Three hares

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The three hares is a circular motif appearing in sacred sites from the Middle and Far East to the churches of southwest England (as the "Tinners’ Rabbits"),[1] and historical synagogues in Europe.[2] It is used as an architectural icon, a religious symbol, and modernly as a work of art[3][4] or a logo for adornment (including tattoos),[5] jewelry and a coat of arms on an escutcheon.[6] It is viewed as a puzzle or as a topology problem or as a visual challenge. It is rendered as a sculpture, in drawing, and in painting.

The symbol features three hares chasing each other in a circle. Like the triskelion[7] the triquetra (and their antecedents, e.g., the Triple spiral and the Yin yang whorl), it has a threefold rotational symmetry. See Frieze group. All of those symbols are interrelated and as such are used in pagan and Wiccan symbolism.[8] Each of the ears is shared by two hares, so that only three ears are shown. It has a number of mystical associations and is associated with fertility and the lunar cycle. When used in Christian churches, it is a symbol of the Trinity. Its origins and original significance are uncertain, as are the reasons why it appears in such diverse locations.[1] That the image's meaning changes depending upon the context and the viewer could be characterized as being analogous to pareidolia[2]; its widespread appeal may be characterized as being a meme.[9][10]

Contents [hide]
1 Origins in Buddhism and diffusion on the Silk Road
2 In Christianity
3 In Judaism
4 As an optical illusion or puzzle
5 Other uses and related designs
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
[edit]Origins in Buddhism and diffusion on the Silk Road



The spread of the Three Hares symbol between 600 and 1500
The earliest occurrences appear to be in cave temples in China, dated to the Sui dynasty (6th to 7th centuries).[11][12] The iconography spread along the Silk Road,[13] and was a symbol associated with Buddhism.[14] The hares have been said to be "A hieroglyph of 'to be'."[15] In other contexts the metaphor has been given different meaning. For example, Guan Youhui, a retired researcher from the Dunhuang Academy, who spent 50 years studying the decorative patterns in the Mogao Caves, believes the three rabbits image-—"like many images in Chinese folk art that carry auspicious symbolism—represent peace and tranquility."[11][12] See Aurel Stein. The hares have appeared in Lotus motifs.[16]

The Three Hares appear on 13th century Mongol metal work, and on a copper coin, found in Iran, dated to 1281.[17][18][19]

Another appears on an ancient Islamic reliquary from southern Russia. Another 13th or early 14th century Reliquary was from Iran from Mongol rule, and is preserved in the treasury of Cathedral of Trier Germany. On its base, the casket reveals Islamic iconography, and originally featured two images of the three hares. One was lost through damage.[20]

One theory pertaining to the spread of the motif is that it was transported from China across Asia and as far as the south west of England by merchants traveling the silk road. This view is supported by the early date of the surviving occurrences in China. However the majority of representations of the three hares in churches occur in England and northern Germany. This supports a contrary view that the Three Hares are English or early German symbols.[1][11][12][21]

Some claim that the Devon name, Tinners’ Rabbits, is related to local tin miners adopting it. The mines generated wealth in the region and funded the building and repair of many local churches, and thus the symbol may have been used as the miners signature mark.[22] The architectural ornament of the Three Hares also occurs in churches that are unrelated to the miners of South West England. Other occurrences in England include floor tiles at Chester Cathedral,[23] stained glass at Long Melford, Suffolk, and a ceiling in Scarborough, Yorkshire.[1]

[edit]In Christianity

The motif of the Three Hares is used in a number of medieval European churches, particularly in France (e.g., in the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière in Lyons)[24] and Germany. It occurs with the greatest frequency in the churches of the West Country of England. The motif appears in architectural wood carving, stone carving, window tracery and stained glass. In South Western England there are nearly thirty recorded examples of the Three Hares appearing on 'roof bosses' (carved wooden knobs) on the ceilings in medieval churches in Devon, (particularly Dartmoor). There is a good example of a roof boss of the Three hares at Widecombe-in-the-Moor,[7] Dartmoor, with another in the town of Tavistock on the edge of the moor. The motif occurs with similar central placement in Synagogues.[2] Another occurrence is on the ossuary that by tradition contained the bones of St. Lazarus.[25]

Where it occurs in England, the Three Hares motif usually appears in a prominent place in the church, such as the central rib of the chancel roof, or on a central rib of the nave. This suggests that the symbol held significance to the church, and casts doubt on the theory that they may have been a masons' or carpenters' signature marks.[1] There are two possible and perhaps concurrent reasons why the Three Hares may have found popularity as a symbol within the church. Firstly, it was widely believed that the hare was hermaphrodite and could reproduce without loss of virginity.[26] This led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. The other Christian association may have been with the Holy Trinity,[26][27] representing the "One in Three and Three in One" of which the triangle or three interlocking shapes such as rings are common symbols. In many locations the Three Hares are positioned adjacent to the Green Man, a symbol associated with the continuance of Anglo-Saxon paganism.[28] These juxtapositions may have been created to imply the contrast of the Divine with man's sinful, earthly nature.[26]

[edit]In Judaism

In Judaism, the "shafan" in Hebrew has symbolic meaning. Although rabbits are listed as a non-kosher animal in the Bible, it can carry very positive symbolic connotations, like lions and eagles. 16th century German scholar Rabbi Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, saw the rabbits as a symbol of the Diaspora. The replica of the Chodorow Synagogue from Poland (on display at the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora in Tel Aviv) has a ceiling with a large central painting which depicts a double headed eagle holds two brown rabbits in its claws without harming them. The painting is surrounded by a citation from the end of Deuteronomy:

.כנשר יעיר קינו על גוזליו ירחף. יפרוש כנפיו יקחהו ישאהו על אברתו
— Deuteronomy 32:11, The Song of Moses.
This may be translated: "As an eagle that stirreth up her nest, hovereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions (...thus is G'd to the Jewish people)."[2]

The hare frequently appears in the form of the symbol of the "rotating rabbits". An ancient German riddle describes this graphic thus:

"Three hares sharing three ears, Yet every one of them has two."[2]

This curious graphic riddle can be found in all of the famous Wooden synagogues from the period of the 17th and 18th century in the Ashknaz region (in Germany) that are on museum display in Beth Hatefutsoth Museum in Tel Aviv, the Jewish Museum Berlin and The Israel Museum in Jerusalem. They also appear in the Synagogue from Horb am Neckar (donated to the Israel Museum). The three animals adorn the wooden panels of the prayer room from Unterlimpurg near Schwäbisch Hall, which may be seen in replica in the Jewish Museum Berlin. They also are seen in a main exhibit of the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv. Israeli art historian Ida Uberman wrote about this house of worship: "... Here we find depictions of three kinds of animals, all organized in circles: eagles, fishes and hares. These three represent the Kabbalistic elements of the world: earth, water and fire/heavens... The fact that they are always three is important, for that number . . . is important in the Kabbalistic context".[2]

Not only do they appear among floral and animal ornaments, but they are often in a distinguished location, directly above the Torah ark, the place where the holy scriptures repose.[2]

They appear on headstones in Sataniv (Сатанів), western Ukraine.[29][30] See Galicia (Central-Eastern Europe)[2]

[edit]As an optical illusion or puzzle

The logo presents a problem in topology.[21] It is a strange loop or rendered as a puzzle[31]

Jurgis Baltrusaitis's (1955) Le Moyen-Âge fantastique. Antiquités et exotismes dans l'art gothique [32] includes a 1576 Dutch engraving with the puzzle given in Dutch and French around the image. It notes:

The secret is not great when one knows it.
But it is something to one who does it.
Turn and turn again and we will also turn,
So that we give pleasure to each of you.
And when we have turned, count our ears,
It is there, without any disguise, you will find a marvel.[21]
"These are the oldest known dated examples of the Three Rabbits as a puzzle." One commentator believes its being a puzzle is likely reason for the image's popularity.[21]

One recent philosophical book poses it as a problem in perception and an optical illusion -- an example of contour rivalry. Each rabbit can be individually seen as correct—it is only when you try to see all three at once that you see the problem with defining the hares' ears. This is similar to "The Impossible Tribar" by Roger Penrose,[21] first originated by Oscar Reutersvärd. Compare, M.C. Escher See, Impossible object.

[edit]Other uses and related designs



City of Hasloch's crest
The Community of Hasloch’s arms[33] is described as: Azure edged Or three hares passant in triskelion of the second, each sharing each ear with one of the others, in chief a rose argent seeded of the second, in base the same features three hares. It is said, "The stone with the image of three hares, previously adorned the old village well, now stands beside the town hall."[34] Hasloch is in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany.[35]
Hares and rabbits have appeared as a representation or manifestation of various deities in many cultures, including: Hittavainen, Finnish god of Hares;[36] Kaltes-Ekwa, Siberian goddess of the moon; Jade Rabbit, maker of medicine on the moon for the Chinese gods, depicted often with a mortar and pestle;[37][38] Ometotchtli (Two Rabbits,) Aztec god of fertility, etc., who led 400 other Rabbit gods known as the Centzon Totochtin; Kalulu, Tumbuka mythology (Central African) Trickster god; and Nanabozho (Great Rabbit,) Ojibway deity, a shape-shifter and a cocreator of the world.[37][39] See generally, Rabbits in the arts, German Wikipedia
Tinners' Rabbits is the name of a dance of many forms involving use of sticks and rotation of three, six or nine dancers.[40][41]
The hare is rarely used in British armory; but "Argent, three hares playing bagpipes gules" belongs to the FitzErcald family of ancient Derbyshire.[42] Parenthetically, in heraldry the "Coney", that is the rabbit, is more common than the hare.[42]
The French crest of the family Pinoteau—dating from the first Baron Pinoteau (1814–1815) and which includes historian Hervé Pinoteau (former vice president of the Académie Internationale d'Héraldique -- includes three rabbits.[43][44] See generally, Nobility of the First French Empire.
Among hunters, a collection of three hares (“a brace and a half” or tierce) -- or three creatures of any kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks—is called “a leash.”[45][46][47]
The cover art for alternative rock band AFI's album Decemberunderground features three hares, albeit in a different configuration.
[edit]See also

Flag of the Isle of Man
Flag of Sicily, a similar flag also with a triskelion
List of fictional hares and rabbits
Pannonia Film Studio -- The Three Rabbits (A három nyúl), a short animated Hungarian film
Three Rabbit Islands, three uninhabited small islands off the north coast of Sutherland , Scotland in Tongue Bay
Rabbits (film), about three humanoid rabbits in a room written and directed by David Lynch
Rabbit rabbit,rabbit, superstitious periodic mantra
Sator Square, a rotating palendrome meme