Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit
"Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is one variant of a superstition found in Britain and North America that states that a person
should say or repeat the word 'rabbit' or "rabbits," or white "rabbits" , or some combination of these elements,
out loud upon waking on the first day of the month, because doing so will ensure good luck for the duration of the month.
The exact origin of the superstition is unknown, though it appeared in a work of fiction in 1922:
"Why," the man in the brown hat laughed at him, "I thought everybody knew 'rabbit, rabbit, rabbit." If you say 'Rabbit,
rabbit, rabbit, - three times, just like that - first thing in the morning on the first day of the month,even before your
prayers, you'll get a present before the end of the month."
In the United States the tradition appears especially well known in northern New England, although, like all folklore,
determining its exact area of distribution is difficult.
The superstition may be related to the broader belief in the rabbit or hare being a "lucky" animal, as exhibited in
the practice of carrying a rabbits foot for luck.
Rabbits have not always been thought of as lucky, however. In the 19th century, for example, fishermen would not
say the word while at sea, in South Devon to see a white rabbit in one's village when a person was ill was regarded
as a sure sign that the person was about to die.