I love stories like this!
“An ancient symbol in the roof of a Dartmoor church turns out to link paganism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism over almost 2000 years, in a fascinating historical detective story.
Writer and historian, James Crowden, follows three historical detectives from a church in Devon to a high mountain kingdom in the Himalayas searching for the meaning and origin of the ancient symbol of the three hares.
The search began with a carving in the roof of a medieval Devon church, but the hare-chasers trace its origins through medieval Europe; via an ancient casket said to have contained the bones of St Lazarus, a 13th century monastery bell, and a Chapter house roof where the hares are found rubbing shoulders with the pagan Green Man; all the way to the mountain Kingdom of Ladakh and 12th Century China.
So what does the symbol mean and how has it travelled such immense distances?
The answer connects the pagan goddess who gave her name to Easter to the Virgin Mary, the Buddha, and the great Mongol Empire.
You can see photos of the hares, find out about the Three Hares Project and contribute your own sightings at: the three hares project”
——————-
There are seventeen parish churches in Devon (my local county) with Hare motifs in prominant roof bosses. What I love is how this image has woven through this western religion from the east, and the associations here that hare has to goddess-type religions. I like how you can follow the spread of the symbol across the map, through Europe to here. And I like the escher-ness of the three ears altogether but each hare has two ears.
… I have the feeling I’m becoming a bit trainspotter-like with my archetypes and symbols. Fun tho. 🙂
Why does it fascinate me so much?