We have arrived at our final card in the Earth element, the Horse. Placed in the fourteenth position, this card calls to mind energies surrounding the Kings of the tarot. We could even look at the Temperance card at position number 14.
This card is one of true majesty over your actions, manifestations, and how you show up with your wild reclaiming in your physical world. Before we dive into the Horse, and close out the Earth element, here is a brief recap of other cards in the Earth element. Please go and read those posts for their full narrative.
- The Bear: Spiritual Awakening, Rising from slumber
- The Earthworm: Speaking up and sharing vision, although shy
- The Mouse: Getting into the details on what you are creating
- The Rabbit: Creating stability amidst fear
- The Raccoon: Giving your talents freely, aware of the masks you wear
- The Fox: Sharing and creating sacred connections
- The Snake: Unleashing your creative magick
- The Buffalo: Trusting the Divine with an open heart
- The Lamb: Creating inner peace and listening for truth
- The Elk: Establishing support within and for all
- The Deer: Nurturing the beauty in the world
- The Wolf: Guardian of the pack and speaking up for others
- The Spider: Weaver of prosperity and Divinity
Finding Expansive Momentum and Freedom with the Horse
The Horse speaks to the desires of our wild spirits because they represent this wild and graceful energy in their very being. Watch a video of a horse, or multiple horses running, and I bet you would feel a pull on your spirit.
Horses are strong, intuitive, powerful, and communal. Learning how to ride, care for, and become one with a horse (should you ever choose to learn how to ride) is a constant process.
Even without a physical horse, this card and animal spirit asks the same of you. Are you willing to find your strength, never give up, build momentum, and run to the horizon of your desire, even if the terrain is long and difficult?
The Horse says that you have, and are being invited, to find a sense of mastery over yourself. The Horse says that your spirit is strong, and if you are willing to rise to the occasion, your momentum will build into a space that will fundamentally change you, your magick, your relationships, and the gifts you put into the world.
The reason the Horse is so dependable and reliable as an animal spirit is because it is within you that this energy is found. Life is going to throw all the shit at you. It is going to bring you to your knees. It is going to chew you up and spit you out like used gum. The underlying factor in all of that is you. Are you willing to stand up again? Are you willing to keep going? That is the mastery of the Horse.
This is one of the reasons (I think at least) we love stories of the underdogs and the tales of undefeated spirits. Like a running horse, those stories pull on our spirits, reminding us of the ability to keep going no matter the costs. I think of books and movies like Unbroken and Hacksaw Ridge. I think of people like Malala and Bethany Hamilton. Michael Jordan, probably the best basketball player ever, was cut from his high school basketball team! There are so many stories of people who leaned into the shit and found their grit.
That is what is being invited when you work with this animal spirit and this card. Don’t give up. Don’t back down. Don’t shy away. Keep going and trust that your momentum will build the more you do it. Trust is a big factor here. Trust that your endurance, strength, intuition, and fortitude will continue to build. Because it will.
Guidance from the guidebook
Some key references from the guidebook
Keywords / phrases: Momentum, Freedom, Expansive Energy and Force
When in balance: achieves anything, never gives up
When out of balance: runs away, feels weak
To bring into balance: strength training
Following the guidance from the guidebook, working with the Horse is about finding your freedom. As the last card in the Earth element, it needs to be said here that finding that level of mastery includes confronting your perceptions, attitudes, and coping mechanisms. There is no room for victimhood with the Horse. Yes, you can feel when things get hard and life comes crashing down, but then you get back up.
To me, some of the greatest examples and motivations for me to tap into my horse energy are when I am around people who are antithetical to their horse energy. You know these kinds of people. We all do. I have known people in my life who are always blaming everything else for their problems. I’m talking about people who consistently pull the “Why Me?” They are so consumed with the wrongs in their lives (and much of that may not have been their problem), but they make their problem when they want the whole world to hear their problems, while they keep digging themselves further into the dirt.
Again, life is pure and utter bullshit, and I am not talking here about people going through extreme situations. I am also not saying that you can just white-knuckle it and that mental health issues or real-life situations can just be pushed aside because you pulled a card over. No, there are real brutalities in the world, and I don’t have the time here with this blog to go on a diatribe about the injustices or atrocities that hurt everyone’s Horse energy.
I am talking about the ones who could do something to make a change in their own lives, and start finding their momentum. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it is going to be painful, but the Horse says it is far worse to stay stagnant, run away, or neglect your strength because of a situation. The ones who manifest their Horse energy, and inspire us, are the ones who face it, find their strength, and keep going.
I leave you with this quote: The world breaks everyone, and afterwards, some are strong at the broken places.” – Ernest Hemingway
Run free and wild like a mustang!