For many cultures, the horse has been a symbol for the journey of the shaman. An animal that transports the healer into another dimension of reality. There, the shaman meets the patient’s spirit and retrieves a lost part of their soul. The horse, a four-footed, well-grounded animal with a powerful spirit is the perfect totem. The shaman values those qualities of the horse and embodies them to walk between the two worlds of flesh and spirit. The shaman’s feet are firmly planted on the earth and her heart is lifted by a spirit that is free.
Shamanism has valuable applications in our modern world. Life within our societal structures has constraints, as a result we can lose touch with our heart’s true calling and our soul suffers. Many people are drawn to horses for this truth that they keep alive: even with human domestication, their inner fire remains untamed. The presence of the horse awakens our human memory of survival by living close to Mother Earth and stirs our longing to live an unburdened life. Being with horses offers us the opportunities to engage in communion and communication with this living symbol of transformation and power. In doing so, we become aware of the sacred interconnection of all life. We begin to heal the disconnection to our self and to the earth, we become more whole.
When we walk the path of the shaman, we walk in the way of our ancestors – the ancient ones. We become the horse; we see through their eyes. We know each horse intimately, instantly, and as family. Our heart longs to help heal the wounded spirit and body of our domesticated horses. Each horse senses, knows, and understands this. They invite the shaman to join them, to travel deeply into their unique world; to meet them at the place of their soul and help them heal; to open the gates and allow their captured spirit be free.