Sources and Research
At the end of December 2019, I came across an article about New Year’s superstitions from around the world and that’s how Rabbit Rabbit began. I’ve always been superstitious, wishing on stars and knocking on wood, so when I realized my love for magic and luck could be shared, I knew I had to make a game.
This is a challenging subject that I wanted to approach with care and respect. Similar myths and superstitions can be found in cultures across the world, but can vary based on region, or even between different households.
In the process of researching the superstitions in Rabbit Rabbit, I read everything I could find — from personal blog posts, books, folklore archives, YouTube videos, and personal conversations and interviews, including a Rabbit Rabbit backer from the Philippines.
Researching Rabbit Rabbit during the pandemic was an escape for me and an absolute delight. I hope you enjoy this list of some of the resources I found useful, and if you’d like to share any superstitions, myths or folklore that are dear to you, I’d be humbled and honored to hear them.
— Ami Baio
General Resources
- USC Digital Folklore Archives
- Dartmouth Folklore Archive
- The Journal of American Folklore
- Folklore Thursday
- Icy Sedgwick's Folklore Blog
- Farmers' Almanac: Superstitions
- How Stuff Works: Folklore & Superstition
- Occult World
Books
- David Pickering, Cassell's Dictionary of Superstitions
- Richard Webster, Encyclopedia of Superstitions
- Ellen Datlow, The Devil and the Deep: Horror Stories of the Sea
- Arin Murphy-Hiscock, The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More
Podcasts
Articles
- New Zealand Maritime Museum, Top 20 Sailing Superstitions
- Russia Beyond, Twelve Russian superstitions
- Korean Culture Blog, Some Interesting Korean Superstitions
- Bon Appétit, 21 Food Superstitions You Should Really Know About
- Eleonora Sava, Folklore Archives and the Methodological Reconfigurations of Romanian Ethnology
- Christlove Leveille, 8 Haitian Superstitions
- The Tico Times, Costa Rica’s ‘first 12 days’ superstition
- Hawai'i Magazine, Hawaii’s diverse local superstitions
- Garden Therapy, Common Garden Superstitions and Their Origins
- Gardener's Path, Plant Folklore
- Europe Is Not Dead, European Superstitions
- India Today, Indian superstitions and the theories behind them
- Latin Times, Friday The 13th Superstitions
- Culture Trip, 15 Things People Around the World Do for Good Luck in the New Year
- Texas State Historical Association, Folk Belief
- My Jewish Learning, 8 Popular Jewish Superstitions
- How Stuff Works, Why are fishermen superstitious of bananas?
Videos
- TED-Ed, Where do superstitions come from? - Stuart Vyse
- Mental Floss w/John Green, 32 Superstition Origins
- Dr. Keon West, Superstition in the Pigeon
- The Speakeasy, Superstitions: Magic Wishbones
- The Speakeasy, Superstitions: Black Cats
- Duck Tran, 10 Things NOT to do in Lunar New Year!
- Tribe Called Noel, Jamaica vs. Haiti: Superstitions
- National Geographic, Explorer: The Elves of Iceland
- Crescent City Conjure, What is a gris-gris?
- CiCi Li - Asian Home Cooking, 10 Chinese Good Luck Foods: Wanna be Lucky? Eat These!
- Animal Planet, The Legend of Maneki Neko
- MythBusters, Shark’s Favorite Color?
- Tomorrow Again, We Had Haints In Our House!
- Zenobia Khodaiji, Cinnamon brings abundance
- LeviLooke, Benevento - The City of Witches
- Mother Moon Monastery and Herb Farm, Apotropaic Magick
- NPR’s Skunk Bear, Popcorn Under A Microscope
- wasabiroots, 5 Cat Superstitions Around the World
- Undiscovered Worlds, Avocados: 10 Stories & Superstitions You Didn’t Know
