I'm a huge fan of rabbits; I used to have one named BunBun, I'd had him since he was just 10 weeks old. Unfortunately there came the time came for him to cross the Rainbow Bridge, I really was so heartbroken. I ended up getting a tattoo as a memento because he was a such a special pet to me.
It's no surprise that I like the Buddhist story of how the rabbit shape came to appear in the moon, it’s such a poignant tale, and inspired me to make this pendant of a rabbit in front of the moon.The rabbit was hand sculpted, cast and set in resin; against a moon made from an iridescent craft cellophane (the type they use on gift wrap bows) The moon craters were created by painting a thin layer of glass paint behind the cellophane moon, then dripping water droplets onto the paint while wet.
The 'Rabbit in the Moon' tale tells of a monkey, an otter, a jackal, and a rabbit who were friends. Together they resolved to practise charity on the Uposatha day (the day of fast), that was to occur on the following day. In the tradition it was believed that one who stood fast in moral practice and alms-giving on that day would earn a great reward.
When an old man begged for food, the monkey was able to gather fruits from the trees, the otter was able to gather dead fish from the river bank, the jackal wrongfully pilfered a lizard and a pot of milk-curd from somebody’s house. The rabbit, wanting to offer something acceptable to the man, was only able to gather grass, and therefore offered its own body instead, and threw itself into a fire that the man built.
The rabbit however did not get burned. The old man then revealed himself to be Śakra, and being touched by the rabbit's virtue, drew a picture of the rabbit on the moon to be visible to all. It is said that the smoke-like substance surrounding the lunar image is the smoke that rose when the rabbit cast itself into the fire.
This was another rabbit pendant that I had made, I gave it the title A Drop of Happiness (a bit schmaltzy, I know!) It was yet another fiddly exercise-gluing tiny handmade cherry blossoms on to a small twig!
