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Have we lost our wildness?

In this country, the horse is a paradox. Something both free and owned. Wild and also burdened in service to “manifest” destiny. Horses went extinct in the land we now refer to as North America over 10,000 years ago, yet the descendants of horses brought over by Spanish colonizers slowly became rewilded as our American mustang – fierce strength, heart-stopping beauty.

What can the wildness of this land offer you and the collective mind of this country?

 
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Raising Windhorse, or Lungta (from the Tibetan Lun meaning wind or space and ta, meaning horse or that which rides the wind) is a part of the sacred path of the warrior in the Tibetan Shambhala lineage. Windhorse is both a mythical creature from pre-Buddhist times and a fifth element symbolizing space in concert with fire, earth, water and air – the elements out of which all phenomena are formed.

Windhorse carries good luck and life force and is the air on which the mind rides. It is a meditation practice traditionally practiced seated or symbolized with prayer flags. Our ritual will be different.

We will channel Windhorse through horseplay: a somatic embodiment of the horse. We will place objects representing fire, water, earth and air at four directions on a sacred circle. We will warm up your body, move in the circle, come to rest in the circle, and finally close the circle and reflect on the experience with words and images.

We invite you to set a simple intention: connect to curiosity and tune into what it feels like to move and breathe as a horse. The rest will take care of itself.

 

HOW TO DO THIS RITUAL

Raising Windhorse is a meditative practice from the Shambhala lineage of Tibet and is traditionally done seated on the cushion. Ours will be a physical practice rather than a seated meditation, and is an invitation to you to think with your bodymind.

To do the ritual, follow these steps:

1. Gather your objects.

  • A smudge stick (palo santo, juniper, sage), a smudge stick holder, and something to light the smudge stick

  • An object symbolizing Fire

  • An object symbolizing Water

  • An object symbolizing Earth

  • An object symbolizing Air

  • A notebook and pencil. If you like to draw, consider charcoals, crayons etc.

  • Water bottle, comfortable clothing and bare feet suggested

2. Follow the video.

When you are ready, watch this video in which ritual creator Tere Herrison will guide you in summoning Windhorse.

 
 

ABOUT THE RITUAL WRITER

Tere Harrison is a writer and performer who devises original one-woman shows with more than one woman in them. A graduate of Naropa University’s MFA in Contemporary Performance, Tere spends her time investigating the intersection of music and spoken word. As a creative consultant, she works with people to strengthen their connection to their somatic presence and its support of voice, clear mind and energetic equilibrium. 

Learn more at terestudio.com.

 

THE RITUAL TEXT

For those who wish to know where the ritual is leading them before they begin, here are the steps you’ll encounter in the video.

 
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Smudge

  • Smudge self

  • Smudge objects

Place objects

  • Fire at east point of circle

  • Water at south point of circle

  • Earth at west point of circle

  • Air at north point of circle

Cast Circle

  • Cast circle clockwise with smudge stick

  • Place smudge stick and holder outside of circle

  • Cross the circle by parting it like a curtain and re-enter the same way

Warm up

  • Shake out tension

  • Stretch

  • Inhale and exhale

  • Tune into space

Bow in four directions

  • East

  • South

  • West

  • North

Breath of fire in four directions

  • East

  • South

  • West

  • North

Awaken chakras with touch

  • Palms on belly

  • Palms up and down from belly to sternum

  • Hands on kidneys and solar plexus

  • Heart

  • Throat

  • Forehead

  • Crown

Inhabit horse body

  • Back

  • Feet

  • Legs

  • Ribs

  • Neck

  • Head

Move clockwise around circle

  • Perimeter

  • Smaller circles

  • Spiral to center

  • Spin clockwise

  • Stop

Feather

  • Paint circle on sky with image of feather balanced on top of crown chakra

  • Paint larger circle on the sky

  • Paint smaller circle

  • Come to stillness

Get grounded

  • Roll down spine

  • Hang

  • Sway

  • Bend knees

  • Hunker

  • Hands and knees

  • Seated, legs extended

  • Roll down to floor

  • Roll onto stomach

  • Child’s pose

  • Feet to floor, body hang forward

  • Roll up spine

Close the Circle

  • From East point circle counterclockwise and gather objects

  • East

  • South

  • West

  • North

  • Lift to sky, honoring space (Lun)

Place objects on altar of the moment

  • Four objects from circle to altar

Reflect on Ritual

  • Write

  • Paint

  • Draw