White Rabbit, White Rabbit
I took inspiration for today’s shoot from the folkloric traditions associated with “An Coinín Bán”, or the White Rabbit ––later known as the Easter Bunny.
In Irish folklore the Coinín Bán is a púca, or a spirit, which can transform itself into many different forms; a wild horse, a goat, or even a hungry hound prowling a herd of sheep in the dark of night ––some say, that if such a hound is seen in the night after it has slain a sheep, that the witness never witnesses it as a hound any longer, rather it returns to its púca form, a hag with long streaming white hair ––the spirit of hunger herself, who is intent on bringing hunger to the land in revenge for her banishment beneath the mounds by the Goddess of spring: Easter.
The story goes ––in the way-back-when Ireland was a bountiful place, green, lush ––a land of Forever-Spring presided over by the Goddess of bounty and full bellies: Easter.
Now ––Easter had a sister called Winter and she presided over a barren and cold place to the Very-North, which in the tongue of today is called Donegal ––it was devoid of life, love and warmth [much as it is today], so Winter grew jealous of Easter’s bountiful domain ––especially on those occasions when Winter did encroach South [somewhere around Roscommon, but never too far East of the Shannon ––or the “Sunshine Counties” as they were known way-back-when] she grew envious of Easter’s ornithological companions, and more jealous still when Easter stole away these little birdie pals and eloped with them to the even Sunnier South ––way down beyond the Southern Sea.
So ––Winter hatched a plan ––yes, she would retreat whenever Easter regained her domain in Springtime, but she would leave the deadliest of all the foes against Spring behind: Hunger, but transformed in a manner which would never gain suspicion from Easter ––yes, a tiny little White Rabbit ––a Coinín Bán ––and Easter would be so endeared by this little creature that she would adopt it as her pet and emblem and call it: Easter’s Bunny ––but of course, it wasn’t Easter’s Bunny at all, it was Hunger: the Hag of Winter, in a form of a bunny, a form adopted so as to be pleasing to the eye, but once taken in ––she’d release herself and Hunger would reek havoc upon the Sunshine Counties and they’d become as unliveable, as unpleasant and as devoid of life’s niceties as a night out anywhere West of Athlone.
And that is just what happened ––however, it was said of Easter that she was as wise as she was giving, and she was giving, to a fault some might say ––so when she found out that her own emblem, Easter’s Bunny, was actually Hunger in the guise of a little White Rabbit she order that all be hunted to extinction and eaten so that Hunger may never be known to the counties east of the Shannon ––South of Donegal, or North of Waterford [a scan few indeed ––but they were those where culture happened and they had to be preserved for that reason ––that’s why the Book of Kells isn’t called the Book of Ballina ––for your information].
So ––now, today after 40 days of fasting, a reminder of a time when that hag ruled the day [and we were all dying of the hunger] we in Ireland celebrate Easter’s triumph over her sister by eating little chocolate versions of Easter’s Bunny ––and it was all because of a sibling rivalry, you see, between the seasons ––there you are, you learn something new every day.
