seems to have a real explanation for it. It is one of those things that is lost to history. And there are variations.
Some people believe that saying the word rabbits as the first word out of your mouth on the first day of each month will bring good luck for the coming month. Or maybe it’s just a single rabbit. Or maybe it’s white rabbit. Or maybe you have to say rabbit, rabbit, rabbit… repeat the word three times. No one seems to know for sure.
There is also some mystery as to why you’re doing this. Some think it’s related to fertility, which sort of makes sense with rabbits. Others think it is some ancient form of a curse and that you are actually supposed to throw in a curse word along with the word rabbit to ward off evil for the month.
As I say, there are a lot of variations, and the practice goes back far enough that there doesn’t seem to be a clear explanation.
All I know is there is at least one person who not only says it out loud, but posts it online, just to cover her bases. She’s been doing it for a lot longer than there has been an internet. I can remember this from when we were back in high school.
I don’t know that she has really had a run of good luck after saying it, but she’s not taking any chances. I think maybe I’ll set myself a monthly reminder. I don’t know if it works, but it can’t hurt.
