Lucky Rabbit’s Foot

The foot of a rabbit has long been considered good luck if carried around as a charm.  You don’t need to stop and consider very intensely to find this a bit strange.

Carrying around the body part of a dead animal is, at a minimum, a little weird.

If you dig in deeper on the rabbit’s foot good luck amulet stuff, details become stranger.   First of all, there appears no clear reasons why the foot of a rabbit brings good fortune.  But the manner in which the foot is obtained matters greatly.

According to Wikipedia: “This belief is held by individuals in a great number of places around the world, including Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America. In variations of this superstition, the donor rabbit must possess certain attributes, such as having been killed in a particular place, using a particular method, or by a person possessing particular attributes (e.g., by a cross-eyed man).”

Equally bizarre requirements are attached to the charm in some regions of North America.  Some suggest that the left hind foot of a rabbit must be used.  And the rabbit must be shot or otherwise captured in a cemetery.  Some say, instead, that the rabbit must be taken on a Friday, or a rainy Friday, or Friday the 13th.  Some sources deem that the rabbit should be shot with a silver bullet, while others say that the foot must be cut off while the rabbit is still alive.

In my way of reasoning, all the above-mentioned methods required for getting a lucky rabbit’s foot are simply grisly.

Years ago, as a child, I spent several dollars in change playing a crane claw drop machine—you know—the type of game where you drop the claw into a pile of toys and trinkets and hope to grab a big plush toy.

I got a pink rabbit foot.

A fake one.

Lucky for some rabbit out there.

—Mitchell Hegman

Source: Wikipedia, history.com