I say it. Do you?
For years now, I don’t know how many—though it must be within the last twenty-four because that is as long as I’ve known my friend, Susan, who taught me to say it—I’ve said, Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit aloud on the first day of each month. This ensures good luck for the rest of the month.
Technically, Rabbit (times three) should be the very first words from your mouth on the morning of, say, February 1st, before you’ve asked your husband to please, in the name of everything that is good, turn off the radio alarm, before you scritch your daughter’s back through her jammies and say, Time to wake up, little one, and before you promise the black and white cat that he shall be fed soon.
This tradition or superstition, which I thought Susan made up out of thin air and taught to me and our mutual friend, Laura, has actually been around since 1909, if you can believe Wikipedia’s take on Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit. Apparently, the phrase can be shortened—if you’re lazy or maybe in a hurry—to simply, Rabbits! or White Rabbits!
Of course, who can remember what day it is, let alone whether it’s the first day of the month, when you’ve just peeled your eyelids open and it’s still dark because it is, say, only February 1st, usually one of the darkest and wettest first days of the month each year. And so Susan graciously slackened the rules and allows Laura and me to say, Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit at any point in the day that we happen to remember it is the first day of the month, or, even more loosely, whenever we happen to feel the need for a little good luck.
Honestly, I don’t know if this word, repeated three times at the beginning of each month, has ever brought me luck. I do know that twelve times a year I can bet money that I will receive an email or phone call or a shout across the table from my long-time sister-friends, Laura and Susan, whose friendship, as mentioned above, can’t be calculated in years. I know that these words bring us together, the way prayers do, or the way a mission statement can clarify and pinpoint ideals in a diverse group of people.
I work with words everyday either on a freelance writing project (or two), or on my poetry manuscript (or two), or as I prepare for and discuss words for the classes I teach. It can be overwhelming, and yet, on the first day of each month I say Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit and I’m reminded of the power and poetry of the right words at the right time.
What a fun and cute tradition around words and I love that it creates connection between you and your dear friends. I love the images – well chosen – of 3 rabbits. From reading this post one sees that not only traditions, but words bring people together.
Thanks for your feedback, Bobbi. I know that you, too, have been noticing how even a single word–stretch or joy or delight–can have powerful resonance in life, whether it be written in sand or hung on the wall, like the artwork you commissioned. Beautiful.