The Legend of the Celestial White Hare and the Pursuit of the Cold Wind
Long ago, the world knew only the constant warmth of summer. Human beings became lazy and forgot to prepare for the next day. The Creator, seeing this, decided that a lesson in humility and foresight was needed.
And so was born the Celestial White Hare, the swiftest of all animal spirits. His fur was whiter than the first snow, and on his back shimmered the vivid colors of the dawn sky—green, purple, yellow. This Hare had but one mission: to run, for in his running, he awakened vigilance.
Behind him was released the Spirit of the Cold Wind. The Cold Wind was not evil; it was necessity, a reminder that all things are cyclical. It did not seek to harm the Hare, but to slow him down. Wherever the Cold Wind passed, leaves fell, rivers froze, and nature fell asleep.
The race began. The White Hare bounded across the cosmos. Each time the Cold Wind caught up with it, the Hare left behind a trail of magical, vibrant lights: this was the Northern Lights, a visible cloak of warmth to remind humans that even in the cold season, beauty and hope were still present.
When the Celestial Hare pauses for a very brief moment, weary from its run, the Cold Wind catches up with it, and this is the heart of winter, a time of survival and community. But the Hare always rises again, and as it moves on, it carries the cold season with it.
Legend says that the Ancients knew that if men stopped telling this story, the White Hare, discouraged, might stop forever, and winter would never end. That is why, as soon as the nights grow longer, people speak of the Celestial White Hare, to give it the strength to run again, ensuring the return of the cycle and of life.