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Deck: The Druid Oracles
Spread: Card of the Day
Date: Mon Dec 17 21:08:47 EST 2018


Today's Card
Horse

Each

Pronunciation: Ech

keywords
The Goddess • The land • Travel

The card shows a gray mare with the chalk hill figure of the White Horse of Uffington, Oxfordshire, in the background. In the foreground we see mare's peas (bog-bean) and horsetail growing, and, to the left, horse-shoe vetch. Carved on one rock is the symbol of a key, and on the other a mounted warrior. The sun is prominent in the sky above.

Upright Meaning   The spirit of Each calls us to journey, to travel. This may manifest itself as a desire to travel in the physical world, or we may be drawn to voyaging in the inner realms. She brings us energy and speed and connects us to the power of both the land and the sun. The horse-goddess is patroness of the complete life-cycle of birth, death, the afterlife and rebirth. By working with the spirit of Each, we will grow to feel comfortable with every aspect of the lifecycle, knowing that the goddess protects and guides us through each of its stages.

Reversed Meaning   The horse may be asking us to look at the roots of our restlessness. If we have difficulty settling down, staying in one place or completing tasks, it may be that we have not fully accepted the flow of the life-cycle and our part within it. Attuning to the spirit of the horse may help us to connect with our sense of place in the world—with the spirit of the land beneath us and the sky above us.

The Tradition of the HORSE

One horse was lithe and swift-leaping, high-arched and powerful, long-bodied
and with great hooves. The other flowing-maned and shining, slight and slender in hoof and heel
From "The Cattle Raid of Cooley"

These two horses drew the chariot of the Ulster hero Cu-Chulainn. Their names were Grey Sea and Black Seagull. Grey Sea was clairvoyant and when she foresaw her master's death she wept tears of blood. Cu-Chulainn rode into battle on a wood and wicker chariot, as many Irish and British warriors did long after chariot warfare had been abandoned elsewhere. The Celtic custom of headhunting in battle—fastening the enemies' severed heads to their horses' necks—must have made them terrifying opponents.

In pre-Roman Gaul and Britain the horses were small and pony-like, and they were used for haulage and hunting as well as battle. In Gaul they were also a source of food. Like sheep and cattle they were symbols of wealth, and the frequency of horse interments in ritual pits and chariot-burials points to their significance in Celtic life. Sometimes dogs and horses were buried together, which suggests a cult practice related to hunting, and at times horse-gear or simply parts of the horse, such as its teeth, are present as burial offerings. Horse bones have been discovered in the foundations of houses, undoubtedly to bring good luck, and the association of the horse with luck continues to this day with the belief in the horseshoe's ability to attract good fortune.

Since the horse is sacred and brings good fortune, it has to be protected from the evil eye with horse brasses. The Druids, and later country folk, would bless a horse by leading it sunwise three times around a cairn, which would be known as Cairn Nan Each. To protect a horse from theft by witches, carters would hang "hag-stones"—naturally-holed flint stones—around their horses' necks. The witches might then resort to throwing a magic bridle over a sleeping human—turning them into a horse for the night.

The Horse-Goddesses

The horse-goddess Epona, from whom is derived the word "pony," originated in Gaul. But she was so popular that her cult spread to Britain and as far east as Bulgaria, and she became the only Celtic deity to be worshiped in Rome, with a feast day of December 18th. In Welsh tradition, her equivalent is Rhiannon, and in Ireland the goddesses Macha and Etain.

To cavalrymen the horse-goddess was undoubtedly a protectress, but to civilians she was the mother-goddess who presided over the life-cycle. In images of bounty and fertility she feeds two foals

from corn in her lap. In other images she holds a key which unlocks the gateways to the Underworld or Otherworld. Shape-shifting into the form of a horse, she would carry the souls of the dead to the Summer lands or to Hy Breasil, the Irish paradise in the west, which some believe gave its name to Brazil. As horse of the dead, she is sometimes seen as a phantom creature or the provoker of nightmares. In Scotland the kelpie or Each Uisge haunts lochs and appears like a sleek pony, offering its back to travelers to help them cross the water. But once the victim is astride, it becomes a terrifying creature with huge teeth and long wild hair, and it plunges deep into the loch carrying its rider into the Underworld. In Skye it is said that unicorns live within certain lochs, and an eel-horse with twelve legs swims in Loch Awe.

The Gateways of Birth And Death

In the Druid tradition the time of Beltane, of mating, in May symbolizes the gateway for the soul to enter the world, and the time of Samhuinn, of death, at the other side of the year in November, symbolizes the gateway for the soul to leave the world. These two gateways act as fundamental points in the life-cycle. The horse-goddess opens the gates of life at Beltane, allowing in a great flood of ebullient energy which makes men feel like stallions and makes women refer to them as "studs." As the gates are closed at Samhuinn, she carries the soul to the afterlife, back to the Summerlands to be renewed again.

The association of the horse-goddess with the life-cycle of birth, death, afterlife and rebirth is confirmed when we discover that ritual Hobby Horses are ridden either at Samhuinn or Beltane. The Padstow and Minehead Hobby Horses bring in the May, while the Hodden Horse of Kent, the Wild Horses of Cheshire and Shropshire and the Mari Lwyd of Wales usher in the winter.

Being associated with the life-cycle and hence sexuality, the horse represents not only human fertility, but the power and fertility of the land itself. In Ireland certain kings undertook a symbolic marriage to a white mare to ally their own sovereignty with the power of the land. And as if to reinforce our awareness of the horse's connection with the earth, great images of the horse were carved on the chalk hillsides of Britain.

As well as symbolizing the power of the land, the horse also had a close affinity with the sun. As a solar animal, it was depicted pulling the sun's chariot across the sky, making it not only sacred to the Goddess but also to the sun and sky god. Whether allied with god or goddess, the horse provides us with the power and the ability to journey—in this world or the next. And with shoes, the horse can ride even faster and further. Horse-shoeing was first developed in the Celtic world, and the smith was considered an important figure: under old Welsh law it was he who took the first drink at any feast. And in Ireland the smith god Goibhniu was host at a feast which rendered his guests immortal. By taking us to Hy Breasil and back, the horse does indeed provide us with the means to transcend the limitations of mortality.



Presented by The Druid Oracles app from The Fool's Dog.