As such, minstrel show songs would feature the the rabbit’s foot as a lucky charm in ways that would offend our modern ears. The rabbit’s foot as a lucky fetish was tied to the practice of African-American hoodoo in the Southern United States. Also, the left hind leg of the rabbit was preferred. Although the specifics differ, these are all thought to be “unlucky” conditions. in a cemetery, on a Friday, on Friday the 13th, under a full moon, with a silver bullet, by a Black man, by a cross-eyed man, by a man with red hair, etc.). While this may strike the gentle reader as somewhat counter-intuitive, in order to be truly lucky, the foot had to be collected in a particular way (e.g. The appendage derives its lucky properties from a string of “unlucky” circumstances.

The Rabbit’s Foot has a fairly convoluted history as a good luck charm. (Not to be confused with the grouse’s foot, a popular Scottish good luck charm often used as a kilt pin.) Over time, the rabbit’s foot, specifically, became a gambler’s and hunter’s good luck charm. In many cultures, rabbits are symbols of fertility, strongly associated with sexual potency, spring and renewal. Due to that, the one who possessed a totem made by any part of the animal, was assured of good fortune.īut why did we end up with the foot in particular?įolklorists claim that ancient civilizations often used the foot as a phallic symbol, therefore totems with foot were preferred since they fostered fecundity in women.The Lucky Rabbit’s Foot Charm…and other animal paw amulets The strongest association with good luck and prosperity though, came by the rabbit’s fertility (remember when we talked about How On Earth Did We Come To Associate Bunnies With Easter?). In addition, because people are born with their eyes closed while rabbits are born with their eyes wide open, the Celts believed that the animal was carrying wisdom into the world. Because of this “secret communication”, they believed that the rabbits were given information that humans weren’t allowed to have. THE UNDERWORLDīecause the animal was spending so much time underground, Celts believed it was in secret communication with the underworld.

And the reason why they got to this conclusion is quite creepy actually.

Well, even though we don’t know the exact origins, it was the Celts prior to 600 BC, who first associated rabbits with good luck (actually it was the hare, but a lot of Europeans confused hare with rabbit).

Lucky rabbit foot are they real