CÉAD MÍLE FÁILTE:
THE SACRED ALL ©
by Tira Brandon-Evans

Years ago, while reading a magazine, I came across a cartoon that has remained in my memory. The single panel depicts a clearing in a jungle. At the centre of the clearing is a pillar or tall rock on whose base is carved the word 'Nothing'. Stereotypical loincloth clad natives, adorned with paint and feathers, dance round the pillar or prostrate themselves before it. In the foreground, hidden in the bushes, two European explorers in pith helmets secretly observe the ritual. One asks the other, "Is Nothing sacred?"

I did not laugh at this cartoon, but I did chuckle in ironic acknowledgement of the truth of the cartoonist's observation. In our materialistic world fewer and fewer things are regarded as sacred. More and more we engage ourselves with the profane but, even worse, we are becoming completely obssessed with the merely trivial.

In less 'civilized' times we understood that all things are sacred. All things are one with the One and the One is always and completely sacred. There are still places in this world in which the sacredness of all things is not forgotten. And less then a century ago our Scots and Irish ancestors understood the sacred nature of their world, their work, and their lives.

Alexander Carmichael's amazing collection of Highland hymns and incantations stands as overwhelming evidence of the mindful and worshipful attitude of the common crofters and fisherfolk of 19th century Scotland. Carmichael's Carmina Gadelica contains incantations, supplications, charms, cures, remedies, spells of protection and bucolic hymns in praise of all aspects of work, rest, and nature.

As we read the Carmina, we begin to sense how alive the world once was in the minds, hearts, spirits and imaginations of our ancestors. How dead that world seems to us today.

Is this solely because we live in cities of glass, concrete, and steel? Can we blame this entirely on our culture? Or can we begin to understand that all things are sacred? Can we begin to 'reclaim' the sacred?

If so, where do we begin?

I feel we must begin by simply understanding this one thing: Either everything is sacred or nothing is sacred. Once we isolate one thing from the sacred we begin the process of profaning all things. Once we proclaim all things are sacred we begin the process of resacralizing all things.

Recently, many people have become more aware of the cruelty and injustices involved in horse racing. The valiant Barbero has brought the plight of race horses to the forefront of our minds. But Barbero is only one of countless animal athletes whose lives are cut short or made miserable because we have forgotten everything is sacred.

The Sacred Horse

If paleolithic cave paintings are any indication, the love of humans for the horse began in the dawn times. This love grew and spread and is found throughout the world. The horse is considered a sacred animal in many places, even today.

In Japan the Batou Kannon, a goddess or Buddha of mercy, is depicted with a horse's head. The farmers who pray to the Batou Kannon claim she protects their horses, and other farm animals, and leads them into green pastures when they die.[*] Stable of the Sacred White Horses of Japan

In Britain, the White Horse of Uffington, is considered by many authorities to be evidence of horse worship on that island dating back over three thousand years. Certainly there is evidence of horse worship during the Iron Age in Celtic speaking lands. Many of the rituals related to horse worship involved horse racing and horse sacrifice.

In India the major ritual was called the Ashvamedha. The sacred horse was carefully selected. He had to be all white and completely without blemish, with sound limbs and good stamina. After a dedication ceremony the stallion was let loose and allowed to roam and run where he would for an entire year. Upon returning to the sacred centre the horse was ritually sacrificed along with a male dog, a hornless ram, and a buck goat. After the sacrifice, the queen engaged in ritual copulation with the stallion. He was then butchered and the meat awarded to various gods and goddesses.

The Ashvamedha is similar to the ancient coronation ritual of Irish kings, during which the king engaged in ritual copulation with a sacred mare, who was then sacrificed. The king ate of her flesh and bathed in a broth ritually prepared from some of the remaining meat. By 'marrying' the sacred mare, who was the soul or sacred spirit of Ireland, the king married the land itself.

Traces of the rituals centred on horses in Ireland can be found in the Taltean races. These were instituted by the Tuatha de Danaan, Lugh, in honour of his Fir Bolg foster-mother Tailtui at her sacred hill. These races, along with other games in her honour, continued for well over a thousand years and to this day Lunasa or Lughnasadh is celebrated in Ireland as the first harvest festival. Lughnasadh is celebrated in the neo-Pagan community today on August 1st.

It is interesting to note the Buriats, a Mongolian tribe living near Lake Baikal in Siberia, sacrifice a horse on August 2nd. This sacrifice is called the Tailgan. Both the Romans and the Greeks sacrificed horses. The Romans held horse races in honour of Mars, their god of war.

For those of us who love horses the thought of killing one is quite painful and even repugnant. Certainly we would never want to reinstitute such rituals. But every day horses are being killed, injured or maimed for life on race tracks throughout the world.

What began as a sacred ritual honouring the Great Horse Mother or Great Horse Father, has become a business based on greed and steeped in cruelty. This so called sport is no kinder to jockeys than it is to horses. More jockeys are killed or incure life threatening injuries each year than athletes in any other sport.

It is time to say, "Enough, no more," and put an end to this cruel and profane practice. It is time to remember the sacred horse and the sacred horse race.

Can we end the sport entirely, forbid racing and close all the race tracks? This is a noble ideal but not practical. There is too much money invested in race tracks, race horses, stables, studs and the entire sport to expect we can simply put an end to it. There is also the fact that horses and racing go together.

Take yourself on a long journey through time, back to the very beginning of our friendship with the horse. Can you see that boy seated on that horse, the sleek white horse? Can you see the other boy, the one on the swift red roan? The two boys and their horses have met for the first time. They greet one another. Each regards the other's horse. The boy on the white horse says to the boy on the roan, "I'll bet my horse can run faster than yours." And we are, literally, off to all races. This is one of the great joys of our friendship. Horses love to run, to race against one another. We love to ride them in races and we love to watch them race. This is a part of the sacred all. Everything is sacred.

So, what can you do to help the sacred horse? Educate yourself. Go on-line and research current horse racing practices. Write to the governing bodies involved in regulating the sport. Write to your local politicians, petitioning for tougher regulations to protect horses from greedy owners who exploit them. Write to your cable service provider and let them know you don't approve of the sport, as it is presently regulated, and wish they would remove horse racing from their programming until the horses are treated more humanely. Write to the companies who sponsor broadcast horse racing events, requesting they cease sponsorship pending new, tough regulations.

But above and beyond these things, hold the horse sacred within your heart and soul. Understand we are the sisters and brothers of the horse.

Our ancestors understood this very well. According the our ancestral myth, all Scots are descended from Eochaid, the Horseman of the Heavens, and his mother, Bolg, the Goddess of Lightning. We are the children of the Great Horseman of the Heavens and grandchildren of the Lightning.

Everything is sacred.

ENDNOTE:


1. Myths and Legends of Japan, by F. Hadland Davis, 1913. [Return to Article]



Tira Brandon-Evans is the Founder and Moderator of the Society of Celtic Shamans, editor of Earthsongs: Journal of the Society of Celtic Shamans, and is, herself, a Faery Shaman. Her books, The Green and Burning Tree: A Faery Shaman's Handbook, Portals of the Seasons: A Celtic Wheel of the Year, Through the Unremembered Gate: Journeys of Initiation, The Labyrinthine Way: Walking Ancient Paths in a Modern World, and Healing Waters, are all published by Elder Grove Press. She is presently writing a book about the Ogham. You may contact Tira by email at info@faeryshaman.org.

Céad Míle Fáilte: The Sacred All copyright © 2007 by Tira Brandon-Evans, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Top of Page

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