Three hares three ears

I bought some art for Lou the other day. Found it at a local shop, it immediately jumped out at me.

When we drove down the lane to where we are staying, here in Foston on the Wolds, we both saw a hare through the window of the car. You don’t see them often. Lou has business with them, spiritual business. I saw a simple image in a shop but it immediately called to me for her. I’ve never bought any art so quickly.

An old German riddle reads thus: “Drei Hasen und der Löffel (or Ohren) drei und doch hat jeder seine zwei.”

“Three hares and their ears three, and yet each one has only two.”

The answer is a picture. A variant of this picture wot I bought Lou:

Loffel can mean spoon or rabbit ear hence the Alsatian variant with Ohren.

The image is circular. Each of three hares shares an ear with a neighbour. The hares are linked by the loffel.

I start with Germany, but this is older than that riddle. Throughout Devon and the South of England the motif is common in medieval churches, not restricted to edges where the makers marks are, but prominent. Often they are called “Tinner’s Hares”. Tin. We were selling tin globally, it’s what put us on the map. The Phoenicians were trading with us since forever. It’s why we think Joseph of Aramethea might have come here, perhaps with his apprentice Jesus, although that’s pushing it. AND DID THOSE FEET etc. Sure the thorn bushes in Glastonbury from Jerusalem, holy blood, holy grail etc etc. He gave his tomb and he was in tin… And hares are tangled up with resurrection and even virgin births through Eostre and various other mythoii. The Eostre Bunny comes when nature comes back from death, laying eggs.

Three hares three ears but each have two.

You’d be surprised how far back it goes, how widespread it is, this image.

Three. Think of triskelion and triquetra in Celtic myth through paganism and Hinduism to Christianity. Land sea sky. Mind body soul. Pitta Vata Kapha. Father Son Holy-Spirit. Maiden Mother Crone. Three three three, intertwined forever in this dance, all interlinked, bound together forever. Round and round and round we go.

You’ll find these hares in synagogues, in Islamic temples in Iran, in pagan and Celtic places of power across the world. They’re in the Yungang grottoes, the Mugao Caves, all over the art of 6th century Buddhist caves in China. Three and three and lucky lucky rabbits. Did they come to us down the silk road? Or did they just rise naturally? However it happened these little interconnected beasts have been hammering away at the edge of our thoughts for such a long time it is hard to contemplate how long. It is a satisfying symbol, and boy oh boy it really has been chasing round for time and time and time.

Like so many of these things I’ve probably seen it, been aware of it, never thought about it until just now. Now I’ve realised I won’t get to the bottom of it with the internet which is mostly copy paste and present as fact, where the citations go round in circles. There are whole books on this symbol, and loads of people laughably trying to tell us what the symbol means. Symbols defy meaning it’s why they’re fucking symbols, they mean many things all at the same time otherwise you’d just write it down in words. We are all so desperate to have everything fathomed.

Three hares, three ears. Round we go. It only works in a circle so they have to run together forever linked forever round. I have no idea what it means. Lou is driving. Wheels go round. Gotta be some lucky hare lucky luck stuff there, right?