Showing posts with label Horses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horses. Show all posts

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Buck (The Film)

Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” 

BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Buck  Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life “horse-whisperer”, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment.

See this movie!!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Horses & Feng Shui

Here is an article about the Chinese zodiac horse and the feng shui of horse images.  It mentions Pegasus in passing, also.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Divine and Shining Horses

All links here are from Theoi.com.  Demetria will send another post about a different sky-horse.

These are supportive texts regarding the myths and legends of the Hellenes about divine horses, many of them white and 'shining'.  Some pertain to Poseidon, the horse god of the Hellenes, Greeks, and possibly Anatolia and the Levant.  These texts should help to create a more fully formed idea of the importance and symbolism of white horses in divine or magical contexts:


Immortal Horses of the Gods:

"
NOTES ON BOOK 3 OF THE LIBRARY OF APOLLODORUS BY J. G. FRAZER":
204. The usual tradition seems to have been that Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Aphareus, were engaged to be married to the daughters of Leucippus, who were their cousins, since Aphareus and Leucippus were brothers (see above, Apollod. 3.10.3). They invited to their wedding Castor and Pollux, who were cousins both to the bridegrooms and the brides, since Tyndareus, the human father of Castor and Pollux (see above, Apollod. 3.10.7), was a brother of Aphareus and Leucippus (see above, Apollod. 3.10.3). But at the wedding Castor and Pollux carried off the brides, and being pursued by the bridegrooms, Idas and Lynceus, they turned on their pursuers. In the fight which ensued, Castor and Lynceus were slain, and Idas was killed by Zeus with a thunderbolt. See Theocritus xxii.137ff.; Scholiast on Hom. Il. iii.243; Scholiast on Pind. N.Chiliades ii.686ff.; Hyginus, Fab. 80; Ovid, Fasti v.699ff.; Scriptores rerum mythicarum Latini, ed. Bode, i. p. 27 (First Vatican Mythographer 77). According to Apollodorus, however, the fight between the cousins was occasioned by a quarrel arising over the division of some cattle which they had lifted from Arcadia in a joint raid. This seems to have been the version of the story which Pindar followed; for in his description of the fatal affray between the cousins (Pind. N. 10.60(112)ff.) he speaks only of anger about cattle as the motive that led Idas to attack Castor. The rape of the daughters of Leucippus by Castor and Pollux was a favourite subject in art. See Paus. 1.18.1; Paus. 3.17.3; Paus. 3.18.11; Paus. 4.31.9. The names of the damsels, as we learn from Apollodorus, were Phoebe and Hilaira. Compare Stephanus Byzantius, s.v. Aphidna; Prop. i.2.15ff.; Hyginus, Fab. 80. At Sparta they had a sanctuary, in which young maidens officiated as priestesses and were called Leucippides after the goddesses. See Paus. 3.16.1. From an obscure gloss of Hesychius, s.v. pôlia, we may perhaps infer that these maiden priestesses, like the goddesses, were two in number, and that they were called “the colts of the Leucippides.” Further, since the name of Leucippus, the legendary father of the goddesses, means simply “White Horse,” it is tempting to suppose that the Leucippides, like their priestesses, were spoken of and perhaps conceived as white horses. More than that, Castor and Pollux, who carried off these white-horse maidens, if we may call them so, were not only constantly associated with horses, but were themselves called White Horses (leukopôloi) by Pind. P. 1.66(126) and “White Colts of Zeus” by Euripides in a fragment of his lost play the Antiope. See S. Wide, Lakonische Kulte (Leipsig, 1893), pp. 331ff.; A. B. Cook, Zeus, i.442. These coincidences can hardly be accidental. They point to the worship of a pair of brother deities conceived as white horses, and married to a pair of sister deities conceived as white mares, who were served by a pair of maiden priestesses called White Colts, assisted apparently by a boy priest or priests; for a Laconian inscription describes a certain youthful Marcus Aurelius Zeuxippus as “priest of the Leucippides and neatherd (? bouagor) of the Tyndarids,” that is, of Castor and Pollux. See P. Cauer, Delectus Inscriptionum Graecarum propter dialectum memorabilium, p. 17, No. 36; H. Collitz und F. Bechtel, Sammlung der griechischen DialektInschriften, iii.2, pp. 40ff., No. 4499. " 10.60(112); Tzetzes, Scholiast on Lycophron 546; Tzetzes,

King Leukippos

Leucippides

White Horse Maidens, daughters of Leukippos

Helios Treasures

this includes his heavenly white horses...

Okeanides

nymphs and goddesses who were daughters of Okeanos and Tethys.  Many have horse related names.  The Titanic goddesses are said to probably be cloud goddesses, thus they are in the realm of sky roaming Pegasos.  One of thenymphs is Hippo, "horse".  Theoi.com's page says of her: "HIPPO The Okeanis Nymphe "horse" was the Naias of a stream or Aura of breezes - both winds and waters were often likened to horses."

Minyades

one is named Leukippe & her sacrificed son was Hippasus (male horse)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

War God's Horse Song

You will find this and other poems at the CarryPoem Blog.

Pascale’s Story: ‘The War God’s Horse Song’

The War God’s Horse Song
I am the Turquoise Woman’s son
On top of Belted Mountain beautiful horses
slim like a weasel

My horse has a hoof like a striped agate
his fetlock is like fine eagle plume
his legs are like quick lightning

My horse’s body is like an eagle-feathered arrow
My horse has a tail like a trailing black cloud
The Holy Wind blows through his mane
his mane is made of rainbows

My horse’s ears are made of round corn
My horse’s eyes are made of stars
My horse’s head is made of mixed waters
(from the holy waters)
(he never knows thirst)

My horse’s teeth are made of white shell
The long rainbow is in his mouth for a bridle
and with it I guide him

When my horse neighs
different-coloured horses follow

When my horse neighs
different-coloured sheep follow

I am wealthy because of him
Before me peaceful
Behind me peaceful
Under me peaceful
Over me peaceful
Peaceful voice when he neighs
I am everlasting and peaceful
I stand for my horse
Pascale Petit is a French/Welsh poet living in the UK. She teaches creative writing in the galleries at Tate Modern

Horses and Horse Goddesses

submitted by Demetria:

More symbolic horse links:
Bato
horse headed Kannon (male Kwan Yin) - white horse 'crown' or cap

More on Japanese horses, divine and mundane -

Photo - Wooden Horse Gods - Pakistan

"Horse Tattoos
what do they mean?  Horse Tattoo Designs and Symbols -
Horse Tattoo meanings" .  Beautiful art and photos, good horse lore and history.

Quotations about Horses

Horse - Buddhism, Hinduism, Indo-European Paganism

Linguistics can be key in identifying functions, attributes, and culture about many things.  These links explore the horse and its attendant words or phrases.  If the linguistic charts make one dizzy, skip them and read the discussion parts about the connections between cultures and words, the evolution of meaning and maybe even horse evolution in human society, from food to mount to draft animal. These are all from Language Log.
The linguistic history of horses, gods, & wheeled vehicles

history of horse and wheel

More on Indo European wheels & horses

Google Books has excerpts for "Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations".
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Horse Goddesses:
We have quite a bit of information about Demeter available.  Much is easily
accessed at Theoi.com.  There are other female deities who are equine related.

One of the best pages I have seen about Epona, Celtic/Gallic horse goddess:

Rhiannon/Rigantona

Macha

Vadavamucha 
Cambodian horse god/goddess, Harappan to Hindu,
solar eclipse,  plus star lore @ Draco, Agastya-Canopus, & More!

Frig 
only a tiny bit here

Fortuna Equestris

Anthat, Diana, Etain,
and a few others are in this 'Dictionary of Ancient Deities' at Google Books - (use the 'search' box with the words horse, donkey, ass, or equine - alone or with god, goddess, or deity.),

The Horse of Anat-Astarte 
her special beast, even as the lion is - excerpt from "Gods, Goddesses, and Images of God in Ancient Israel"

Hera Hippia and Poseidon Hippios shrine 
there are a number of horse references with Hera you will find when you type 'horse' into the search box on the left.

Horse gods, horse lore, horseflesh taboo

Here are some other equine associated lore to add to your divine equine knowledge.; from Demetria:

Pegasus - Rich's Pegopedia
this site is all about winged horses - excellent reference tool.  Pegopedia is the best name for this collection!

Poseidon
this is interesting ... I think it is from a Slavic writer -

Hengist & Horsa:
History - biography of Hengist
History & Folklore of Hengist & Horsa

For Fun - Speculation that Hengist is related to the name Genghis and Aengus -

Loki, mother of Sleipnir

Odin, Woden
-  "Horse in Magic & Myth", Google Books

picture of Odin on Sleipnir

How Odin became Santa Claus - 8 legged horse becomes 8 reindeer!-

Serious Odin article

Woden - dream oracles, Valkyries, horses
Wodan - excellent!!!


Wodan -another good article - Germanic - Saxon

Ashvin Twins -Surya is here also

Ashvini,
horse-headed female symbol of Hindu astrology's first Nakshatra (Lunar mansion), and Shatabhishak, fourth from end of the list:

Dioscuri 
The sons of Zeus - (They are also cousins of Pegasus and Arion.)

Dioscuri

A Theosophical take on the Gemini twins 
Dioscuri, Castores, Kabiri:

Photo of coin - Apollo obverse, Dioscuri watering their horses on reverse.

Centaurs

Centaurs

Centaurs

Chiron
 
Chiron -centaurs, asteroids, exoplanets 

Svantovit

 Svantovit

Surya

Vishnu - Kalki

Horse headed Vishnu

Horse King, Horse Avatar

the Vedic Horse

St. George  & other Christian saint patrons of horses - scroll down!

Ride horses through fire
Christian festival in Spain -

Mabon, Mapon

Rudiobus

Eochu Ollathair, the Dagda 
the 8 pronged war club carried on a wheel contains
a similar element to Odin's horse Sleipnir having 8 legs &  Santa's 8 reindeer.

Eochaid

ASB - "horse" 
(note similarity to Indian "Ashv_") - Encyclopedia Iranica - Persian,
Parthian, Iranian, Scythian/Sarmatian, Achaemenid, Sasanian, Median, military,
the Avestas (Zoroastrian), Islamic, polo, sports, hunting, etc. 

Horse Worship

Vedic Horse Worship

Indian & Chinese Horse Myths

Mythical Horses

Some Asian Horse Lore

History of the Icelandic Horse


Northern European horse lore


Sleipner, from the Ultimate Horse Site -
theory @ 8 legs too! -

"The Magic of the Horseshoe with other folk-lore notes" 
this is a Sacred Text site with a scan of a book from 1898.  It covers diverse information about horsey superstitions or magic, and also addresses the role of the smith god and his relationship with horses. 
Very Worthwhile!

The Asvamedha Ritual - Indo-European Horse Sacrifice of Ancient India

White Horse Mythology - many links!

Another horse riding goddess form, Magog

Medusa by astrologer Demetra George - this is an excellent article on
serpent & goddesses Medusa and Athena, including Pegasus references.

A great photo of a Gorgon symbol, and a Slavic take on Medusa & sisters ...

1/4 down the page, clear color photo of Medusa holding her children -

Gorgons - pictures

Amazons & Horses

Sex & Gender in the Equine in Literature 
sections on the equine as representing human sexuality, the heroes horse, and the woman's inner equine.

Bronze Age Goddesses in Wagon or Boat - English is not their native tongue!

Egyptian jewelry - Bes w/ horse led by attendant - you have to enlarge it
to see them, but they are there!  There is also a photo of Wisdom Goddess Sophia
in a horse-drawn chariot. 

Tiger Lilies and related folklore, including some about horse deities in the Ancient Near East.

Prehistoric Rock Art of Kazakhstan - horses in fig. 2 - (Terekty Aulie)

Divine Horse and Horse God materials

thanks to Demetria for suggesting these books and articles:


Poseidon is a horse deity many of us are most familiar with .  This article is titled,
"Poseidon the Horse God and the Early Indo-Europeans". (Google Docs)

Magnificent Horses Bring the Chi of Wealth, Courage, & Power


Thracian - Dacian inscriptions for horsemen -about 3/4 of the way down the page.
The Language of the Thracians" -

Macedonian (Thracian) -
more on the mezana or horseman of Thrace,
now part of Macedonia and Bulgaria.  Look about halfway down the page.
It explores many linguistic connections, including between Albanian and Basque words
for horse.  The Basque are the last remaining native Europeans who do NOT speak
an Indo-European language.  It also relates to the Iliad and the Odyssey, bringing us back to the world that knew of Poseidon, the name Mezana (a local Zeus horse god),


the ancient goddess Mezana, Mantas, Mantra, Mentes, Mendes, etc.
who was a city patron goddess and  a nursing donkey mother.

Norse - Medieval horse cult - Frey, Sleipnir, Valhalla, Christianity, burials, etc.

"They sang for horses: the impact of the horse on Navajo & Apache folklore":

"Eat not this flesh: food avoidances from prehistory to the present" -  prohibition and taboo re: eating horses - Excerpt Chapter - "Horseflesh"-

The Sumerians and the Gemini Twins - Sumerian and astronomical interpretations as
origins of the divine horse-twins & solar chariots in Indo-European mythology.

There's plenty more in Google Books and Docs.  Just type in the horse name
or deity of your choice, and see how it goes.