Happy September Everyone,

After a few days of rain, the grass is green again here in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve been out digging in the garden, tending the bed for what we hope will be the birth place of the next Great Pumpkin. Our local community here on Thornhill has decided to have its first annual Great Pumpkin Race and Roll. Neighbours of all ages gathered at the local hall to share some of their secrets. I overheard one lady whisper that it’s all about the manure, so I smiled to myself, giving quiet thanks to the Chiron’s Way herd for their prolific offerings. I wonder if having such wonderful horses will give me an unfair advantage? I’ll keep you posted.

Messages From the Herd
Wisdom of the White Horse

My dear friend Bonnie and I have been collecting quotes and ancient tellings about white horses for years. It began as fodder for a workshop we wanted to create entitled Wisdom of the White Horse. It seemed only natural then that on my trip to England this March, I would plan to visit a white horse, the Uffington White Horse in fact, with the delightful Mark Mottershead as my guide.

I spoke with Bonnie a few days before my trip. She sounded tired but was excited about my plans to walk around the chalk horse carving which dated back to 1000 BC. She asked me to take a picture and to say a prayer by the heart of the horse. I happily agreed, saying I’d imagine her with me and then recant every detail once I was home.

What I’ll say now is I started writing this note way back in March. It is only now that I am able to finish it – I think. While I was in England, standing in the center of her most ancient stone circle, on the night of the Spring Equinox, making wishes for all whom I loved, my dear Bonnie died. I learned of her passing days later as I was off grid for much of my stay. Grief tore at my heart and I longed to be home with my family and to be held in the comfort of my mare Grace. With no flights to be had, I sought solace walking the hills above Uffington. There awaited the White Horse. I would find her heart and pray for my friend.

Legend says the white horse is a wish giver and a symbol that returns the memory of our higher home, our place of origin. When we meditate or pray by the horse, we reconnect with our TRUE identity and the wishes we wish will come true.

I walked alongside the ancient horse to where I felt her heart would be. There I paused and my prayer for Bonnie sounded much like our phone call would have went. I told her about all of the wonders I had experienced while I was in England, the water I had collected for her from the Chalice Well, about the people I had met and how I wished she was here. As I said that, the wind picked up and I watched the clouds blow across the sky. After blinking away tears, I focused again on the clouds, and there, in between the blue and the grey, was the white outline of a horse. I smiled and said thank you – to Bonnie for showing me she was there/here, and to the Uffington Horse for granting my wish.

This volume of Have You Herd is written with love to my friend and horse sister Bonnie Treece of Gateway Colorado. Bonnie embodied deep compassion, great courage and true, unfathomable wisdom. She had many amazing gifts, one of them being the ability to listen to horses. To the right is one of the passages she shared with us, her friends Sue, Jenn, Fran, Sara and myself as told to her by Midnight Merlin. It is his telling of the Wisdom of the White Horse.

Thank you as always for your kind support. I’ll write again soon with some exciting news about the Horses In Art magazine that a talented friend has taken over. You’re going to love it and it features many incredible artists, including our dear friend Kim McElroy. It even features an article talking about the Art IN Horses– how horses inspire us to become our own masterpiece. You may recognize the writer.

Wishing you all many joy filled days.

Heart-fully,
Sandra

Your lesson from the White Horse is a good one though not easy to swallow.
Somewhat like a desert thistle but a good learning for the future. These are the toughest lessons but make you more worthy of moving forward on your path to bring the work to others and to assist Those of Like Mind, as I request you share this story and my words.

I look forward to meeting with you again and hold you in a warm embrace like the desert sun mingling through the leaves of the mesquite. You have journeyed far and have far to go, as always it is a cycle, a cycle means continuous beginnings and endings. Do not stay at either end of it too long or you will stagnate. As you already have heard me speak of Flowing, I ask you to take it to a new level and let go of Results.
     Results are an ending.
     Ideas are a beginning.
True Freedom is beginning and ending without needing to know the Results.
They are meaningless without the In-between.
So please stand with me in the Place of In-between and honor it as much as you do the Beginnings and Endings, the Ideas and Results.
This is the Place of Freedom.
Remember this as I have taught you, the Embrace is just as important as the time in-between Embraces.
Otherwise there would be no difference, and you would not be able to recognize how good it feels to be in the Embrace of Love, Gratitude and Grace.

Truly Yours,
Merlin