{"id":1170,"date":"2013-01-07T14:36:53","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T12:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/?p=1170"},"modified":"2013-01-07T14:36:53","modified_gmt":"2013-01-07T12:36:53","slug":"put-a-spring-in-your-step-with-rabbit-tattoos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/put-a-spring-in-your-step-with-rabbit-tattoos\/","title":{"rendered":"Put a Spring in Your Step with Rabbit Tattoos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rabbits, hares and bunnies have appeared in art and folk tales for centuries, often as a symbol of earth, spring or the moon. Rabbit tattoos often have a deeper symbolism that is attached to a literary rabbit character like Peter Rabbit, or as a representation of an idea such as rebirth, fertility or mysticism. Rabbit tattoos are very popular because they are both attractive and symbolic.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This wolpertinger tattoo design shows a rabbit with tree branch horns peeking out of a teapot. A wolpertinger is a mythological creature that appears in Bavarian folklore. It often has wings, antlers and fangs. In this rabbit tattoo, the wolpertinger has tree branches as antlers. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tattoos that are as Mad as a March Hare<\/h1>\n

The phrase “mad as a March hare” refers to the behavior of rabbits and hares in spring time; the mating season of rabbits. In spring, rabbits and hares go a little crazy and behave erratically. Comparing a person’s behavior to a March hare’s behavior is a way of saying that they’ve gone a little loopy. The phrase was used in Lewis Carroll’s\u00a0The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland,\u00a0<\/em>and in Walt Disney’s animated film based on the book the Mad Hatter is accompanied by the March Hare at the Mad Tea Party. See more Alice in Wonderland tattoos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A humorous tattoo design based on an illustration of the frazzled March Hare character from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland\u00a0<\/em>stories, complete with his ever present cup of tea. \u00a0The tattoo artist has used a painterly style to create this artistic tattoo as opposed to traditional tattoos which use bold outlines.\u00a0[source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A crazy zombie rabbit creature reaches out of this unusual rabbit tattoo design. The rabbit hasn’t simply been personfied with human clothing. The tattoo artist has created a man animal hybrid by placing the rabbit’s head on a man’s body. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Symbolism of Rabbit Tattoos<\/h1>\n

Rabbits often appear in art as a religious or spiritual symbol. In many religions, rabbits are a symbol of new life and fertility because rabbits breed incredibly quickly. A female rabbit can birth over forty young each year. Because rabbits and hares go wild during the spring mating season, they have become a symbol of spring celebrations and have found their way into religious ceremonies that occur in spring. These playful jumping, running and “bouncing” creatures exhibit a joy of life and are often used in art as a symbol of optimism and liveliness.<\/p>\n

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The rabbit in this tattoo is surrounded by flowers and butterflies, which are also symbols of spring, new beginnings and joy. Tattoos like this one are often chosen to mark a major life change or a new beginning. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabbits and hares are also linked to the moon. In German mythology the moon goddess \u0112ostre was accompanied by a hare. Over time, this hare became known as the Easter bunny. In art,\u00a0\u0112ostre’s pet hare is often shown gazing at the moon and is called the “moon gazing hare”. It was believed that seeing a hare gazing at the moon was lucky; a sign that the person who saw the hare would receive abundance and good fortune. in many ancient cultures, rabbits and hares were associated with the moon because they are nocturnal creatures. When depicted with a moon in tattoo art, rabbits and hares symbolize that life will soon change, just as surely as the lunar cycle means that the moon changes.<\/p>\n

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A tattoo of a hare or rabbit jumping in front of the moon under a cherry blossom tree. Both the rabbit and the cherry blossom tree are symbols of spring, new beginnings and positive change. The moon is a symbol that change is constant and that life has phases just as the moon does. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One of the most well-known magic tricks performed by stage magicians is the “hat-trick”. The magician shows the audience what appears to be an empty top hat. He reaches into the hat and pulls out a live rabbit. Because of this magic trick, rabbits are sometimes associated with magic, trickery and illusion. Illustrations of a rabbit being pulled from hats have become an icon for magicians and illusionists.<\/p>\n

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This Russ Abbot tattoo is based on the magic hat trick in which a magician pulls a rabbit from a top hat. The tattoo artist has answered the question of how the rabbit came to be in the top hat by creating a gentleman rabbit character who wears a top hat and tie and smokes a pipe. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabbits and hares often play a role in children’s stories and cartoons and many of these rabbits have become world famous. The most popular literary and cartoon characters are Bugs Bunny, Peter Rabbit, the Briar Rabbit and the Velveteen Rabbit. In some children’s stories, the rabbit characters are sweet and kind, while in other stories they are tricky and mischievous.<\/p>\n

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A tattoo of the Warner Bros character Bugs Bunny in a typical carefree pose. Bugs Bunny is one of the most popular rabbit characters and has become the mascot for the Warner Bros company. He is known for being a trickster who outsmarts a hunter every hunting season while making wise cracks in a New York accent. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 1967 Jefferson Airplane released a track called “White Rabbit”. The song used the story of\u00a0Alice in Wonderland\u00a0<\/em>as a metaphor for drug use. Alice’s imaginative adventures took on an hallucinogenic aspect through the song and the phrase “following the white rabbit” has become a reference to using drugs that cause visions and a warped reality.<\/p>\n

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A tattoo of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland<\/em> falling down the rabbit hole. In the story, the White Rabbit has a pocket watch and is racing to the Red Queen, worried that he’s late. In tattoo art, time pieces and watches are symbols of both mortality and eternity, making them reminders that every second counts and every moment is precious. [source]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabbits, hares and bunnies have appeared in art and folk tales for centuries, often as a symbol of earth, spring or the moon. Rabbit tattoos often have a deeper symbolism that is attached to a literary rabbit character like Peter Rabbit, or as a representation of an idea such as rebirth, fertility or mysticism. Rabbit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[29,37,74,75,97,103,105,139,149,163,203,278,312,316,385,405,421,441,494,528,534,599,629,633],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rattatattoo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}