Why we're here

We are taking a stand against horse slaughter returning to the US and are striving to stop the transportation of horses to other countries for slaughter. Some of us are working in those other countries as well.

We are taking this stance as Pagans and Heathens, at a time when it seems some have decided that eating slaughtered horse meat in ritual is somehow cool, edgy and "ancestral." Therefore we want to show that that minority does not represent all of the Pagan and Heathen communities. Many of us worship Horse Deities, many of us are horse people who may see our horses as sacred charges who we care for to honor these Deities. Not by killing but by striving to give them good lives.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

That Pagans Ate Horses Thing... Again!

In midst of the on going battle, the publicity of the European horse meat findings and the Oklahoma horse slaughter laws and following year which saw a new rise in US horses being slaughtered. Medievalist.net published a post about how Christians reviled horse meat as "pagan food."   This link has been going around the Pagan and Heathen social networks, often without real commentary from those posting it.

Fortunately, many comments I've seen (but it might have to do with the sort of people I choose to associate with and actually pay attention to) have been "well, yeah, whatever, I have plenty of reason to not eat horse meat all the same, thank you." (okay, not all are so politely put)  However, the people Lysippe has posted about before, well, eat this sort of thing up and are promoting this post as an excuse to start bringing up eating horse meat as a ancient Heathen practice and promote horse slaughter.Some others fall in between, mostly I think because for growing number of people horses are ideas, not animals. Maybe they even saw one once, but the fact that these are living beings who humans have had an interrelationships with for tens of thousands of years is just not real to them.

The Medieval.net post is, of course, specific to Anglo-Saxon England, of course. While I have some knowledge of Norse and Germanic practices, and there does seem to have been a good deal of horse eating there, I have a stronger background in the Celtic cultures. There is evidence of horse eating among the Pre-Christian Celts as well, although it is sparse and seems to have only been during specific rituals, not as part of the regular diet. It also is often in conjunction with ritual dog eating. (see for example, Miranda Green, Celtic Myths, University of Texas Press, 1993, pg. 61) I don't see a lot of people calling for the return of eating dogs to prove how Pagan they are.  Of course, our Pagan ancestors also did human sacrifice and took heads. There are just simply things we don't need to bring back.

There's a serious disconnect with the concept of eating horse meat as a sacred act and horse slaughter that those who are all happy about horse killing are not getting. Namely the sacred part. Our relationship with the horse has changed, we no longer depend on them, the way these people are thinking of killing them is far closer to Slaughterhouse Sue than the ancients would have. To kill a horse during the Iron Age would have meant killing a lifeline. It would not  have been taken lightly.

Even when these would be horse "sacrificers" talk about doing it themselves (because they don't understand the laws being discussed, to begin with) they show this great disconnect. In a friend's FB post awhile back one such person was going on about how "as soon as it was legal" he was going to buy a horse and kill "it." He actually made it quite clear, he wasn't going to have anything else to do with the horse. He'd just buy "it" and kill "it." Disassociated and cowardly.  But then others who know that the law is about slaughterhouses, about strangers running horses through chutes, cutting them up while they're still alive and awake, where they don't have too actually see it done, feel that that's just dandy way to get their "sacred meat." 

If you really want to honor the our ancestors' relationship with horses, you need to start with the actual relationship.  You need to start with caring for the animal, communicating with him or her. We need to start by creating the sacred relationship.Honor the Horse Goddesses by taking care of the horses. And there is no reason to move towards killing the animal to prove anything. But until an actual sacred bond is made, if you want to make an excuse to joyfully kill someone's pet that you bought with a lie, the remember that deep down some of us really want to bring back headhunting.


If eating someone's pet doesn't trigger any ethical response in you, do consider that you'll be eating a poisoned pet. We all routinely give medications which permanently make our horses unsafe for human consumption. Some of us who prefer to use more natural methods will at least sometimes opt for those poisons just for this reason. But most horse owners do not look for alternatives, anyway, the odds are high. You're looking at huge increase in cancer risk as well as an incurable blood disease. All so you can feel speshul.

Honestly, I wish I could be more eloquent on this, more persuasive, but the fact that there are people having a fucking happy dance over the idea of killing horses as some sort of proof of their Pagan status make me sick and furious beyond words. Literally beyond words. I'm not any happier seeing Christians use this ancient history to further revile us...and the two together are some sort of sick joke. So any Pagan posting on this and not taking a strong stand that we do not want to bring horse eating back is beneath contempt to me as well. Our horses are being tortured, if you don't stand against it, you're a part of their suffering.

8 comments:

  1. Maybe it's just me, but that paragraph near the end of the article made me think that the whole assertation was wildly speculative anyway.

    Honestly, since horses are work animals, I can't imagine anyone slaughtering them for food unless they were dirt poor and had nothing else, or the meaning of the sacrifice was to give up something of exceptional value. And in that case for a farming family I can see how a horse might be the "sacrificial lamb." But that has Zero to do with modern pagans. There are Very few instances where a horse would actually be a pagan's most prized possession. Aside from emotional and in that case I doubt that person would entertain using the horse as a sacrifice.

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    1. Yes, other than the Steppe cultures where huge herds could be maintained on the landscape the horses evolved as they are lived, a horse were precious. And in those cultures, which do eat horses, it never seems to be a random or thoughtless act, there is such an interdependence. If I were better able to really explore the issue, because it does just make me physically ill to do so, I would wonder if maybe some of the sites were they determine that there was ritual feasting were not actually indicative of crisis periods. Both dogs and horses are animals people have been so dependent on that eating them is often an indication of a dieing settlement....from there it's cannibalism and then the last person just has nothing. And, after all, there might be great religious trappings around this..."please, we need help!" messages to the Gods. Much is speculative.

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  2. My response was that we have a different pact with horses, dogs and cats than other animals. They do a different job for us than be food. If I raise a sheep to be a pet then yes that sheep now has a different pact as well. I'm glad that I no longer live in a world harsh enough that I might one day feel it necessary to eat any animal who is my companion. I would no sooner eat my sister or mother!

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    1. I agree. And I raise chickens for food... and some I couldn't eat. There are differences. As noted above, we'd not be here without horses, they were a lifeline. Even if sometimes that meant we needed to eat them, we owe them our survival so we should be repaying that.

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  3. Even considering eating horse meat makes me sick. Blasphemy.

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    1. Me too. It's one reason this blog doesn't get updated often, it makes me so sick. But as long as it's happening I have to say something when I can get the strength. And when THIS particular issue comes up, and it has too often, I feel I have to address it...but it took several days to get myself to do it. I hope someday it becomes a none issue.

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  4. I'm Catholic, but I would like to say that I like Animists and Pagans a lot. Celtic culture and Shinto are among my favorites to study, and I find your teachings about communing with nature to be very wise. It is a big reason why I am a Franciscan.

    I disgusts me when people try to revive an ancient rite for the sake of having 'cred', without even considering why it was done in the past, or how it relates to the current state of their religion. No wonder I am a gay rights activist. People who look to the Bible to justify their treatment of the LGBT community don't look hard enough. Jesus wouldn't approve of homophobia, and I'm sure Epona wouldn't want this despicable hippocide.

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    1. Hi, thank you for your input. I agree, I think that there are those of all religions who use their religion for their own means what ever they may be and with no regard for others and often harming others, rather than truly consider what their Deity would really want.

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