Horse

OK, Grove, Headstone Symbols and Meanings, Horse

HORSE -  Although the horse was present in many different cultures, they represent the same concepts of freedom and power.   In some cultures, white horses stand for the balance of wisdom and power.   In others, like Christianity, the white horse is a symbol of death.  The horse is a universal symbol of freedom without restraint, because riding a horse made people feel they could free themselves from their own binding.  An important thing to remember about horses is that they are representative of the spirit, similar to freedom. 

The horse also represents power in Native American tribes.  Native American tribes that possessed horses often won more battles than those who did not.  They also had more territory.  The number of horses a tribe possessed was telling of how wealthy they were.  Within these cultures and others, the horse is often an emblem of war.

  • The Romans linked horses with Mars, the god of the fury of war.  Horses were also seen pulling the chariot of Helios, the sun god. 
  • In the Celtic mythology, horses were good luck and were harbingers of good fortune.  The white horse, as aforementioned, was sacred to the Celts, and strongly associated with Rhiannon and Epona, who occasionally took the form of a white horse. 

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