hare

hold with the hare and run with the hounds

1. To support or attempt to placate both sides of a conflict or dispute. Many have criticized the US government of holding with the hare and running with the hound regarding the territorial dispute between the two nations.2. To act duplicitously or hypocritically; to speak or act out against something while engaging or taking part in it. How can you be taken seriously as an anti-drug reformer when extensive documents reveal that you are a frequent user of methamphetamine? You can't hold with the hare and run with the hound, Senator.See also: and, hare, hold, hound, run

you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

When two parties are in conflict, you can't support both of them—you must choose one. Come on, you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds—pick a side! You're either in favor of renovating the library, or you're not.See also: and, hare, hound, hunt, run

be as mad as a March hare

To be crazy. The phrase alludes to hares' erratic behavior during their breeding season. Mom was as mad as a March hare after I dented her brand-new car.See also: hare, mad, march

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

1. To support or attempt to placate both sides of a conflict or dispute. Many have criticized the government of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds regarding the territorial dispute between the two nations.2. To act duplicitously or hypocritically; to speak or act out against something while engaging or taking part in it. How can you be taken seriously as a reformer when you have continued to accept gifts? You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, Senator.See also: and, hare, hound, hunt, run

start a hare (running)

To raise, introduce, or prompt discussion about a certain topic. The MP was quick to state that he didn't want to start a hare running about the controversial issue ahead of the snap election. He started a hare that got the whole country talking about the implications of the new tax on working-class citizens.See also: hare, start

(as) mad as a March hare

1. Crazy or deranged; particularly eccentric. My grandfather came back from the war as mad as a March hare because of all the horrible things he saw. I'll be mad as a March hare if I have to deal with these screaming toddlers for much longer. My family thinks I'm as mad as a March hare just because I practice a form of alternative medicine using magnetic fields.2. Particularly cross or angry. Mom was mad as a March hare after I dented her brand-new car. John gets as mad as a March hare when he starts losing.See also: hare, mad, march

run with

1. To run while in the company of someone else. I go running with my friend Jake every morning before school.2. To have a particular trait or characteristic when one runs. I've always run with awkward, plodding steps, so I don't think I'd do well in a sport that requires such fancy footwork. I've never seen anyone run with such grace or dexterity before.3. To keep company or socialize with someone. Jason's been running with troublesome group of kids lately. I thought you ran with a different gang—did you have a falling out with them?4. To accept or adopt something and begin carrying it out with great enthusiasm. The boss decided to run with my idea of developing a smartphone app to accompany our newest product. That's a really clever topic—you should run with it for your thesis.See also: run

first catch your hare

The first step is to acquire something; then, determine what to do with it. I know you're eager to plan on going to Yale, but you haven't been accepted yet—first catch your hare.See also: catch, first, hare

if you run after two hares, you will catch neither

If you try to do two things at once, you will fail. You can't look for that file and dictate a message at the same time. Didn't your mother ever tell you that if you run after two hares, you will catch neither?See also: after, catch, if, neither, run, two, will

First catch your hare.

Prov. Do not make plans about what you will do when you have something until you actually have it. Fred: When I buy my house on the beach, you can spend summers with me there. Ellen: First catch your hare.See also: catch, first, hare

If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.

Prov. You cannot do two things successfully at the same time. Vanessa: If I want to pursue my acting career, I'll have to take more days off to go to auditions. But I want to get ahead in the office, too. Jane: If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.See also: after, catch, if, neither, run, two, will

*mad as a hatter

and *mad as a march hare 1. crazy. (Alludes to the crazy characters in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. *Also: as ~.) Poor old John is as mad as a hatter. All these screaming children are driving me mad as a hatter. 2. angry. (This is a misunderstanding of mad in the first sense. *Also: as ~.) You make me so angry! I'm as mad as a hatter. John can't control his temper. He's always mad as a hatter.See also: hatter, mad

run with someone or something

to stay in the company of someone or some group. Fred was out running with Larry when they met Vernon. Let's go out and run with the other guys this morning.See also: run

run with something

1. Lit. to run, showing a particular characteristic. Sally runs with speed and grace. Fred runs with tremendous speed. 2. Fig. to take over something and handle it aggressively and independently. I know that Alice can handle the job. She will take it on and run with it. I hope she runs with this next project.See also: run

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

Fig. to support both sides of a dispute. In our office politics, Sally always tries to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, telling both the clerical workers and the management that she thinks they should prevail.See also: and, hare, hound, hunt, run

mad as a hatter

Also, mad as a March hare. Crazy, demented, as in She is throwing out all his clothes; she's mad as a hatter. This expression, dating from the early 1800s, alludes to exposure to the chemicals formerly used in making felt hats, which caused tremors and other nervous symptoms. The variant, dating from the 14th century, alludes to the crazy behavior of hares during rutting season, mistakenly thought to be only in March. See also: hatter, mad

run with

1. Also, run around with. Socialize with; see run around, def. 2. 2. Take as one's own, adopt; also, carry out enthusiastically. For example, He wanted to run with the idea and go public immediately. 3. run with the hare, hunt with the hounds. Support two opposing sides at the same time, as in He wants to increase the magazine's circulation along with its price-that's trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds . This expression, alluding to being both hunter and hunted at the same time, dates from the 1400s and was already a proverb in John Heywood's 1546 collection. See also: run

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

BRITISH, LITERARYIf someone runs with the hare and hunts with the hounds, they try to support both sides in an argument or fight. They want to keep the peace and have everybody happy. For this reason they learn very quickly to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds. Note: A hound is a dog that has been bred for hunting. See also: and, hare, hound, hunt, run

start a hare

BRITISH, OLD-FASHIONEDIf you start a hare, you introduce a new idea or topic which other people become interested in. Some work needs to be done before the connection between aluminium and heart disease is proved, but Mr Birchall has started a hare that many researchers will be watching. Note: To `start' a hare means to disturb it and cause it to leave its hiding place, so that the hounds start chasing it. See also: hare, start

mad as a hatter

mainly BRITISHIf someone is as mad as a hatter, they are crazy. Her sister's as mad as a hatter and if you ask me she's not much better herself. Note: In the 19th century, `hatters' or hat-makers used nitrate of mercury to treat their fabrics. This substance is poisonous, and if the hat-makers breathed it in, they often suffered brain damage. As a result, hatters were traditionally thought of as mad. In Lewis Carroll's children's story `Alice in Wonderland' (1865), one of the characters is a hatter who behaves very strangely. Carroll may have based the character on a well-known Oxford furniture dealer, Theophilus Carter, who was known as the `Mad Hatter'. See also: hatter, mad

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

try to remain on good terms with both sides in a conflict or dispute. British This expression has been in use since the mid 15th century.See also: and, hare, hound, hunt, run

start a hare

raise a topic of conversation. British , dated The rapid twisting and running of a hunted hare is here used as a metaphor for the pursuit of a topic in an animated conversation, especially one in which the participants hold strong views.See also: hare, start

mad as a hatter (or a March hare)

completely crazy. informal In this expression, a hatter refers to Lewis Carroll's character, the Mad Hatter, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ( 1865 ). It is thought that hatters suffered from the effects of mercury poisoning because of the fumes arising from the use of mercurous nitrate in the manufacture of felt hats. The March hare version refers to the way hares leap about during the breeding season.See also: hatter, mad

run with the ˌhare and hunt with the ˈhounds

try to remain friendly with both sides in a quarrel: I know you want to keep everyone happy, but I’m afraid you can’t run with the hare and hunt with the hounds on this issue.See also: and, hare, hound, hunt, run

(as) mad as a ˈhatter

(informal) (of a person) crazyThe Mad Hatter was a character in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Because of the chemicals used in hat-making, workers often suffered from mercury poisoning, which can cause loss of memory and damage to the nervous system.See also: hatter, mad

(as) mad as a March ˈhare

(informal) (of a person) crazyA March hare refers to a hare (= an animal like a large rabbit) that behaves very strangely in the breeding season.See also: hare, mad, march

run with

v.1. To accompany and participate in the activities of someone or something: Those teenagers run with a wild crowd.2. To float or sail in the same direction as something:The sailboat ran with the wind all the way to the beach. On the trip back, we can run with the current, and we won't have to paddle the canoe.3. To adopt something or take something as one's own and then proceed with it: I took their idea for a novel and ran with it.See also: run

mad as a hatter

Crazy. Although many readers associate mad hatter with Alice’s tea party in Wonderland, attended by both a March Hare and a Hatter, the term is considerably older and is thought to come from the fact that the chemicals used in making felt hats could produce the symptoms of Saint Vitus’ dance or other nervous tremors. In literature, references occur in Thomas Haliburton’s The Clockmaker (1837) and Thackeray’s Pendennis (1850), both predating Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The synonym mad as a March hare, incidentally, which dates from Chaucer’s time, is virtually obsolete.See also: hatter, mad

run with the hare, hunt with the hounds, to

To stay in favor with two opponents; to take both sides at the same time. This expression, with its analogy to being both hunted and hunter, dates from the fifteenth century and appeared in Heywood’s 1546 proverb collection. John Lyly used it in Euphues (1580): “Whatsoeuer I speake to men, the same also I speake to women, I meane not to run with the Hare and holde with the Hounde.” The meaning is quite different from a similar-sounding cliché, to run with the pack, which means to take the same side as the majority. However, both these terms may be dying out in America. See also: hunt, run

mad as a hatter

Crazy. The standard explanation comes from the effect to the brain caused by mercury nitrate used by 18th- and 19th-century hatmakers. Another view holds that “mad” originally meant “poisonous” and “hatter” is a corruption of the Saxon word “atter,” the adder snake, the bite of which affects the brain. In any event, the Mad Hatter character in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland is a testimony to eccentricity bordering on madness.See also: hatter, mad

mad as a March hare

Crazy. According to folklore, hares behave as though they're “sparring” with other hares and leaping around for no discernible reason during their breeding season. Their breeding season in Europe begins during the month of March.See also: hare, mad, march

hare

hare,

name for certain herbivorous mammals of the family Leporidae, which also includes the rabbitrabbit,
name for herbivorous mammals of the family Leporidae, which also includes the hare and the pika. Rabbits and hares have large front teeth, short tails, and large hind legs and feet adapted for running or jumping.
..... Click the link for more information. and pikapika
, short-haired mammal related to rabbits and hares, also called mouse hare and rock rabbit. Pikas live above the timber line in the mountains of N Asia and W North America.
..... Click the link for more information. . The name is applied especially to species of the genus Lepus, sometimes called the true hares. Hares generally have longer ears and hind legs than rabbits and move by jumping rather than by running. Unlike rabbits, hares are born covered with fur and with their eyes open. Hares are native to Eurasia, Africa, and North and Central America; they have been introduced into Australia in recent times. They range in weight from 3 to 13 lb (1.4–5.9 kg) and from 13 to 25 in. (33–63 cm) in length. They are usually brown or grayish in color, but northern species acquire a white coat in winter. Hares live in meadows, brushy country, and woodland clearings; they are largely nocturnal although they may forage in the day if undisturbed. Members of most species rest in shallow hollows, called forms, that they make in vegetation; they have regular trails from these forms to their feeding spots. Females make nests of their own fur for receiving the young. Hares feed on grasses, leaves, and bark. Like rabbits, they reingest their own droppings so that food passes twice through the digestive system. Most North American hares are very large, with extremely long ears, and are called jackrabbitsjackrabbit,
popular name for several hares of W North America, characterized by very long legs and ears. Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers and fast runners. In normal progress leaps are alternated with running steps; when pursued the hare runs fast and close to the ground.
..... Click the link for more information. . Other North American species are the varying harevarying hare,
any of several medium-sized hares, sometimes known as snowshoe rabbits, having white fur in winter and turning brownish in summer. They are 18 to 19 in. (45–48 cm) long and have very large back feet and relatively small ears for hares.
..... Click the link for more information. (or snowshoe rabbit), Lepus americanus, which ranges over the northern half of the continent; the Arctic hare, L. arcticus, found on the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean; and the Alaska, or tundra, hare, L. othus, found in N and W Alaska. The large brown hare, L. europaeus, is native to Europe, where it is valued as game. Introduced as a game animal in the NE United States, it has become an agricultural pest. The so-called Belgian hare is actually a domestic rabbit.Hares are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
, phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Lagomorpha, family Leporidae.

Hare

The hare is a close relative to the rabbit. This shy, fleet-footed animal looms large in Middle Eastern, European, African, Asian, and American Indian folklore. Among these peoples the hare represents such diverse qualities as cleverness, quickness, femininity, fertility, sexuality, and self-sacrifice, and is often associated with the moon and eternal life. European folklore concerning the hare emphasizes its association with certain of these themes, namely fertility, sexuality, femininity, and the moon. Moreover, European folk beliefs attribute strange powers and a distinctive personality to this timid creature. The hare is closely associated with springtime, a season in which it is especially active. This association, as well as those mentioned above, probably explains how the hare, and later the rabbit, became a symbol of the Easter holiday.

The Moon, the Hare, and the Feminine

Many peoples throughout the world have linked the hare with the moon. While American children are told to look for the face of "the man in the moon," storytellers from many other cultures have for centuries told tales about the "hare in the moon." How did so many peoples come to associate the hare with the moon? Perhaps it came about because the hare, like the moon, hides during the day and is most often seen at twilight or during the night. Since many people believed that the hare never closed its eyes, not even to sleep, it may be that the hare's unblinking eye reminded them of the moon, the "eye in the sky" that watches while all else slumbers.

Mythologists suggest that the moon serves as a natural symbol of femininity since its monthly cycle mirrors that of the female reproductive system. Because the hare was thought to have an affinity with the moon, it often shared this association with the feminine. Another common association links the moon with birth, fertility, death, and rebirth. This connection, too, is suggested by the moon's monthly cycle of waxing, waning, disappearing, and reappearing. Stories of hares that willingly stayed in flaming fields or leapt into fires appear in a number of different cultures. Perhaps this association between the hare and death helped to link the animal symbolically with the moon in the folklore of many different lands.

Ancient Middle Eastern Folklore

As early as 2,000 years before Christ, the hare had become a symbol of death and rebirth in Mesopotamia and Syria. In ancient Egypt the hare was associated with the god Osiris who came to represent life, death, and immortality. Some evidence suggests that the moon became another minor emblem associated with Osiris.

Ancient Greek and Roman Folklore

The ancient Greeks associated the hare with Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and also with Eros, the god of sexual attraction. Indeed the ancient Greeks used hares as gifts signaling love and attraction. The hare's own reproductive practices probably suggested these associations, since the hare mates frequently throughout the spring and summer months. Indeed, the hare produces so many offspring that some ancient Greeks believed that the female hare could conceive while still pregnant. Dionysus, the Greek god best known as the patron of wine, might also be accompanied by a hare.

Scholars have discovered that the ancient Greeks and Romans often depicted the hare on gravestones and funeral art. According to one writer, this image represented the hope that love would conquer death. As belief in immortality became more widespread, the hare became an even more popular image in funeral art. The early Christians accepted this pre-existing symbolism and also used the image of the hare on their gravestones.

The Romans associated the hare with Diana, a goddess who presided over treaties, childbirth, and women in general, and one of whose symbols was the moon. The moon itself was seen as feminine by the Greeks and Romans. The hare shared this symbolic association with the feminine. In addition, the hare's great fertility made it a symbol of springtime in much of pre-Christian Europe.

The hare was also known for its fleetness of foot in the ancient world. This characteristic plays an important role in one of Aesop's Fables, a collection of moral tales attributed to an ancient Greek storyteller known as Aesop. In the famous tale known as "The Tortoise and the Hare," the quick-footed hare loses a race with the plodding tortoise due to over-confidence. The hare decides he can afford to take a nap before crossing the finish line, but he oversleeps, allowing the slow but diligent tortoise to win the race.

Ancient Northern European Folklore

Some folklorists have suggested that the ancient Norse goddess Freya was accompanied by magical hares. In Norse mythology Freya represented beauty, youth, and sexual attraction.

Medieval European Folklore

The hare continued to symbolize sexual desire throughout the Middle Ages. Though still widely known for its frequent matings and great fertility, medieval writers embellished the sexual reputation of the hare with many beliefs which we now know to be false. For example, some writings indicate that the hare was believed to change its sex at will. Other records reveal a belief in the ability of female hares to conceive without the aid of males, thus retaining their virginity even while bearing offspring.

Perhaps because of their earlier association with pagan goddesses, hares were also often thought to act as witches' familiars. Many people believed it possible for a witch to change her shape into that of a hare, in which capacity she often wreaked havoc on farmers'fields. In Germany, France, Holland and Ireland, the harvesting of the last stand of grain in the field was known as "cutting the hare."

The hare also acquired an association with ill luck, perhaps because of its connection to witchcraft, or perhaps because of the unusual sexual characteristics it was supposed to have. Many dreaded a chance meeting with one of these seemingly harmless animals. At some May Day celebrations hare-witches were ceremonially burned. In spite of these troubling associations, many medieval Europeans knew hares to be shy, fearful creatures. Thus writers and artists of the period often used the hare as a symbol of timidity.

Personality and Powers

In spite of its negative associations European folklore attributed powers to the hare that could be used for good. Amulets of hare's feet were at one time thought to confer potency or to have healing powers. The famous English diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) once wrote that he recovered from a "colic" by means of a hare's foot. Later the hare's, or rabbit's, foot became a general good luck charm. Superstition dictated that the best time to cull a rabbit's foot was during a moonless night. Perhaps the old association between the hare and the moon lingered on, suggesting that the moon might look down with disfavor upon anyone whom she spotted harming a hare. People also attributed distinct personality characteristics to the hare. Hares were believed to be sad and gloomy. Some avoided eating them for fear of picking up this tendency towards melancholy. Another folk belief attributed suicidal tendencies to the hare. Some farmers told of hares that stayed in burning fields until their skins were scorched.

Another set of European folk beliefs warned that in the springtime the hare turned from melancholy to madness. This belief may have been based on accurate observations of the hare's springtime mating habits. At this time of year hares suddenly leap straight up in the air, revealing their hiding places in the tall grass. Males competing for mates will often box with one another in this fashion. These habits gave rise to the expression "mad as a March hare." Perhaps they also inspired the word "harebrained."

Asian Folklore

The "hare in the moon" is a common theme in Asian folklore, as is the connection made between the hare, death, and immortality.

An ancient Chinese folktale explains how a hare came to reside on the surface of the moon. According to this legend the hare in the moon grinds the elixir of immortality while sitting at the foot of a cassia tree. One Chinese custom encourages children to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival by carrying hare-shaped lanterns to the tops of hills in the early evening, where they admire the moon's beauty and identify the immortal hare under the cassia tree in the light and dark shapes on the moon's surface. Indeed, in Chinese mythology hares symbolize longevity and are mystically linked to the moon. What's more, the hare is a symbol in the Chinese zodiac. Those born in the year of the hare are thought to share in its personality traits: kindness, diplomacy, good manners, a love of beauty, luck with money, and a boundless self-confidence which may turn into conceit.

Other peoples throughout Asia also see a hare rather than a man in the moon. The Japanese see a hare pounding rice cakes in the dark and light spots on the moon. A Buddhist folktale recounts that the Buddha, in an earlier incarnation as a hare, willingly gave his own flesh to help feed a hungry soul. He gained immortality through this good deed, rising in the shape of a hare to the moon, where he is still visible to us today. A legend from India claims that a hare once performed a great act of compassion for the god Indra. The hare spied Indra, disguised as a famished pilgrim, praying for food. The hare had nothing but his body to give so he cast himself on the fire so that the pilgrim might eat. The god rewarded the hare by granting him immortal life on the moon.

African Folklore

In many cultures of the world the hare was celebrated for its cleverness. Nigerians, Dahomeans, and other Africans told many trickster tales featuring the hare, or rabbit. Trickster tales revolve around a mythic figure who achieves goals through trickery. These tricksters are usually strong-willed, adventurous, amoral, comical, irreverent, insatiable, and capable of both great cleverness and foolishness. Folklorists believe that African slaves brought folktales about clever hares to the United States, where they became part of African-American folklore. The Bre'r Rabbit tales, popularized by Joel Chandler Harris' retellings, are examples of this African-American rabbit lore. These tales tell how Bre'r rabbit gets the better of his neighbors and outwits all those who try to trap him.

American Indian Folklore

Many American Indians also told tales about the cleverness of the hare. Several Algonquin tribes of eastern North America told mythic tales about the Great Hare which portrayed him as a trickster god and culture hero who helped to shape and enlarge the earth. A tale known among one group of the Algonquins known as the Cree Indians told of how a resourceful hare gained immortality by traveling to the moon, where he still can be seen today. Other American Indian bands also see a hare in the moon. Many southeastern tribes portray the rabbit as a clever culture hero who brought the first fire to humankind. According to one tale Rabbit stole the first flames from across the ocean. He outran his pursuers and brought fire back across the sea to America, but ended up by setting the woods ablaze. Great Basin tribes tell similar stories about how Rabbit stole the sun.

Easter and the Hare

European folklore connected the hare to Easter by linking it to spring, fertility, and new life. The American Easter Bunny developed out of German folklore concerning the Easter Hare. The Easter bunny, and the Easter eggs it delivers, have become the predominant folk symbols of Easter in the United States.

Further Reading

Becker, Udo. "Hare." In his The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols. New York: Continuum, 1994. Black, William George. "The Hare in Folk-Lore." Folk-Lore Journal 1, 1 (1883): 84-90. Cavendish, Richard. "Hare." In his Man, Myth and Magic. Volume 8. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1997. Goodenough, Erwin R. Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period. Volume 8. New York: Pantheon Books, 1958. Lau, Theodora. The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes. Third edition. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995. Layard, John. The Lady of the Hare. 1944. Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1977. Leach, Maria, ed. Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mytho- logy, and Legend. New York: Harper and Row, 1984. Lord, Priscilla Sawyer, and Daniel J. Foley. Easter the World Over. Philadelphia, PA: Chilton Book Company, 1971. Mercatante, Anthony. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend. New York: Facts on File, 1988. Pelton, Robert D. "Tricksters: African Tricksters." In Mircea Eliade, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Volume 15. New York: Macmillan, 1987. Ricketts, Mac Linscott. "Tricksters: North American Tricksters." In Mircea Eliade, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Volume 15. New York: Macmillan, 1987. Rowland, Beryl. Animals with Human Faces. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1973. Waida, Manabu. "Rabbits." In Mircea Eliade, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. Volume 12. New York: Macmillan, 1987. Wood, Douglas. Rabbit and the Moon. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.

Hare

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Anne Armstrong, one of the accused witches at Northumberland, claimed in 1673 that, on one occasion at a coven meeting, Ann Baites turned into the form of a hare, as well as that of a cat, a greyhound, and a bee, "letting the devil see how many shapes she could turn herself into." Then a number of the coven members assumed the shapes of hares and other animals. According to Issobell Gowdie of Auldearne, Scotland (1662), to become a hare it is only necessary to say the words: I sall goe intill ane haire, With sorrow, and sych, and meikle caire, And I sall goe in the Divellis nam, Ay whill I com hom againe.

To change back to human form one had to say: Hare, hare, God send thee care. I am in an hare's likeness just now, But I shall be in a woman's likeness even now.

Gowdie, who seemed to delight in giving details of witchcraft activities, claimed that she was once chased by dogs while she was in the form of a hare, and that she only escaped by running through her own house, in one door and out another. It is possible that this was a story based on a ritual game of chasing, with the Grand Master, or coven leader, playing the part of the hound.

Margaret Alice Murray points out that the witch had to announce to the other witches what shape she was about to assume. Others might then join her in that same shape. Yet it seemed that anyone else observing them would not actually see a change.

Some pagan societies regarded the hare as sacred. The Iceni Queen Boudicca's (Boadicea's) banner bore the likeness of the Moon-Hare, which was also associated with the goddess Eostre. Indeed, it is from this latter that the "Easter Bunny" derives. The MoonHare was what the Celts believed caused the marks seen on the surface of the full moon.

The hare (and the rabbit) as a symbol of the goddess, and therefore of good fortune, is still remembered in the form of the rabbit's foot carried for luck even today. In ancient Greece it was connected with Hecate, the lunar goddess of the Witches. In Germany, France, and Holland, the hare is revered as the spirit of the corn. The act of reaping the last corn is referred to as "cutting the hare." In Rome, the hare's movements were carefully observed to divine the future, and only members of the priesthood could eat its flesh.

What does it mean when you dream about a hare?

See Rabbit.

hare

[her] (vertebrate zoology) The common name for a number of lagomorphs in the family Leporidae; they differ from rabbits in being larger with longer ears, legs, and tails.

Hare

[her] (astronomy) Lepus

hare

attribute of sexual desire incarnate. [Art: Hall, 144]See: Lust

hare

flesh brings melancholy to those who eat it. [Animal Symbolism: Mercatante, 125]See: Melancholy

hare

any solitary leporid mammal of the genus Lepus, such as L. europaeus (European hare). Hares are larger than rabbits, having longer ears and legs, and live in shallow nests (forms)

Hare

1. Sir David. born 1947, British dramatist and theatre director: his plays include Plenty (1978), Pravda (with Howard Brenton, 1985), The Secret Rapture (1989), Racing Demon (1990), and The Permanent Way (2003) 2. William. 19th century, Irish murderer and bodysnatcher: associate of William Burke

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hold with the hare and run with the hounds

you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

be as mad as a March hare

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

start a hare (running)

(as) mad as a March hare

run with

first catch your hare

if you run after two hares, you will catch neither

First catch your hare.

If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.

*mad as a hatter

run with someone or something

run with something

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

mad as a hatter

run with

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

start a hare

mad as a hatter

run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

start a hare

mad as a hatter (or a March hare)

run with the ˌhare and hunt with the ˈhounds

(as) mad as a ˈhatter

(as) mad as a March ˈhare

run with

mad as a hatter

run with the hare, hunt with the hounds, to

mad as a hatter

mad as a March hare

hare

hare,

Hare

Hare

What does it mean when you dream about a hare?

hare

Hare

hare

hare

hare

Hare

HARE

hare

Synonyms for hare

noun swift timid long-eared mammal larger than a rabbit having a divided upper lip and long hind legs

Related Words

noun flesh of any of various rabbits or hares (wild or domesticated) eaten as food

Synonyms

Related Words

verb run quickly, like a hare

Related Words