Windows on the Year of the
Wood Horse.

Wild mustang. Black stallion. Appaloosa. Pegasus. Unicorn.

The power of the horse to ignite passion, awe, and freedom is as vast as the open frontier it conjures in our collective imagination. The Year of the Wood Horse arrives for us at a time when a balanced bonding with nature is urgently needed. In Native American wisdom, “medicine” is redefined as a way of healing mind, body, and spirit by bringing balance through connection with nature. Animals are respected as potent wisdom keepers and each creature becomes a living symbol of specific lessons and guidance. Through that lens, the Year of the Horse becomes an open invitation to consciously harness a new harmony—observing, meditating, finding space to see through the eyes of the horse and to recognize its reflection in our own free, active, virile selves.

There is a tantric tension between the wildness of the horse and the desire to tame it that is at the very core of understanding the challenge of this year. In the past, for survival we reined in the wildness of the horse and used her in our attempt to control our environment. Now, however, we are being asked to bring balance by embracing the opposite—to protect the beauty of the wild on the planet and relocate the power of those same untamable aspects of our own being. In the elemental language of the Zodiac, we find this year’s energies described through the catalytic dance of wood and fire, of stillness and action. This is the moment of nature’s invitation to partner with self-mastery in the face of the greater combustible, energetic politics of the digital age.

Ready or Not.
2014! The starting bell of the Aquarian Age has officially been struck and we are now formally launched into a nexus of fast-paced and unyielding technological change. Media intensification is radically redefining our concept of self, sense of location, and identification with the meaning of now. It’s begging the question: Who are we in the face of all these changes? Change itself is becoming its own kind of value system as we embrace the fact that we, too, must ultimately become a flexible continuum—so connected to ourselves that we are both unshakable and completely fluid at any given instant.

This new age presents us with the chess-like challenge of strategy, of knowing what we are really here to do and seeing it through. Horse’s place in the spectrum of predator versus prey makes speed, stamina, and laser-focus its best defense from mountain lions, wolves, and bears. Take stock of the horse’s role as an animal of prey and clearly understand the danger in our distractibility. The wisdom of the horse arrives exactly at the moment when our potential to hold power is declining as quickly as our attention span. We keep ourselves a kind of juicy and rulable prey by our willingness to be sidetracked this year. Note the strengths of the horse’s natural predators and yoke the independence of the wolf, the leadership of the mountain lion, and the introspection of the bear to steer and strengthen your path.

Calling the Winds Means Knowing the Destination.
Horses are known as the nomads of the Zodiac. Roaming free sounds romantic when compared to our contemporary lives, but it must also bear a warning against the temptation to drift and follow our impulses to their compulsive edge and become wholly ruled by the unconsciousness in our lives. The wealth, status, and mobility the horse represents are not meant to become destinations or sources of identity. A horse’s prized speed is entirely predicated on a graceful balance with the earth beneath her. When you add focus, a firm sense of direction, and respect for your own stamina, Horse medicine can help you harness the potential this year holds to reveal new levels of freedom through self-authority and fearlessness.

Hot and Heavy.
The natural element associated with Horse in the Chinese Zodiac
is fire, but 2014 is designated under the sign of the Wood Horse. Obviously fire and wood have a very spicy relationship, so a certain mindfulness around your choices this year is needed to temper the particularly combustible quality this combination of elements brings to your environment. On one hand, this is a passionate, exciting time, on the other the craving for freedom, speed, open roads, and the sort of rebel yell the horse brings out in us courts the very wind which keeps the fire eager to burn. The goal here is to create a harmony of elements. So be willing to anticipate the burn a bit and release what is no longer needed. Willingly shed those things, stories, or concepts that hold you back so that you can ride the passion and transmute the fire in a productive way.

Holding Fire on the Wind.
Wood reminds us that the call to ride is not the call to roam. The primal call to freedom and speed inherent in Horse medicine is entirely predicated on the fact that this being’s relationship to the earth is non-negotiable. Although built for motion, Horse’s every step—even at a gallop—is firmly defined by connection to the ground. The com- mon denominator is always the earth, which, in its relative stillness, makes motion possible. So before the quest for speed begins we are faced first with the question, What is your relationship to the earth? To the symbolic and literal birthing place of our species? To the mother, the mythic goddess, and the creative source in your life?

Horse may not speak the answers, but with all four “eyes” on the ground she knows how to show you the pathway to their unfolding. Hold her fire lightly, with respect, and she will share her freedom with you. Stand before her fearlessly with strength of purpose and she will place power in your heart that is wilder than the wind. ❤