Other sources suggest the rabbit must still be alive before its left hind leg is removed. Legend says that the rabbit must be shot with a silver bullet in a cemetery either during a full moon or a new moon. Meanwhile, the fascination of North Americans with rabbit’s feet can also be traced to the practice of folk magic or “hoodoo”. Much like the Hand of Glory, the rabbit’s foot was also considered magical and lucky because it was believed that witches are known to shapeshift into rabbits. However, some would cut off the left hand of these criminals and pickle it, believing it to have supernatural powers. During the middle ages, authorities would often do public executions leaving the corpses of criminals hanging on the streets to serve as a grave warning to the public. There are other stories in Europe that associate the rabbit’s foot with a severed hand of a hanged man called the ‘Hand of Glory’. The rabbit’s foot was considered magical and lucky. But he notes that all accounts refer to rabbit’s feet cut off at an evil time, whether that be on Friday the Thirteenth, a rainy Friday, or just a regular Friday. The rabbit must meet its end at the hands of a “cross-eyed, left-handed, red-headed bow-legged Negro” who must also be riding a white horse.Įllis recognizes how absurd this may sound and he also acknowledges other versions of the story which contradict the ideal time and place of the rabbit’s death.

In ‘ Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture’, Professor Emeritus of English and American Studies at Penn State University, Bill Ellis says that for the rabbit’s foot to actually have lucky properties, the rabbit would have to be slaughtered at exactly midnight on Friday the 13th (traditionally considered an unlucky time) in a country churchyard.

The sale of rabbit’s feet as good luck charms in Europe began with a 1908 report from Britain that claimed that the imported rabbit’s feet from America were killed in special conditions which gave them these supernatural powers. In fact, this tradition is evident not just in North and South American folklore but is also present in Europe, China, and Africa. Using rabbit’s feet as an amulet to attract good fortune is not as uncommon as you think.

History of the Rabbit’s Foot By Sobebunny – Own work, Source.

Here’s how the rabbit’s foot acquired its status as a lucky symbol.

Are lucky rabbits foot real