It’s the first of the month, and like clockwork, half of St Francis mumbles “rabbit rabbit” (or the more theatrical “white rabbit”) into the morning chill before the kettle’s even thought about boiling. Some say it’s for luck. Others do it because their gran told them to. Before 8 a.m., muscle memory often prevails over common sense.
But where did this weird little jol come from?
The truth is that nobody is really sure. One theory points to early 1900s Britain, where children were taught to say “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit” as soon as they woke up on the first of the month, presumably before they’d even reached for the coal scuttle or the chimney brush. The idea was that it brought good fortune, or at least a slight upgrade from whatever disaster the previous month had served up.
A Bizarre Tradition
Folklore also played its part. In old European superstition, animals that popped up uninvited (hares, foxes, owls) were seen as omens. Good or bad? Who knows. Depends on what they were doing. A rabbit hopping through your garden might mean luck. A fox eyeing your chickens, less so.
Lewis Carroll didn’t help matters. His jittery, watch-checking rabbit in Alice in Wonderland turned an ordinary woodland creature into a time-obsessed anxiety mascot, the sort of character who’d definitely panic-buy gas bottles and forget to feed the cat. And somehow, that became the mascot for a new month.
RAF Pilots
During World War II, RAF pilots reportedly muttered “white rabbit” before takeoff for luck, which feels oddly reassuring, considering what they were flying into. It’s a superstition with legs (possibly buck teeth), passed down through generations like a family recipe with no ingredients, no method, and absolutely fkall logic.
But that could be the charm. It’s not about sense, it’s about hope. A mumble into the big void that simply says: “Go easy on us this month, please, because it’s going to be cold and grey, and there’s a huge rain forecast,” or something like that.
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