Horse Magick: Spells and Rituals for Self-Empowerment, Protection, and Prosperity - Lawren Leo 2020
The Saint's Horse
How could some of the most famous military saints have performed their miraculous deeds without equally miraculous mounts? It is sad, however, that Christian hagiographers (authors of the lives of saints) of the Middle Ages and earlier, unlike the Greek mythographers, did not record these horses' names. Nonetheless, the stories of these mounts have come down to us in the tales of their famous riders.
St. George, the Dragon Slayer
Multiple versions of the tale of St. George the dragon slayer have come down to us—rooted, perhaps, in myths like Bellerophon on Pegasus defeating the Chimera. This saint is reputed to have served as a member of the cavalry in the Roman army during the reign of emperors Diocletian (b. 244 CE, r. 284—305, d. 314 CE) and Maximian (b. 250 CE, r. 286—305), by whom he was martyred. He hailed from Cappadocia, a region in present-day Turkey. It is said that he rode a fearless, brilliant-white stallion into combat against a dragon that was claiming the lives of the townspeople by poisoning a water supply and then demanding youths and maidens as daily tribute sacrifices.
The moment St. George spears the dragon, thereby saving the local king's daughter, is the scene on countless Byzantine icons and in many Renaissance paintings. He is one of the most popular Christian saints, and his defeat of the dragon embodies the theme of the triumph of good over evil. He is the patron saint of England, Portugal, Lithuania, and Greece, and his feast day is April 23.
St. Eligius and St. Dunstan
St. Eligius (588—660) is the patron saint of horses, veterinarians, farriers, and metalworkers of all types. His feast day is December 1. He is most often shown as a bishop, wearing a pointed hat, or mitre, and carrying the crook proper to his office. But he is also shown holding an anvil or horseshoe. According to one anecdote, he shod a problematic horse by amputating the animal's leg, attaching the shoe, and then miraculously restoring the leg. But the traditional folklore of horseshoes bringing luck probably comes from a later period in Anglo-Saxon England and the encounter between a monk, St. Dunstan, and the devil.
St. Dunstan (c. 909—988), onetime archbishop of Canterbury, was multitalented. His feast day is May 19 and he is regularly depicted with a blacksmith's tongs. His 11th-century biographer, Osbern of Canterbury, relates that, in addition to his intellectual prowess, Dunstan was a harpist, a silversmith (he is the patron saint of those who work in this field), and a calligrapher and illuminator of manuscripts. In one variant of the saint-devil interaction, Dunstan was playing the harp when the devil attempted to disturb the heavenly music by making loud noises. Dunstan put down his instrument and reached for the hot tongs with which he worked metal. He clamped them down on the devil's nose. Pain rendered the devil defenseless, and Dunstan shod one of his hooves. The devil howled until Dunstan removed the horseshoe, but not before the saint had him promise to avoid all abodes where a horseshoe was hung over the door and to leave those who lived there in peace.
In addition to the Christian tales explaining the potency of a horseshoe as an apotropaic or good-luck charm, legend has it that iron is repulsive to malicious magickal creatures. Using seven nails to hang a horseshoe was believed to increase its power. The position for hanging a horseshoe is disputed: ends up, for some, creates a vessel to hold all good luck; for others, ends down showers luck on all those who enter. It is not uncommon to see horse-shoes hung in both positions, one above the other, especially in barns or on ship masts.
SPELL FOR A HORSESHOE BLESSING
This spell uses the magickal power of the horsehoe to bring blessings and good luck to those who perform it. It also banishes the evil eye. In this particular practice, the horseshoe is hung with the points up.
What you need:
A horseshoe, a hammer, and nails (to hang the horseshoe above your doorway); agrimony (powdered agrimony is easiest to use); quick-light charcoal; a lighter; a small ceramic or Pyrex bowl; and enough sand to fill the bowl.
Instructions:
Hang the horseshoe with the ends pointing up (like the crescent moon) above the front doorway either inside or outside the house you want to bless. Fill the small bowl with sand. Light the quick-light charcoal with the lighter and place it on top of the sand in the bowl. Sprinkle a pinch of agrimony onto the charcoal. Chant this blessing three times as the smoke from the agrimony rises onto the horseshoe:
Horseshoe hanging above my door,
Ends up to keep good luck secure,
I consecrate you with all my heart.
And now with true intent I start.
Agrimony work for me;
Remove these from my destiny:
All evil, evil eyes, curses, negativity, upset conditions, and
black magick!
I thank you now, god and goddess, Dunstan too.
With horse and iron the devil got his due;
Peace and wealth may stay with me.
And as my will so mote it be!
Why did I choose agrimony for this spell? The magickal properties of agrimony are well known for dispersing negativity and creating a shield of protection. You can also drink agrimony tea prior to starting this blessing to add more power.
St. Joan of Arc
The horse is also a key iconographic element (visual attribute) in images and statues of another equestrian soldier. This soldier is, however, the most unlikely member of the male-dominated, hetero-normative cavalry in the Middle Ages—the diminutive St. Joan of Arc (c. 1412—1431). When a “voice” told young Joan to go to a prominent captain to obtain men-at-arms, she replied: “I'm just a poor maid who can neither ride nor fight.”1 The “voice,” and her legacy, have proven her wrong on both accounts. The so-called Maid of Orléans, whose early childhood was spent learning to sew and work on a farm, rode like a professional when she left her peasant surroundings. She cut her hair, donned men's clothing, took up arms, and traversed the countryside to meet the French aristocracy and lead them in battle to defeat the English. Against overwhelming odds, she played a key role in having Charles VII (b. 1403, r. 1422—1461) formally crowned king in 1429.
Aside from her equestrian skills, we know that Joan had supernatural gifts. As a clairaudient and visionary, she received directives from heavenly voices and heard the pealing of church bells. She saw brilliant otherworldly lights, and she conversed with St. Catherine and St. Margaret, as well as with the archangels Michael and Gabriel. The most eloquent testimony to Joan's calling as a soldier-knight is found in a poem written nearly half a century after she was burned at the stake. Her bond to her horse is the subject of Linda McCarriston's La Coursier de Jeanne d'Arc (The Charger of Joan of Arc).2
McCarriston doubles the cruelty of the saint's martyrdom by recounting that, before the flames consumed her, Joan was made to watch while her gray-and-white dappled Percheron was burned to death. Joan's rapport with her horse was incredibly important to a contemporary understanding of her sexuality. Women certainly rode ponies and hunted on spirited horses, but it was outside the norm of femininity at the time to wear men's clothing and armor or to ride a charger or warhorse. (Coursier or destrier are the words in Old French; Joan specifically said she was riding un demicoursier.) For historian Marina Warner, Joan's androgyny upset the “natural order” and made her more angelic than human.3 More recently, however, Gabrielle Bychowski emphasizes that Joan “may have identified as trans,”4 given that the English government accused her of being a witch and a heretic because she wore men's clothing. In the end, we can be sure of three things: Joan's purity of resolve, her faith, and her love for France. She herself said it quite simply: “I am sent from God.”5 Joan is one of the nine minor patron saints of France and her feast day is May 30.
SPELL FOR CLAIRAUDIENCE AND GUIDANCE
This spell calls on horse magick to let you share in Joan of Arc's power of clairaudience and wisdom. Use it to seek guidance in any situation, especially one in which you feel lost. It is also helpful for anyone trying to determine how they identify sexually.
What you need:
Horsetail herb, quick-light charcoal tablets, a censer or other “fire-proof” container, and a lighter.
Instructions:
Light a piece of quick-light charcoal and arrange it safely in your censer. Now, prepare yourself magickally by imagining a circle of fire around you. Say to yourself:
No person, spirit, entity, energy, or thought form can cross this
circle except those who have my best intentions at heart.
Calm and center yourself. Sprinkle a pinch or two of horsetail herb onto the burning quick-light charcoal in your censer. Fan the smoke from the burning herb toward you as you say this spell three times three:
Future so hard to come by,
Wisdom on which to rely,
Open up and, out of the sky,
Let fall words that tell no lie;
Secret tongue I finally descry,
Perfect path—bullseye!
Why did I choose horsetail herb? Horsetail herb is associated with the planet Saturn, which governs time, the mind's eye, wisdom, and psychic ability. Horsetail herb has the power to locate hard-to-find answers and to reveal hidden secrets.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Jeffrey Burton Russell (1972), p. 76, cites a Carolingian Capitulary (erroneously known as the Canon Episcopi), stating that “wicked women” participated in midnight rides on various beasts, including horses, under the influence of Diana. This would become commonplace in aligning women and horses throughout the Middle Ages and beyond in witch hunts. For more on this phenomenon, see Claude Lecouteux, Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead, trans. Jon E. Graham (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2011).
Primary sources
Jacobus de Voragine. The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, trans. William Granger Ryan, vol. 1 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 238—242.
Winterbottom, Michael, and Michael Lapidge, ed. and trans. The Early Lives of St. Dunstan (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2012).
Secondary sources
Barrett, W. P. trans. The Trial of Jeanne d'Arc (New York: Gotham House, Inc., 1932). Retrieved from https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu (accessed 11/2/2018).
Bychowski, Gabrielle. “Gender, Sexism, and the Middle Ages, Part 3: Were There Transgender People in the Middle Ages?” The PublicMedievalist.Com (November 2018). Retrieved from https://publicmedievalist.com (accessed 11/2/2018).
Gauvard, Claude, Alain de Libera, Michel Zink, dirs. Dictionnaire du Moyen Âge (Paris: Quadrige/Presses Universitaires de France, 2002).
Hyland, Ann. The Horse in the Middle Ages (Thrupp, England: Sutton Publishing, 1999).
Illes, Judika. Encyclopedia of Mystics, Saints & Sages: A Guide to Asking for Protection, Wealth, Happiness, and Everything Else! (New York: HarperOne, 2011).
Kaiser, Anton. Joan of Arc: A Study in Charismatic Women's Leadership (Rapid City, SD: Black Hills Books, 2017).
McCarriston, Linda. “La Coursier de Jeanne d'Arc.” In Little River: New and Selected Poems (Knockeven, Ireland: Salmon Poetry, 1993); available in full online at: https://poets.org (accessed 12/15/2018).
Meltzer, Françoise. For Fear of the Fire: Joan of Arc and the Limits of Subjectivity (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2001).
Ramsay, Nigel. St. Dunstan: His Life, Times, and Cult (Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 1992).
Russell, Jeffrey Burton. Witchcraft in the Middle Ages (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1972).
Seward, Desmond. The Hundred Years War: The English in France 1337—1453 (New York and London: Penguin Books, 1999).
Warner, Marina. Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1981).
NOTES
1 Barrett, 1932, XII, 160.
2 The poem is available in full online at https://poets.org.
3 Warner, 1981, p. 146.
4 Bychowski, 2018.
5 Barrett, 1932, p. 81.