Rabbit, rabbit!

Do you say, “Rabbit, rabbit,” for luck on the first day of the month?

Have you heard others saying it (or seen them posting it on social media) and didn’t know why?

Here’s how I remember it…

Girl Scouts

At Girl Scout camp, in 1970s Idaho, we had a tradition, on the first day of the month, of circling our beds (or sleeping bags) three times, and saying, “Rabbit, rabbit!” thereby securing good luck for the rest of the month. It was supposed to be done first thing in the morning, before saying or doing anything else. (I don’t remember what you were supposed to do if your bed was shoved up against a wall. Perhaps some other Girl Scouts will chime in to clarify.)

Family

When I came home and told my family about it, this practice somehow got morphed into a competition, whereby if one family member said, “Rabbit, rabbit,” to another, and that person had not yet thought to say it themselves, they were considered to have been “Rabbited.” Jinxed, in the mildest way possible. (They could not, in turn, “Rabbit” anyone else.) No one was actually wishing anyone ill, but it was fun to remember first and to “Rabbit” others. My mom took delight in that game and there was nothing I could say or do to restore it to its original format.

In any case, there seems to be no consensus on the original format.

I thought of it as a Girl Scout thing until the internet was invented and told me otherwise.

Wikipedia

If you are the least bit interested in this topic, you will enjoy reading the Wikipedia entry. Here you can find some discussion about the murky origins and several variations of the tradition. Some folks are adamant that there should be THREE rabbits. (We definitely were saying, “Rabbit, rabbit,” but did we say it again each of the three times we circled our bed?) I say it depends on what you grew up with, same as with all traditions.

Origins: No one knows. It seems to be limited to English speaking countries, and the earliest mention anyone can find is 1909.

Variations: “Rabbits!”, “Rabbit rabbit”, “Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit”, “Rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit.” I have never read or heard of anyone else circling their bed while saying it, but some wait up until midnight the last night of the month so they can say it literally first thing the next month. One feature they all have in common, though, is that it’s a first-day monthly ritual with the goal of ensuring good luck.

NOTE: Don’t look too deeply into the tradition of carrying a rabbit’s foot for good luck. Yes, I had one as a child. It seems gruesome and unnecessary now.

Adulthood

The family game waned a bit when we grew up and spread out to live across the country in several different states. Rabbiting via phone, text, email — and, theoretically, carrier pigeon — totally counts! Skywriting would be fun. And it waned even more when my mom died. But it never disappeared altogether.

When I started my Organized for Life business in 2004, my goal on the first day of each month became (and remains, in my retirement) to get my email newsletter published. So Rabbiting family members wasn’t uppermost in my thoughts. But I also never completely forgot about it.

Facebook

Enter Facebook. I only have a handful of Facebook friends — Deanise, Roxanne, Kathy, Mark (RIP) — who post “Rabbit, rabbit!” on the first day of the month. They often include a cute bunny image, and I always enjoy it when they do. I think we could all use a little luck, so don’t be surprised if you see me posting, too, in the future. Not as a “gotcha”, but as a general well-wish to myself and others.

More

Here are a few additional references to “Rabbit, rabbit”:

 

Do you observe Rabbit Rabbit Day?

Where, how, and from whom, did you learn it?

Is there something else you do for luck?

Does your family have another silly tradition or superstition to share with us in the comments?

 

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12 Comments

  1. Standolyn on October 12, 2025 at 11:51 am

    I’ve never heard of Rabbit Rabbit, but I did grow up knowing about a rabbit’s foot for good luck. I got one as a gift, and it now breaks my heart to think someone chopped off a rabbit’s foot, dyed it pink, and sold it as a good luck keychain charm.

    Here’s one I do know about. When a group of us walked on the sidewalk, someone would always chime in with, ” Step on a crack, break your mother’s back.” So we did all we could do to avoid any sidewalk cracks. It was a fun game.

    We also thought it was bad luck to “split the pole”, so if you walked by a pole (telephone, street sign), we all needed to stay on the same side of the pole to avoid all the possible bad luck scenarios an eleven-year-old could conjure up. All these years later, for fun, I still follow this sage advice when walking.

    I didn’t do a deep dive, but I did check the internet to make sure splitting poles and walking on cracks were real things and not something someone in my neighborhood started to scare the younger kids. What I did learn was that it was considered cultural folklore. Which explains why my husband did not know the necessary “walking guidelines” when we started dating. ; )

    • Hazel Thornton on October 12, 2025 at 12:04 pm

      I knew about “step on a crack”, but I’d never heard of “split the pole”. Now you have me thinking whether or not we had other superstitions growing up. I knew ABOUT superstitions, but, as an example, there have been few instances in my life where walking underneath a ladder was even an option. (I mean, it just seems like a bad idea, from a practical standpoint.) Also, probably, they were only cutting the feet off rabbits who were meant to be eaten…um…if that makes you feel any better. That’s what I’m telling myself, anyway. (Mine was blue. Ugh.)
      Thanks for chiming in, Standolyn!

  2. Karin on October 13, 2025 at 1:17 am

    Ours, in the UK midlands was “White Rabbit, White Rabbit” to be said as your first words on 1st of a month. If you forgot you could say “Black Hare” twice, but I cannot remember whether this was supposed to be your last words on the 1st or when.

    • Hazel Thornton on October 13, 2025 at 7:53 am

      Oh, I hadn’t heard that one before. Thanks for sharing, and for including your location, Karin!

  3. Jonda Beattie on October 13, 2025 at 8:29 am

    I just recently heard about “rabbit, rabbit” – I think from Julie Bestry. Like you, when I see it posted with the picture of a white rabbit, it makes me smile.
    As a youth we did the practice of not “splitting the pole”. Our reason was that if we walked on separate sides of the pole, it would split our friendship.
    Thanks for a fun read. We need more fun in our lives.

    • Hazel Thornton on October 13, 2025 at 9:08 am

      Interesting — Standolyn mentioned “splitting the pole” too, which I’d never heard of. I’m glad you thought it was fun, Jonda!

  4. Sabrina Quairoli on October 13, 2025 at 8:29 am

    I never heard of it before. When I was growing up, we had to rub a rabbit’s foot for good luck, but I never heard of saying “rabbit, rabbit.” Thanks for sharing this fascinating topic.

    • Hazel Thornton on October 13, 2025 at 9:07 am

      I think you’re in the majority (not having heard of it). We’ll see. Thanks for chiming in, Sabrina!

  5. Seana Turner on October 13, 2025 at 9:12 am

    I don’t do it now, but I used to do it when I was young. In my mind I thought I was saying “white rabbit,” but my memory might be failing on this one. The way I heard the story was just as you say, that I was supposed to say the words before I said anything else. This proved to be very difficult to do, and I took to hanging a reminder sign from the inside of my canopy bed to remind myself.

    That said, I cannot remember one time when doing so brought me good luck. (Sort of like fortune cookies, or making a wish on 11:11 on the clock). I haven’t seen anyone do it on Facebook, but that’s fun.

    I was of the generation who had white rabbits feet (or some artificial replica thereof) on a keychain that I hung on my backpack for good luck.

    • Hazel Thornton on October 13, 2025 at 9:54 am

      Hi Seana, your comment leads to a good question: What is good luck? And how do we know when anything we’ve done has brought it our way?

      Maybe we don’t win a million dollars that month, but don’t good things happen all the time? Is that “lucky”? Or is it a matter of paying attention and being grateful for the little things? Or, like the saying goes, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” So maybe there are different kinds of luck.

  6. Linda Samuels on October 13, 2025 at 9:56 am

    I never heard about the “Rabbit, Rabbit” until your post. I guess I’ve been living under a rock. 🙂 I remember the rabbit’s feet as ‘good luck’ charms, but I never had one. The idea of it being an actual foot from a rabbit upset me.

    However, “step on a crack” or wishing on the “11:11” of the clock are very familiar. As my birthday is 11/11, I still do the clock wish, and get a kick out of seeing those digital digits.

    • Hazel Thornton on October 13, 2025 at 12:26 pm

      I don’t think it’s at all unusual to NOT know about Rabbit Rabbit Day. As for 11:11, I’ve known people for whom it was meaningful, but did not grow up looking for it, or wishing upon it. (Which reminds me of wishing upon the first star of the evening.) I would if my birthday were 11/11, though! And I always think of my mom when I see 5:23 on a digital clock (or elsewhere), because that was our house number growing up, and she died on May 23.

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