Rabbit, Rabbit. White Rabbit. Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits.
Not following? This tradition of stating one of the above (or a variation) upon waking up on the first of the month is a superstition that’s meant to bring you good luck for the 27 to 31 days ahead. Kind of like ‘a pinch and a punch for the first of the month’, but you know, friendlier.
So I may be a tad superstitious – don’t even think of opening that umbrella inside, and watch out if you’re standing behind my left shoulder when I spill some salt – and when the good ol’ days of Nickelodeon taught me the tradition of saying “Rabbit, Rabbit” on the first of the month back in the 1990s, it stuck. And it’s now stuck with me for the past 15 plus years… (A scary thought for all 90s kids out there… that was over 15 years ago.)
But my question is, did Nickelodeon actually make up this tradition which has now stuck with me and those others out there who remember the ‘Nick Days’? After the obvious quick search on Wikipedia, it turns out that this predominantly English tradition, though not well documented, has been around since the early 1900’s at least. Upon further research, several people around the web do discuss their families’ traditions and variations of this rabbit luck. There’s even a page dedicated to the superstition, randomly placed within an old gemscale site that will bring you right back to the 90s – and the days of creating your own Geocities or Angelfire sites. Many have commented (most recently in 2003) on the different origins and variations they grew up knowing:
KevinS told of a great facilitator for a catch up on 9/2/1997
“There is a tradition in the military (at least in the USAF) involving white rabbit. It is a game, as well as a way to keep in touch with those with whom you were stationed. When a new month begins, it is a contest as to who can tell the other person ‘white rabbit’ first; must be live comm, no answering machines, letters, etc. Usually the wager would be a drink. However, like I said, it allowed you an ‘excuse’ to call people once a month and catch up.”
John-Deb discussed a bit of a mean-spirited version in Okinawa with origins in New Zealand on 25/1/1998
“Here on Okinawa, we have friends that believe that if you say White Rabbit to someone else on the first of the month, you steal all their luck. They believe it originated in New Zealand.”
Ted went into a larger history of why ‘rabbit’, and where it may have actually come from on 22/1/2000 here.
I was also interested in finding out what other possible ‘first of the month’ traditions existed around the world, but unfortunately couldn’t find too many for a new month. I happened upon those for the new moon like Rosh Chodesh from the Hebrew calendar, the ‘pinch and a punch’ tradition, and then of course, the spiritual, find-your-inner-goddess type celebrations with candles, crystals and intentions.
But why all this talk of rabbits and luck and the start of the new month? Well today, on the first day of the month, I am officially launching my new site Quinntessences, an expansion of my old site Quinntessential Style, and your new weekly guide to a quinntessential lifestyle of sorts with style, inspirations, musings and plenty of quirks.
So my rabbitry, good luck wishes and spiritual intentions all go toward this launch of Quinntessences: Your Quinntessential Week. Here’s to the luck that lies ahead as I get my bearings and head down this new and exciting rabbit hole… (see what I did there?)
Luck to you all.