It seems that everywhere I look these days, I see a rabbit. That’s because I spend a lot of time working from home and my pet bunny enjoys nothing more than sitting next to my bed and eating her own poop while staring me directly in the eye, but also because buns are trending cosmically. (Or, like, they’re having a good few months, at least.)
Case in point: Anna Kendrick just covered Elle; in the spread inside, she massages a bun atop a fur rug (which is pretty unchill, seeing as that’s like having a person pose on top of a human-meat-tarp, but oh well). But that’s not all — yesterday, Nicki Minaj released a music video with bunnies smoking cigarettes in it. Last month, Cosmo created a haunting psychosexual nightmare entitled “Bunnies and Biceps,” which features male models singing along to a psychedelic drone rap about lagomorphs and their own bulging muscles.
Rabbits have also recently appeared in Vanity Fair alongside Nymphomaniac actress Sophie Kennedy Clark; they’ve wiggled around and probably defecated in handbags for a Cut editorial; one even had the esteemed honor of posing with James Franco on the cover of Numero, which means that James Franco likely read it Salinger and stroked its head until it fell into a fitful sleep. “You are damaged,” crooned James Franco to the rabbit. “The whiskered mask you wear atop your face has become your real face. Thus is life, my friend. We are all just actors, me especially. I am the most actor of all.”
Rabbits are also catching on as pets in a big way. Last month, for instance, Cara Delevingne got one, named him Cecil, and bought him a diminutive suitcase because he is a bun on the go. Cecil is not a alone in being a Very Important Fashion Rabbit — Katie Grand, the editor in chief of Love Magazine, has a VIFR of her own named Clara. And bunny-owning is (maybe) proliferating as a Thing: at least one fashion-rabbit trend piece exists on the Internet. Which is great, because nothing pleases me like an Instagram-famous tiny plains animal — however, I would be remiss not to say that rabbits are a huge commitment, which is something people don’t realize since they’re more immobile than dogs and less devious than cats. Rabbits usually live for ten years, and they require at least 30 hours of cage-free time a week. In addition, they can literally die of fear — which is why you should never casually carry one around in a handbag or put one in an unnecessarily stressful situation. (They can also die when put in water — so, sorry to ruin your experience of the chill-ass rabbit taking a bath video, but that poor guy is probably in extreme shock.)
Now you are probably wondering, “What’s the point of an animal that makes sustained eye contact with me while eating its own feces if I can’t carry it around in a lil’ satchel and make viral videos of it enjoying bath time?” Good question! The answer is that a bunny is the cutest fucking animal in the world. Moreover, the rabbit is historically a symbol of rebirth, self-sacrifice, abundance, sexuality, lust, fertility and good luck — all of which are great things (actually, not sure about the self-sacrifice bit, but let’s just count “lust” twice to cancel it out). They used to attend Venus all the time in old-timey paintings, and they’re associated with several goddesses. According to this one witchcraft site with truly stunning graphics:
The Rabbit and Hare have also long been associated with the Goddess and were the totem of several — the hare to Artemis and Hecate, the sacred rabbit to Aphrodite, to Holda who was accompanied by several torch-bearing hares, to Cerridwen and Freyja who both had hare attendants, and, of course, to Eostre who was said to have taken the shape of a hare at each full moon… these gentle creatures can assist us in becoming more attuned to the lunar cycle. All rabbits in general are associated with the Moon, magick, luck, love, creativity, success, sensitivity, agility, spontaneity, abundance, rebirth and, of course, fertility.
I don’t think it’s a huge extrapolation to say that rabbits are the patron saints of periods (“these gentle creatures can assist us in becoming more attuned to the lunar cycle” is the semantic equivalent of a bunny wearing a diva cup as a hat). This makes them ideal familiars for your coven and also mascots of womynhood in general. Furthermore, the Triple Goddess smiles upon them. WHO ELSE’S ENDORSEMENT DO YOU NEED?
In short, the rabbit’s burgeoning popularity is an excellent thing. As for the reason behind it, well, uh, I think this video speaks for itself: