There’s a lot of talk about horses these days, as we enter the Year of the Horse when the lunar year begins on February 17. Specifically, this is the year of the Fire Horse, which only occurs every 60 years. The last was in 1966, and the next will be 2086, so depending where you are on your life’s timeline, this may be your only opportunity to ride with Fire Horse. Let’s not waste it!
My book, “The Elements of Horse Spirit — The Magical Bond Between Humans and Horses” — focuses intensely on the Elemental Horses. There are four earthly elements — Earth, Air, Fire, Water — and one spiritual, Spirit. For each element, there is a corresponding horse, with particular skills aligned with that element. Although real horses are the inspiration, when we work with the Elemental Horses, we are working with them magically, and metaphysically.
Each Horse is uniquely talented for helping you to access the energies and qualities of its Element, in a particular fashion. Each is naturally gifted for a particular task: power, speed, courage, or grace. Earth Horse is large, powerful, and muscular, excelling at tedious, demanding, laborious work. Air Horse is slender, swift, and light, able to cover distances and overcome obstacles, requiring precision, swiftness, and agility. Fire Horse is courageous, bold, and athletic, ready and able to take on any challenge. Water Horse is graceful, smooth, patient and polished, mastering skills or abilities that require time, effort, and patience. Each Horse “brings” you right to the Elemental energies you need, by using mental imagery as well as a thorough understanding of each Element’s energies.
These horses aren’t decorations. They are doers. Their motto is “get ‘er done,” each with its own special method of “gettin’ ‘er done.” However, they won’t get anything done on their own. Just like real horses, they’d rather graze. They require human direction to do a job. You must participate. Your Elemental Horse will keep you focused and moving forward in the right direction, but you have to do the actual work. Horses of both the physical and Elemental type will pour their energy into the task at hand, but only if asked to do so. The human’s job is to communicate the task, and the horse’s job is to obey. They don’t do the job for us. They manifest our intentions. Whether real or metaphysical horses, we must be riders—not passengers.
Fire Horse
As we are entering the year of the Fire Horse, let’s focus upon that. First, we’ll learn about the element itself, and then its equine expression.
The direction of Fire is south, its time is high noon, and its season is summer. Its colors are orange and red. Its symbols include fire, the sun, deserts, canyons, wide-open plains and prairies, candles, campfires, hearth fires, volcanoes, and animals that “burn” (bite or sting) or have fiery, aggressive temperaments: Scorpion, Lion, and Snake. Its zodiac signs are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius, and its tarot suit is Wands (or Rods). It is a masculine (projective) energy. It is the seat of our athleticism, sexuality, and courage.
Fire is stamina, skillfulness, and athletic prowess, be it on a sports field, battlefield, or open range. Fire is warrior energy. It is fearless, inexhaustible, and enthusiastic. Fire is a very versatile and useful tool. In our earliest days, it offered a warm, soothing hub for gathering and bonding, and a weapon for keeping away wild beasts. Later, it became a way to cook food or clear brush. When controlled, fire is extremely useful. When out of control, it’s a monster. It consumes everything in its path, leaving nothing but scorched earth. When we say, “You’re playing with fire,” it means watch out, you’re about to get hurt.
Fire’s “git’er done” angle is all about immediate athleticism, determination, and precision: “Git’er done now.“
The heart of Fire energy is courage, so Fire Horse is symbolized by the working horse. These horses have a job to do, but as compared to the Earthy heavy horses, which trudge mightily forward until the job is finished, working horses have to move quickly, doing jobs that require them to override their own instincts and trust their riders more than they fear what’s happening around them—without hesitation.
That’s asking a lot of an animal that’s evolutionarily hardwired to flee from danger and predators. It’s not a horse’s nature to stride through a surging crowd of screaming rioters or protestors, or stare down huge, uncooperative cattle and cut them from a herd, or gallop for miles over rough terrain to deliver a satchel of mail. The inexhaustible Fiery working horse will obey its rider over its own instincts, and keep going until it collapses.
If you need to do the impossible, and do it quickly, Fire Horse is your ally. Fire Horse doesn’t hesitate, balk, or question, it just gets moving—enthusiastically. Give Fire Horse a challenge, and his immediate response is “I’m on it!”
Do you need some Fire Horse energy? Let’s see:
~ Do fears, phobias, depression, or anxiety prevent you from doing things?
~ Do you feel sluggish, sad, bored?
~ Do you need to get in shape or lose weight?
~ Is getting started on a task harder than actually doing it?
~ Are you faced with a task that seems impossible?
~ Do people describe you as “uptight”? A “stick in the mud”?
~ If circumstances change, is it difficult to quickly shift to a new strategy?
~ Do people complain that you are lazy or too slow with projects?
The iconic Fire Horse is the cutting horse, ready to charge in and chase down those cows. He’s a muscled athlete, and so skilled at his job that his rider must loosen the reins and let the horse do the work, because a horse can react to a cow’s attempts to escape far more quickly than a human. By the time a human figures out the next move, a skilled cutting horse has already done it. The horse’s job is to cut the cattle. The human’s job is to manage to stay in the saddle while he’s doing it.
Do you need to accomplish a big task at top speed? Maybe your dinner party is in three hours, and your house is a mess? Crazy packed schedule at work, plus three conflicting evening commitments, and you need to be in three places at once? Saddle up Fire Horse and get moving! You can do it!
Maybe you need to get in shape or build up your strength and stamina, and it just seems overwhelming. Rather than get sucked into the pit of inertia by excuses and rationalizations, Fire Horse tells you “Just start.” He sparks you out of inertia and gets you moving. One step is a start. Then all you need is a series of first steps, and before you know it, you’ve walked a whole mile.
Igniting Fire and Fire Horse
To ignite Fire energy, put a photo of a cutting horse in action on your wall, and in your mind. Write your job —your goal — on a piece of paper or Post-It, and place it right in front of Fire Horse’s nose. This is the “cow” it needs to command. Will he cut it from the herd? Drive it forward? Move it to another pasture? Remember — Fire Horse does the job it is asked to do. It’s up to you to define that job clearly.
Instead of, or in addition, to your wall prompt, you might make a Fire Horse altar on a shelf or desktop. Anywhere that feels energetically promising. On that altar, include images of fire, as well as powerful cutting horses, or any image or figurine of a bold, copper-colored chestnut or sorrel horse. Include a red or orange candle, and scratch your goal into it with a pin. Rub the candle with cinnamon, and when you light it, repeat your goal.
To reinforce and build Fire energy, collect, carry, or wear lava rock or red stones like carnelian or red jasper, burn red or orange candles, and wear big, bold, fiery in-your-face colors, like orange, red, or hot pink. Wear cowboy boots! Play some rock music a little too loud and get yourself moving. Yes—dance! And do it like no one’s watching! Get out and walk, run, or hike. Get comfortable with being in your own body. Move your body! Make something with your hands, particularly something that involves tools, or building. Seeing a tangible thing that you built yourself fires up your confidence.
This loosens up your energy… sparks your flame! Feel your energy grow as you connect each day with Fire Horse. Visualize your goal, just as a good cutting horse would, and don’t quit until you Git ‘er Done!
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Learn More About the ElementaI Horses
Learn about all the Elemental Horses and how they can transform your life in “The Elements of Horse Spirit — The Magical Bond Between Humans and Horses”! I have a limited number available, for a special price of $20, which includes shipping within the continental U.S., as well as a surprise Fire Horse gift! To get your copy, click on “Contact Me.”
(Firehorse photo credit: ID 406119115 ©Galusikua | Dreamstime.com)