Why is a Rabbit's Foot considered lucky?
Superstitions, such as a rabbit's foot being considered lucky, grow
out of man's attempts to explain the unknown. When man disproves the
old belief, and some still cling to the belief, it becomes a
superstition, such as in the instant case. In Western Europe, prior to
600 B.C., man considered rabbits to be sacred, because of their belief
that spirits inhabited the bodies of animals, and also because of
their belief that man directly descended from a select few of these
animals.
Later, the ancient European Celts adopted portions of the older
belief, that rabbits were sacred, and that spirits inhabited their
bodies. The Celts, based upon the fact that these animals spent an
inordinate amount of time in their underground burrows, held the
belief that the rabbits' bodies were inhabited by numina, underground
spirits with whom they communicated at very close proximity!
Another reason the Celts held the rabbit to be sacred, was because of
their prowess in the field of reproduction. They believed that the
numina intended for rabbits to be put upon pedestals and revered as
symbols of procreation, reproduction with a high turnover rate, of
health, and of prosperity.
Since the rabbit itself was considered to be lucky, it follows that
any of its body parts would also be considered lucky. People selected
the rabbit's foot to tote around for good luck, because of its
capacity to dry quickly, its small size, and the fact that it made a
great key chain!
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