Girabbit in collective artistic imagination

The Girabbit, due its rarity, has given rise to very strange and supersitious beliefs, especially in its area of settlement in France. The beliefs held by the populations in Africa are unknown to us, because of the absence of any historical accounts of this period.

This first representation, the "Blue Girabbit" is a telling example of mystical belief in the all-encompassing and all-knowing characteristic of the Girabbit. In fact, some believe that the Girabbit is one of the rare species that can truly "see" in the future. This is expressed here in the "yellow" left eye of the Girabbit. One should remember that most adult Girabbit are blind, giving support to the biological theory of a prophetic and supra-sensible vision. However, there is no "scientific" ground to defend this view. Of course it does not invalidate completely this position. Moreover, the already mentioned Professor Tolkien reports in his biography of "Mr. Bliss" that the Girabbit could predict the weather.









This second artistic expression is more common and is held to be a mere representation "picturale" of a Girabbit.
The extremely long neck is thought to be the symbol of the Girabbit 's long life expectancy. In fact, most Girabbit will live to see many generations of their offspring come to life.
In this painting you can also see something of the sadness of a Girabbit (in the form of his eye). Since the Girabbit has such a long life, he also lives to see and experience many dramatic changes in his life and environemnent.









In our next post ... the different sub-species of Girabbit.