As Free As Horses

An Equine lover's fairytale fable of a tale that asks the rhetorical question: Are we really free in factually of actually of embracing and holding in hand Freedom's Liberty in our Society?

As Free As Horses

Written By Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

Copyright © 2016 Marvin Thomas Cox

DBA: Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham

All Rights Reserved

A Thomas C. Flynn Story

Part One:  Lazy Days

Allow me to tell a simple fairytale-fable of a simple horse. He was a young horse, named Lazy. Now, Lazy loved to run and roam the seeming unlimited vastness of the beautiful land upon which he was born, living care free, spirited, unbroken, and unbridled to anything or anyone -- or so he thought -- until one day he had wandered long enough and far enough to find that he had arrived at a barrier that stood as an impediment to his desire of further travel and exploration of life and all its wonderment of mysteries. Men call such a contrivance a fence.

This unexpected event caused Lazy no small concern; because he had always been taught, by those older and wiser horses, to believe that horses are free to go wherever their hearts and hooves would take them. As he stood there, the barrier before him, Lazy considered jumping the obstacle that barred him from his curiosity laden quest. He could do that easily, but should he? The barrier must exist for a reason and a purpose, he thought to himself.

For a split second, Lazy began to waver, almost doubting the sacredly held truths all young horses are taught to believe as absolute, indisputable, foundational truths of creation, life, and existence upon the plains. A thought, totally independent of all he had been taught, rose fleetingly to the surface of his horse mind: Am I but a prisoner, a slave, mere cattle upon the land? Instinctively, the ingrained teaching and programming of those older and wiser horses spewed forth to drown that fleeting thought with assurances that such a reality simply could not be. No, there must be a logical and rational answer, because Lazy trusted those older and wiser horses, and surely they would never lie to those whom they taught and held charge over, in teaching the young all they would ever need to know. Why ponder upon such worrisome thoughts, when those older and wiser horses held the keys to all knowledge and truth? Yet, he could not help but wonder as to how this could be, if all horses are free?

The answer came soon enough one sunny morning after the sunny praise and worship service in honor of Horus, god and creator of all Horse-kind. Those older and wiser horses had heard rumors that Lazy had taken it upon himself to formulate a question regarding the order of horse existence.

To question the order of existence was considered, by those older and wiser horses, to be a great sin. Good horses simply accepted the order of existence as taught them. To question the order of existence was absurd and contrary to horse tradition as taught to horses of all generations by the ancient sages who received the order of existence from the mouth of Horus, himself. To question was blasphemy, pure and simple.

What Lazy needed was more detailed indoctrination regarding the truth, and less thinking. Those older and wiser horses saw to his need for further indoctrination by explaining, in great detail of their vast wisdom, that the barrier was something which the ancient sages had called The Great Fence Of Horace, and was not a source of confinement at all, for all horses live free within their freedom to roam the land of the plains within Horus' Kingdom Of Horses. The barrier was, in fact, established by Horus, himself, in protecting all Horse-kind from those predators and enemies that might seek to harm them, which was exactly why the intertwining vines of The Great Fence Of Horus were garnished with thorns of discouragement to potential predators. To go beyond the barrier -- to jump The Great Fence Of Horus to go to the beyond of the outside world -- was to violate The Sacred Words Of Horus, and would bring death and separation from Horus, and Eternal Damnation, to all who did so.

How dare Lazy challenge the status quo of what is so by sinning and blaspheming in questioning the order of all horse existence? The Great Fence Of Horus, those older and wiser horses proclaimed angrily, does not exist to enslave Horse-kind -- after all, horses are not cattle -- but exists as a symbol of freedom for the entirety of Horse-kind, as free horses with Horus endowed rights. If Lazy kept on thinking for himself, there was no telling what silly notions he might get into his head.

“You do know what happens to those who jump The Great Fence Of Horus, to go to the beyond of the outside world?,” they asked Lazy in a most scornfully threatening manner.

“They die?” Lazy replied, his voice quivering in fear.

“They are never seen or heard from again, dying without hope that is total separation from the compassion and mercy of Horus -- a death met in the loneliness and solitude of having resolved themselves to the consequences of a decision that has rendered them as condemned forever to irrevocable Eternal Damnation! But those who abide by The Sacred Words Of Horus shall live forever, even if they die, for Horus shall send The Majestic Chariot Of Horus to carry the righteous to a home where they may roam in grass taller than trees, and drink water sweeter than honey made by bees, to live with him forever. Stop questioning the order of horse existence, lest you find yourself suffering horribly for an eternity,” those older and wiser horses instructed ever so firmly in full confidence of their great knowledge and authority as the direct representatives of Horus' Kingdom Of Horses.

Had Lazy endeavored to do a bit more thinking for himself, he might have discerned that those older and wiser horses were simply talking religious horseshit. But it was so much easier to accept the truths of the order of existence as given, rather than bringing trouble upon himself by raising more questions. He was already marked as a troublemaker now, a sinner who dared question The Word Of Horus.

So Lazy was simply too lazy, and too afraid, to embark upon a journey of learning the truth for himself. In time, any wild ideas of jumping The Great Fence Of Horus, to go to the beyond of the outside world, ceased to exist as he came to calmly and confidently accept the order of horse existence as per the teachings of those older and wiser horses who had passed down the commands of Horus from horse generation to horse generation for countless thousands of years. His near moment of youthful rebellion was but short lived, reigned into submissive conformity by the repetitive training that had begun when he was only a toddling foal.

In addition, his faith in Horus had grown immensely after actually witnessing The Chariot Of Horus arrive in the distance to escort several of those older and wiser horses away, sparing them death in old age in order to translate them into Eternal Life with Horus. The sight had brought tears to his young eyes as he felt prompted to quietly whisper his favorite lines of liturgy recited at every sunny praise and worship service: “The mercy of Horus endures forever, and his love is beyond understanding in compassion that transcends the thoughts of mere Horse-kind … Train up a horse in the way he should go and, when he is old, he will not depart from it ... Blessed be Horus, and may his name be praised forever and ever!”

____________

Many years had gone by, and Lazy was a young horse no more, for old age had overtaken him. The years had made him, not only older but, wiser. And to those who came to him questioning the wisdom of Horus, in placing The Great Fence Of Horus around the plains of all Horse-kind, he would proudly tell them that he could not prove what happens to those who jump The Great Fence Of Horus to go to the beyond of the outside world. He did not wish to witness such sufferings firsthand, himself, and neither should they. But, he could tell them, for a fact, that his eyes had witnessed righteous horses translated and carried away in The Chariot Of Horus, to live with him forever.

Most would stand in awe of his testimony and his wisdom as one of those older and wiser horses. But, there were always some who would not listen, and chose to risk Eternal Damnation for themselves in sinning by stubbornly insisting upon questioning the order of all horse existence. Such poor souls, sooner or later, would end up jumping The Great Fence Of Horace to go to the beyond of the outside world, only to wander aimlessly in misery of unquenchable thirst and hunger, to soon meet their deaths in fear of the eternal suffering to come. He had considered as much -- once. But that had all changed when he was truly converted, in that moment when the spirit that instills the fear of Horus came upon him. He had truly witnessed The Salvation Of Horus. His eyes had also seen the fate of those whose lack of faith had aroused the anger of Horus -- a fate that sent chills rippling through his spine at its every remembrance.

“You'll understand one day, young horses, when you are older as I am. That is, if you wisely obey The Sacred Words of Horus -- turn yourselves from the youthful lusts that lead to rebellion -- you shall each live long, happy, and contented lives. It shall not be long now, for time has its way of catching up to us all, and you shall see me die -- or you shall see me no more. I pray I am found worthy of being translated into Eternal Life. It is for Horus to decide who is righteous and worthy of such honor.

But, young friends, when you look across the plains to see dust gathering upon the horizon, then, know your redemption is nigh. Do not fear. Most of all, do not fear for me. Good things come to those who wait, who wait faithfully upon Horus. One day your time will come to face death. If you are blessed to see The Chariot Of Horus coming for you, stand your ground and do not run away in fear. If you can do this, Horus may choose to rain his mercy upon you and translate you into Eternal Life so that you do have to taste death in order to enter His Kingdom Of Everlasting Life where you shall never hunger or thirst, ever, again.

Pray for the day when your eyes shall witness, upon that chariot that shall surely come for you and for me, the Sacred Words and promise of Horus, pawed in the old and ancient tongue that is said in lay-horses terms to simply mean, “Horus Saves,” Lazy preached warmly to his young horse listeners.

“How do we know what you say is true?,” Quizzical, a horse of the rebellious questioning sort asked.

“How can anyone know what truly lies beyond The Great Fence Of Horus? How do we even know that Horus built The Great Fence Of Horace and, if true, exactly why? Where's the proof of all these many great doctrines of which you speak?”

“You would dare to blaspheme and question the command of Horus before one such as I, who has seen and witnessed his glory with my own eyes? No one, not a single horse, has ever returned after jumping The Great Fence Of Horus to go to the beyond of the outside world. Eternal Damnation befell them as they so justly deserved,” Lazy chided with the same zealous fervor that those older and wiser horses had scolded him with so many years ago.

“So, I suppose that we should start feeling all reverent, get all hot to trot to pulling our mane, and curry our coat to a sheen that reflects our self professed righteousness, every time the wind stirs up a little dust cloud like that one way out there on the distant horizon?,” Quizzical remarked sarcastically.

“The wind is not blowing today young one. Not a leaf is stirring upon the branches of these trees we stand beneath in seeking the solace of shade from the sun,” Lazy informed the rebellious young horse. “I speak of a day when dust shall again appear upon the horizon without explanation of any blowing winds. Dust likeee ...”

The old horse's jaw had suddenly dropped in utter surprise of what should have been no surprise at all, if one were to base his thoughts and conclusions upon the veracity and sincerity of the older and wiser horse's words spoken so intensely only moments ago. But Lazy was utterly surprised. He was also terrified. He knew he had come of age, and his time to die was at hand.

Faith is a word used to inspire others to heights of heroism, courage, and bravery. Faith is also a flimsy blanket to have wrapped about you, when the cold winds of death begin to blow a chill through your bones, as it becomes you who must summon up the intestinal fortitude to accept your own mortality in finding yourself forced to peer into the ravenously cruel eyes of death -- and that, face to face. There is no such thing as preparation for that final moment, no matter how hard a good horse tries.

Silence now befell them, as every eye caught sight of the growing dust cloud upon the horizon.

“Behold, your salvation draweth nigh, old horse, for surely Horus does not come for those as young as we,” all the young horses mocked in unison.

“Do not fear, young horses!” Lazy shouted, in attempting to calmly hide his own fear. “Stand firm, and await the salvation of Horus that comes for us one and all … Sooner or later, in our due time … Pray for me, please, that I shall not die, but be translated before your very eyes, so that you may teach your children of the mercy and goodness of Horus.”

Lazy's words of encouragement had come far too late, in falling upon deaf ears. The rebellious horse's eyes were already filled with fear, his hooves pawing the earth nervously. Time for further discussion would have revealed every horse in the small study group to be panic stricken, fighting back the urge to run -- especially that one particularly rebellious horse who tended to question everything he had ever been taught.

The sudden flood of adrenaline had activated the rebellious horse's primal instinct for survival. The time for talking was over. The time for thinking was over. It was time to act. It was time to run like the wind. In a frenzy, Quizzical made for The Great Fence Of Horus, only a short distance away since it had been the topic of this day's discussion, and -- in one desperate move -- jumped The Great Fence Of Horus to enter the beyond of the outside world. Eternal Damnation or not, this horse's common horse-sense told him that something was not right about that cloud of dust heading directly towards Horus' Kingdom Of Horses.

Galloping as fast as his hooves would carry him, the young sinner was in the grips of enjoying his new found freedom, into the depths of blasphemy, when there came forth in the air a most terrifying sound louder than any tree cracking and falling, rivaling even the loudest thunder of any storm he'd ever heard before. As he slid to a precarious halt, he spun himself around to look back at The Great Fence Of Horus, wondering what could have made that horrendous noise.

Across the fence and just beyond the small grove of trees where he had conversed with Lazy's Sacred Words of Horus discussion group, only moments earlier, The Chariot Of Horus had arrived in all its holy splendor, where all the servants of Horus in line of sight of his arrival were gathering in haste to worship him in fear and trembling of knocking knees, while grazing reverently upon generous gifts of Holy Communion shew-grass -- provided by Horus The Merciful -- distributed in ample portions by The Chariot Of Horus' escort of angelic beings as part of The Day Of Horus Transubstantiation Memorial Meal. Then, had come that horrific sound of Horus' displeasure as every horse had instinctively scattered to observe the scene from a safe distance. Fear permeated the air.

Near the Sacred Entrance to The Chariot Of Horus, the crumpled body of one of those older and wiser horses lay dead upon the ground -- having attempted to run for dear life rather than enter The Chariot Of Horus -- as a testimony of warning to other faithless horses who might reveal themselves unworthy of the Eternal Life translating mercy of Horus. His angelic beings stood over the dead horse shaking their heads in utter disdain, while gently summoning the scattered servants of Horus to return to enjoying the Holy Communion of delicious transubstantiation shew-grass their Merciful Lord And Savior had so kindly bestowed upon them. The Sacred Words of Horus echoed above the ringing now resounding within every horse's ears: “Except you eat the flesh of Horus, you have no life in you, but shall wither away as the morning dew and vanish as the flowers of the plains, never to rise again for lack of rain in season of drought.” Obedience was prompt.

The Day Of Horus Transubstantiation Memorial Meal had scarcely begun its recommencement of shew-grass -- become The Body Of Horus -- hesitantly devoured by his dumbfounded servants, in absolute awe of having discovered that god could taste so wonderfully good -- when that terrifying sound of Horus' great displeasure rang out once more to see Lazy drop to the ground as well. From all appearances, Lazy had also fallen prey to a moment of weakness that had revealed his lack of true faith in that final moment just prior to entering The Chariot Of Horus, and he had suddenly become overwhelmed by fear and panic in a wildly desperate attempt to flee all he had so professed to believe in.

Part Two:  Quizzical's Unbridled Curiosity

The young horse stood for some time, gazing in awe of the very presence of The Chariot Of Horus. For a brief moment, Quizzical felt his faith strengthening within himself. He had witnessed this with his own eyes, just as old Lazy had prophesied he would. The angelic beings appeared to be of some long discarded physical design that, perhaps, had resulted in their creation, as prototypes, long before Horus perfected his ultimately advanced creative design of all Horse-kind. It was no wonder the poor creatures found themselves relegated to meager positions, in The Kingdom Of Horus, as angelic beings serving as escorts, because they were frighteningly ugly in disgusting appearance, possessing only two limbs for walking and running. Their other two limbs -- totally useless for running -- seemed to be designed only for the express purpose of bearing The Holy Olive Branch Of Horus, a branch that could assure peace to faithful servants, or spew forth the death fire of that terrifying sound of Horus' great displeasure -- a horrendous sound that he had now witnessed twice this day.

The second volley, of Horus' noisy demonstration of his great displeasure, had frightened all of his servants away to an even greater distance than before. None -- not a single one -- returned to stand and await The Salvation Of Horus or continue enjoying The Day Of Horus Transubstantiation Memorial Meal, after twice hearing the full fury of his anger and witnessing two of those older and wiser horses drop to the ground in the instant of that terrifying sound triggered by their shameful faithlessness. Horus' angelic beings seemed to be totally beside themselves, consumed with raging anger at this act of foolhardy faithlessness in the very presence of Horace The Merciful. There would be no more Holy Communion of transubstantiation shew-grass -- today.

The Judgment Of Horus had fallen upon two unworthy servants who had attempted to flee his goodness and mercy. Surely, Horus was greatly displeased with all his horses, possibly even repenting himself, once more, that he had ever created Horse-kind -- for within their guilt laden minds, also, loomed the ominous Sacred Words of Horus that spoke of an ancient time when he truly had repented himself of ever creating all Horse-kind in sending forth The Great Flood Of Horus to drown each and every one, apart from a righteous chosen few, in the countless tears he'd shed, because of their egregious sins against him.

Every horse within Horus' Kingdom Of Horses would bear the sin of those who had shamefully fled this day. They were not worthy to live in Horus' Kingdom Of Horses. All the fleeing servants of Horus sensed this fact bitterly in the depths of their guilty hearts, hoping and praying for his forgiveness, because it was all too clear that their fear had proven stronger than their faith. It was a day of great shame for all Horse-kind, for those who had fled were thankful to be in possession of lives that would, henceforth, be lived in hope of being spared Eternal Damnation. All they could do was to wait for Horus' anger to subside. Until then, the fledgling faithless servants of Horus -- having fled in fear though they had witnessed the glory of His Holy Presence -- would resolve themselves to humble acts of repentance, while clothing themselves in ashen dried leaves and sack-grass, as they fasted and continued steadfast in prayer while they fearfully awaited that future day of his glorious return in tenuous hope of redeeming themselves of their shame and, one day in old age, somehow, attaining to translation into blessed Eternal Life. For who should they fear more than Horus himself? There was no other in whom they could place their hope, and their trust.

Nevertheless, just below the surface of their conscious awareness, lurked an indomitable realization that left them more terror stricken than even their fear of Horus: The events of this day had not taken place in secret. There were always those who watched from afar -- conveniently circumventing The Sacred Words of Horus for all Horse-kind which commanded all horses, those witnessing his visitation upon Horse-kind, to make haste to enter into Holy Communion with him in partaking of The Day Of Horus Transubstantiation Memorial Meal and worshiping him in the adoration of fear and trembling of knocking knees -- and that someone would talk. That someone could even be one of the guilty horses, present today, thinking that by confessing his shame and informing on others that, somehow, he might rid himself of his guilt and find absolution from his sin.

There was no doubt: Someone would talk, because someone always did. And when they did? The Assembly Of Elders would gather -- the prestigious elite of those older and wiser horses -- to decide whether the incident was serious enough to warrant gathering The Assembly Tribunal. Incidents involving open displays of lack of faith or blasphemy against Horus always warranted gathering The Assembly Tribunal and, in turn, The Assembly Tribunal always found such matters serious enough to warrant a trial, whether the transgression was intentional or not made no difference. The Assembly Of Elders lived their lives in the grips of the same fear which plagued the average horse-citizen in Horus' Kingdom Of Horses -- fear of The Assembly Tribunal which attested that its high calling by Horus, himself, was to insure that the faith-line of all Horse-kind remained pure and strong by rooting out any sign of weakness in the faith, or self willed inclination towards blasphemy.

The Assembly Elders gave forth the hype and appearance of being in absolute power and control but, in reality it was The Assembly Tribunal who were the true power behind the throne of governance of the earthly realm of Horus' Kingdom Of Horses. It was this overwhelmingly pervasive thought, within the underlying currents of the emotions of today's shame, that was now causing more than a few horses to consider galloping to the precipice of the nearest semblance of a cliff and diving headlong into the escape from punishment provided by the crevasse just below. Oh yes, the Assembly Elders would get wind of this debacle of faith and, when they did, coats of honor would be mercilessly torn from the guilty … And that thought made the thought of Eternal Damnation sound like a walk on the plains on a pleasantly cool rainy day.

Part Three:  Quizzical's Moment Of Free Thinking Enlightenment

His front hooves gently pawing at the earth in the neighboring land of damned to hell sinners and blasphemers, Quizzical ever so quizzically attempted to analyze all that his cognizant horse mind and heart had just witnessed. There had been that brief, fleeting, moment when his youthful years of programmed mental conditioning -- implanted by those older and wiser horses as taskmasters of The Sacred Words Of Horus -- had come very near to causing him to, impulsively, jump back to the other side of The Great Fence Of Horus in order to prove his faith and righteousness. But, in that instant of almost mindless obedience to conditioned response, something deep inside him had screamed out the two letter word, “No! … I must learn to think freely … I must learn to think for myself … And I must learn to make decisions for myself as to what is right for me in my life … I am a free thinking horse … From this day forward, I am no longer cattle!”

A cascading stream of independent thoughts had sprung into existence within his mind, as neurons that had rarely experienced electrical activity began to creatively generate new thoughts of a future based upon free thinking. There was no doubt, whatsoever, that he was afraid of learning that he was wrong and might truly be doomed to Eternal Damnation, but what had Lazy's life of cattle-like cow-towing gotten him for all of his years of service to a god who had slaughtered him, in a moment of weakness of the flesh, for simply being a horse -- when all plains roaming horses are terrified of being corralled in tightly confined spaces and are easily panic stricken by explosively loud noises?

To make matters more fearfully confusing, The Chariot Of Horus resembled a giant armadillo shell from which the owner had been removed for it was completely enclosed, except for the Sacred Entrance to The Chariot Of Horus. Among those who secretly whispered their doubts as to the teachings of Horus, it was that ominous darkness, looming just ahead within The Chariot Of Horus, which had been rumored to be the cause of those weak in the faith bolting in shear desperation of their gut instinct to get the hell outta there while the gettin' was good.

To Quizzical's young mind, it made no sense, whatsoever, that Horus' wrath should fall upon the weak for simply exercising the very instinct for survival that he, himself, had created all Horse-kind with. What horse, in his right mind, could bring himself to love a god who gleaned insatiable pleasure from forcing his servants to worship him in the adoration of fear and trembling of knocking knees -- a god who declared himself merciful but demonstrated his mercy by slaughtering the weak, rather than protecting them -- a god who touted love and mercy but, in all reality, held his kingly throne by instillment of fear alone?

In full light of this day's demonstrable fear factor tone alone -- a deadly tone lacking in that proper pitch and key of true melodiousness to stir one's mind to irresistible images of splendorous emotions of purest affection (undefiled of beguiling wiles) that have fully matured as the life sustaining succulent fruit of unconditional love offered freely and without cost of obligation or reciprocation of receiving love in return, but, rather, has aggressively revealed itself as something else altogether -- any horse's sensible inclination towards sane logic should, by all rights of reason in due season, arrive at the undeniable sensation of alarming proclamation that it was damn sure high time to have fled a god who saw only red and ruled by nod of fiery rod -- and that without rhyme, or reason of an ominously invasive tone of menacing proportions mercilessly wielded in mandating unconditional subservience of obeisance attained through terror induced adoration and mental prostration brought to fruition out of an all consuming fear of losing one's life.

Hell and Hailstones! It was just good ole common horse sense to understand that anytime you enter into a relationship where someone professes to love you, and your love in return is corralled as a nonnegotiable requirement denying you any choice of free will without suffering the threat of undue consequences¹, there is something wrong with that relationship. You have entered into a bad relationship, and something bad is bound to happen!

____________

Thoughts were bubbling to the surface of his mind uncontrollably now. And almost every inspiration of thought was a blasphemous thought. He was afraid, but what was he truly afraid of? Failing to serve a vindictively narcissistic god? Being damned to wander in the land of the beyond of the outside world? Being condemned to Eternal Damnation? No. Quizzical knew in his heart that what he feared most of all was letting go of a lie that had been the entirety of his young life. His life had been built around a lie that attempted to control his life, his every movement, his every act, his every spoken word, his every thought.

Learning to think freely was almost as terrifying as facing the anger of Horus, because free thinking placed a horse in a position of making his own decisions -- and making his own mistakes. Freedom of thought came at a price, and fear sought to keep the devil's claws² of mental slavery upon him. He realized now that the religious leadership of the taskmasters of The Sacred Words Of Horus -- the only religion allowed to openly exist within the Kingdom of Horus without fear of inquisitional persecution, even death -- was, honestly, no different than the chief characteristics they attributed Horus, himself, with: They, too, ruled by instillment of fear, wielding power via terror and threat of death.

Those who dared to oppose the authority of The Assembly Elders would soon find themselves gathered before The Assembly Tribunal where they would be tried and found guilty of heresy, blasphemy -- or both. There were few exceptions. The penalty for heresy or blasphemy was death with the sentence to be carried out immediately by means of Kingdom Herd Execution. Execution consisted of two phases: Removal of the condemned horse's coat -- for the coat of every horse is symbolic of his, born in innocence and honorary faithful good standing beneath the protective authority of Horus and The Sacred Words Of Horus -- leaving him unclothed in the shame of dishonor. In this first phase of execution, all horse-citizens of Horus' Kingdom Of Horses were required to participate in the holy ceremony of Kingdom Herd Execution -- lest the same fate befall them -- whereby every horse now commenced to brutally biting, nipping, and ripping the coat of the condemned individual until there was virtually nothing left upon their body to cover their utter nakedness before the eyes of Horus' Kingdom Of Horses.

As if that were not gruesome disgrace and punishment enough, in the final phase of the sentence, the poor creature -- torn, bloodied, and slowly dying -- would then be driven from the presence of the Kingdom Herd to a nearby wash where The Assembly Tribunal would now proceed in unison to mercifully carry out the death sentence by trampling the guilty party to death with their stony hooves. The dead heretic would be left for carrion, and as a warning to all The Kingdom Of Horus to fearfully recall the first directive passage of liturgy recited by all horses at every sunny-praise and worship service: “Horus is a jealous god, who visits the sins of those who hate him upon the very offspring they hold so dear, but visits the mercy of good health and green pastures upon the countless thousands of those who love him and keep The Sacred Words Of Horus.”

Quizzical had never witnessed an execution. But, he had heard of them. For many years of his youth from a foal to a young colt, he had dismissed the stories of these events by those older and wiser horses as pure horseshit. Even at that early age, he could discern unbelievable horseshit from fact based believable truth. Problem was, very little of what those older and wiser horses had to say held forth the prospect of being a believable truth. Instead, their teachings were filled with talk of logic defying miracles that resounded more of outright fairy-tale fabrications than any fact based retelling of historical events -- even with taking into account a slight exaggeration here and there as the telling was passed down, by word of mouth, from generation to generation for thousands of years.

In his view, the inquisitional trials of The Assembly Tribunal were just more of the same horseshit he had heard since that day he became a foal weaned from his mother's udders. That is, until that day he wandered into a wash to discover the putrefied, decomposing, carcass of a horse that looked as if it had been skinned alive, bite by nipping ripping, bite, and trampled almost beyond recognition. Realization struck home. His mother had hidden him away a few days before, and had instructed him to stay put until she came to bring him home. She had saved him from becoming a communal part -- of this! Never in his short life had he known such overwhelming and all consuming shear terror. It was in that moment when he had first asked himself, “What kind of a god could do this to someone he loves?”

A horse had no choice but to accept Horus the way he was, for who could presume to have the audacity to oppose god -- a god that butchered his own creations for not adhering to the image of himself that he chose to present to the world -- a god who, apparently, was so insecure in his own image of himself that his own existence was threatened by those who merely failed to believe in him in the fanatically religious manner he required. It seemed more than logical to Quizzical that a god who had to go around boasting about how powerful he was, slaughtering those who did not dance to the tune of his incessantly narcissistic piping, was nothing more than self glorified bully playing god with no true power at all except that wielded by his own duplicitous, and greedy for power, hench-horses. Such a god stewed in the cesspool of the very fear he reigned by.

And so, to Quizzical there was nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear could be overcome if faced with an open analytical mind. So. It was time for a reality check of examinable facts. Fact: He had not died when he had jumped The Great Fence Of Horace. Fact: So far, at least, he had not suffered any punishment for his sin that could be attributed as some form of impending death by dehydration and starvation to, then, consummate in punishment of Eternal Damnation.

It truly appeared that the only horse-citizens suffering punishment of any kind resided on the religiously fanatical side of The Great Fence Of Horus that was conveniently maintained as an effective barrier to thwart escape due to the mind deceiving efforts of Horus' religious leadership hench-horses. Those who had faithfully acquiesced -- to societal submission of living their lives as victims of the illusion of freedom -- were actually eking out their existences in mental devil's claws of slavery -- only seeing true freedom, fleetingly, upon their deaths, if ever at all.

What the hell! He'd be happy to be called the son of a promiscuous old mare -- his mother was a promiscuous old mare -- if the grass on this side of the fence wasn't, for a delicious fact, anything but greener and tastier than any grass he had ever savored in the entire land of Horus's Kingdom Of Horses -- just on the other side of The Great Fence Of Horace. If this was damnation, present or eternal, it was surely a pleasant sensation, for never had he felt such freedom in his life, no matter what should befall him next. The joy of his newfound freedom made him want to cut loose with a hearty, nostril resonating, neigh for the whole world to hear. However, that might not be wise in full view of the two dead horses befallen by the great displeasure of Horus, regardless of what a horse thought of him, personally. Patience truly is a virtue and virtue should never be betrayed with a neigh -- or a whinny. Rather, it is best to keep quiet, and watch and learn.

____________

Struggling to heed the words of his own youthful wisdom, Quizzical quietly observed as the two dead horses were magically pulled into The Chariot Of Horus by his angelic beings. He hoped that Horus would have mercy on them and bless them with Eternal Life. But, the events of the day suggested that Horus' mercy was limited to talk only, rather than outright expressions of kindness and compassion. No matter, from where Quizzical stood, dammed or not, they were better off dead than living out their senior years in mind-blinded slavery that fear-coerced them to continue feeding the lies of The Sacred Words Of Horus to the young -- poisoning and imprisoning the minds of the very impressionable future of all Horse-kind.

Tragically, it was these very dead individuals who had truly believed themselves to be righteous -- constantly uttering liturgical reassurances to themselves and others while, for all practical purposes, practicing their religious incantations of mental conditioned programming upon themselves in order to keep on keeping on in the faith of Horus. No, of a certainty, they were better off dead, than to go on deceiving themselves and others. It was kind of funny. In a twisted, sick, sort of way, Horus truly had shown them his mercy -- mercy which appeared to always sting of death.

A wayward glance from one of the angelic beings caused Quizzical to seek the cover of a cluster of nearby brush, as a searing thought suddenly pierced his awakened mind: The Great Fence Of Horace was no barrier to Horus at all, for, after all, Horace had created The Great Fence Of Horace. What if Horus were to send his angelic beings after him? That would be the logical response of a god who enjoyed inflicting his great displeasure with acts of deadly vengeance -- especially, since Quizzical was now a condemned horse, according to The Sacred Words Of Horus.

His years of religious orientation training, of mental conditioning programming, at the hands of those older and wiser horses screamed for him to repent, and beg for forgiveness. He should jump The Great Fence Of Horace, once more, in repentance, and bravely take whatever Horus judged his fate to be. The tug of old thinking was clearly making its presence known and, as always, that old thinking was based upon fear. It was all too easy to fall back into the rut of thinking that was not thinking freely at all.

But, amazingly, Horus did not seem to be aware, or have noticed, that he had jumped The Great Fence Of Horus to go to the beyond of the outside world -- nor did his entourage. Horus and his angelic beings were far too preoccupied with tending to the dead to take notice of the living, which was a bit confusing to Quizzical's overly quizzical mind. It was confusion that would definitely bear some serious future pondering and contemplative thought.

That was when an all encompassing thought hit him: There were the angelic beings, and those older and wiser horses always spoke as if Horus was right in the midst of them all. But, if that were so, then why was it that he could not see Horus? The Sacred Words Of Horus were said to have declared that Horus had said, “Let us make Horse-kind in our image, after our likeness.” Something was terribly amiss. Unless … Unless, Horus was invisible. How could that be if all Horse-kind was created in his image? What image? How can there be an image, if you can't see an image? How can you truly know who and what you are if your eyes cannot see the very god whose image you are reputed to have been created in? Such a lack of vision, as visibly viable evidence, allowed for tremendous latitude of embellishment left solely to the discretion of the ancient sages and those older and wiser horses.

Quizzical had never, in his life, heard of an invisible horse, especially an invisible horse that lived in the sky -- keeping an eye on when bad horses lie. Further contemplation brought to light of mind that Horus' angelic beings, actually, bore no resemblance to any breed of horse he had ever seen or heard of. Rather, they bore an almost eerie resemblance to descriptions of the primitive wicked humans of ancient horse-mythology, long before The Sacred Words Of Horus were given to all Horse-kind by the ancient sages.

According to that ancient myth, Horus had created The Great Fence Of Horus as a barrier to those evil creatures in order to keep such predators from -- the beyond of the outside world -- entering Horus' Kingdom Of Horses to feast upon Horse-kind hoof and flesh -- and haul them away captive to be ridden as lowly enslaved cattle suffering a fate far worse than that of any poor miserable horse afflicted with bloodsucking ticks and flies upon its back. Ticks and flies were simply horrible creatures that could easily ride a good horse to death in times of plague brought upon horses because of the unrepentant sins of all Horse-kind.

In that briefest moment of defined singularity of uninhibited, untainted, thinking, his mind now swept away in the timelessness of contemplative meditation -- afforded by the sheltering presence of that small cluster of brush that almost lovingly hid him from direct view of The Chariot Of Horus' angelic beings -- new thoughts continued their debut coalescence within his consciousness. His mind was abuzz with the euphoria of instantaneously emergent thoughts and questions -- questions he would likely never know the answers to, but their newly birthed cries, within his rejuvenated mind, demanded they be carefully examined as viable possibilities that, only a short while ago, were unmentionable thoughts of heresy.

But, did he dare utter such words of blasphemy, even within the confines of his own mind? Yes, he must! He must, because there was no one else whom he could trust, but himself, as the words that dared question the order of horse existence began flowing forth as a living spring of newfound freedom of thought: Could it be, there is no Horus, no personal god in the sky looking directly down upon all Horse-kind, to hear their prayers, intercede in their lives, and visit them on the rare occasions The Sacred Words Of Horus referred to as The Day Of Horus? If such were true, then, this could only mean that The Day Of Horus Transubstantiation Memorial Meal was no Holy Communion of transubstantiation shew-grass at all, but a purely concocted sham that would have ignorant horses believing that they were dining upon the delectable flesh of god, himself, when all they were, more likely, consuming was a well placed tasty bribe to placate any witnesses to the luring, upon pain of death, of those older and wiser horses away from Horus' Kingdom Of Horses -- but, for what possible reason?

Could it be, the ancient sages created Horus as god in an attempt to explain how horses came to be -- an attempt to answer a question they, honestly, possessed no verifiable answer to?

But, why would the ancient sages hide such a profound truth from all Horse-kind?

A logic based answer, of speculative clarity, shot through his being like an illuminating bolt of lightening: Perhaps, the ancient sages had created the tale of Horus and his Sacred Words in order to protect all Horse-kind from a reality they, in their elitist arrogance, presumptuously assumed was beyond the masses of Horse-kind's intellectually immature comprehension?

Though young in years in comparison to those older and wiser horses, Quizzical had learned a few things about the baser characteristics of Horse Nature: There is always a price to be paid for protection. Those who protect you are always in positions of authority over you. Authority, in almost every instance, is equivalent to power. Power is equivalent to control. Control is always equivalent to Ownership.

Could it also be, that the religious-elite leadership of all Horse-kind were careful to maintain, both, power and control, while perpetrating, yet, another lie -- a lie created to deceive the masses of horses into believing an elusive illusion of freedom when they were truthfully owned as mere property, as well as believing that Horse-kind, and the world upon which they resided, was central in utmost significance in relation to the expanse of the universe as all existence -- a lie that had all Horse-kind duped into asserting that, as insignificant as their world appeared to be in relation to the universe at large, Horus had, in fact, created and designed the universe, as existence, around his divine plan of predestination preparation for the salvation of all Horse-kind, except for the sinners, unbelievers, blasphemers, and those shameful horses of little faith?

Could there be an inescapably unalterable reality of logic irrevocably dictating, for a fact, that, the true creative source of all that is and will ever be, for whatever reason -- it only stood to reason that there must be a creative source of some type, some kind, some where or, else, the universe and all within it had, somehow, managed to pull itself out of the arse of its own existence within all existence -- had chosen to not consider Horse-kind to be as god-all-mighty significantly important to the creation process of existence within all existence as Horse-kind naively, and facetiously, believed themselves to be? Was it all, really, a lie?

Could it be, the true creative source, as A Catalyst Reactant Ultimate Source Point Of Origin Of All Existence, simply had bigger fish to catch, a greater purpose for all creation than Horse-kind alone? After all, He had given Horse-kind life within existence. A horse could pray until hoarseness forbade him neigh or whinny, but He had given Horse-kind all He would ever give them. He most certainly owed them nothing. They could learn to adapt to the harshness of the laws of nature set in motion to govern the universe of existence or they could perish, for even the brightest of stars eventually cease their shining existences. Nothing within existence was designed to exist forever. The established laws of nature, observed by Horse-kind, forbade the existence of anything in existence existing perpetually forever. The only believable possibility of anything that might be construed as remaining in existence on a forever basis would be that unseen, unknowable, unrecognizable, unidentifiable, inexplicable, true creative source which indelibly created all that is and will ever be.

And, if all of these newborn free thinking speculations of his emancipated mind formulated prevalently as questions, should prove to be historically and factually true?

Much like the consequences of munching upon a tearfully eye stinging wild onion, consumed layer by layer out of desperation driven hunger for truth, Quizzical's common horse-sense was undergoing an accelerated transformation, of heightened sequential enlightenment, manifested as pervasive cognizance of an absolute reality culminating in a central core of undeniable truth: If, indeed, his speculative thinking were true, then, if there is no Horus, there is no promise of salvation or afterlife's eternal life, and, hence, there is no Eternal Life to be had by any horse, anywhere -- regardless of whether they live their lives righteously within the confines of Horus' Kingdom Of Horses or choose to jump The Great Fence Of Horus, as sinners, to go to the beyond of the outside world, for there is no eternal reward and there is no Eternal Damnation -- and, thus, living this life to the fullest freedom of seeking after all the happiness a horse can muster is all that there is -- all there will ever be. There is nothing more to be had, for horses are simply here as are wild flowers upon the plains, until that cycle of life -- set in motion by the laws of nature -- which brought about their existence, completing itself in returning them to the very nonexistence from whence they had sprung forth. Without doubt, this line of reasoning appeared more logical than the false promises of religion …

“To hell with religion!” Quizzical snorted to himself.

His head seemed to be bursting with exhilarating thoughts and speculation that allowed him to consider every possibility of everything he ever believed to be true … It might take him years for his new found thinking to coagulate in firm belief of things ascertained as fact based truth -- if ever … Even if such a goal were never attained, the journey would be one enjoyed in full freedom of thought based upon having made a cognizant decision to learn, once and for all, to think for himself ...

Were there doubts and fears? Most assuredly, there were. But, there was one thing Quizzical knew for a salivating certainty: The grass tasted mighty damn good this side of The Great Fence Of Horus, and his freshly enlightened mind, in having tasted such scrumptiously delicious forbidden fruit, could see no sense in turning back now. If he was doomed to a life alone and by himself, he'd best get used to thinking for himself. How would he make it? What dangers lurked beyond that distant horizon? Would he be able to survive? Clearly, his worst enemy would be found between his horse's ears as fears he might foolishly allow to return to the harbored perimeters of his own mind -- the danger of falling back into that rut of mind enslaving old thinking. New thinking brought new worries, but also brought new ideas and dreams of traveling to lands he had never seen before. Whether he would live or die, damned or not, he would just have to jump that fence when he came to it, and it, sure as hell, would not be The Great Fence Of Horus. For he now knew that no fence, no matter how great, could prevent him from discovering new wonders that would ever entreat him, further, to continue on: To go to the beyond of the outside world, wherever that might lead.

What's more, it was becoming ever clearer that The Sacred Words Of Horus were full of contradictions, contradictions that prohibited horses from jumping The Great Fence Of Horus to go to the beyond of the outside world -- a profundity exhibited as a preponderance of certainty -- when it was all too obvious that, upon the event of each climactic Day Of Horus coming and going, The Chariot Of Horus did, in fact, dare to go to the beyond of the outside world -- and this without any apparent ill effects. Horus was guilty of violating his own Sacred Words. Therefore, Horus could not be god. And if Horus was truly not god, who, exactly, were his angelic beings?

____________

The bull-like bellowing that always preceded the departure of The Chariot Of Horus suddenly jolted Quizzical out of his contemplative reverie as the realization of a new fear made it appear most imperative that he should make urgent haste to get the hell gone while the gettin' was good. He could philosophize upon the plains of greener, safer, pastures -- elsewhere, and far less deadly. Hell, for all he knew, maybe there was a pretty young filly out there, somewhere, just waiting for another sinner to happen along. One thing for certain, if he ever met that filly, he would raise his offspring to make their own decisions -- to be free thinkers. Because, he had learned, of a surety this day, that the only true sin, other than that of harming others, was that of wasting a good mind on horse-s**t fairy-tale lies fabricated by horses unworthy of your trust -- or your respect ...

Not without some sense of loss for all the friends and loved ones he was leaving behind in Horus' Kingdom Of Horses, Quizzical turned back to take one last look at The Chariot Of Horus -- that rut of old thinking tugging heavily upon him, as he was sure it would for quite some time to come, before at long last being relegated to the shadowy mists of a past that had sought to enslave him just as it had all those older and wiser horses like Lazy. He realized, now, that, it was not only that old Lazy was too lazy to learn to think for himself -- allowing others to do your thinking and decision making for you is truly easier, but not very wise -- Lazy's life terminating sin was not that of allowing fear to override his faith in Horus, but that of allowing fear of learning to think for himself to consume him. And, ultimately, it did.

In the distance, with The Chariot Of Horus making its way back towards the distant horizon, a direction he would not be pursuing this day, he could barely make out what appeared to be The Sacred Words of Horus scrawled upon its side. He, now, had his doubts that they truly portrayed the meaning that old Lazy went to his death believing: “Horus Saves.” What was a tongue based upon horseshit actually worth -- anyway? And so, Quizzical decided to get physical in making tracks toward officially beginning his journey of self awareness and self determination, in choosing to think for himself for the rest of his horse's life. He only wished that he could understand the meaning of that ancient scrawling and know for himself the true meaning of those Sacred Words. Perhaps, one day he would. But by that time, would it really matter?

The Sacred Words Of Horus

(Written April 11^th, 2016)

1 Undue Consequences -- In jurisprudence, undue influence is an equitable doctrine that involves one person taking advantage of a position of power over another person. This inequity in power between the parties can vitiate one party's consent as they are unable to freely exercise their independent will. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undue_influence

2 Devil's Claws -- Proboscidea is a genus of flowering plant in the family Martyniaceae, some of whose species are known as devil's claw, devil's horn, ram's horn, or unicorn plant. The plants produce long, hooked seed pods. The hooks catch on the feet of animals, and as the animals walk, the pods are ground or crushed open, dispersing the seeds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscidea_(plant)

Reviews

[Ken Simm.]

I've started reading it. I will return. Bit busy at the moment because I am preparing for two exhibitions of my work. One of painting, one of photography. So I will be back.
Incidentally my horse was called Mooey which is Dutch for beautiful and he was. And so was his mum Autumn.

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn de Graham]

Ken,

thank you. I do hope that you enjoy it ...