Time to stop the madness NOW!

With Oklahoma and New Mexico heading towards bringing horse slaughter for fun and profit back to the US, the European hidden horse meat insanity and some of my fellow Pagans apparently joining the call to bring killing horses back, it's long past time we get this stopped once and for all.

I was almost someone's dinner!

There are steps being taken. Recently Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) has noted the need to get the USDA inspection ban back.  Today,Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Representatives Patrick Meehan (R-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) have issued the new S. 541/H.R. 1094—The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act.  Like the expired American Horse Slaughter Prevention Acts, this will ban the slaughter of horses for food in this country and their export to other countries for slaughter.

There are already two options to easily let your Senators and Representatives know you want them to cosponsor this bill, the ASPCA page and the HSUS page. Please use these today to let them know you want this! We need to keep pushing, no more bill dying in committee so that more horses die too!

ETA: I just got this link. It is for the Appropriations Committee, you can fax each member to let them know you want the defunding of horse slaughter inspection restored to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill. While we need a full ban that includes export, this will at least stop slaughter plants from starting in the US in the mean time. Faxing is free and online, no need for a fax machine. You can send five day, so it's three days to get through them all. But if you can do it, you can do all you want for $1.99 each. Or, of course, if you have a machine, you can use these numbers to do it the old fashion way.

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.

Oklahoma slaughter bills and British Lasagna

I've been bad about maintaining this, so I assume that most of you have other, better sources, and know about the uproar in Britain and Ireland and then several other European countries with horse meat found in various "beef" products, including in fancy steakhouses, fast food restaurants, packaged products and more packaged products and schools. 'Bute tainted meat at that (face it, you eat horse meat you ARE eating the extremely dangerous drug).

Meanwhile, Oklahoma is well on it's way to bringing horse slaughter back to the US. To bring not only torture and hell for horses, not only 'bute tainted food to those who either deserve it or are unwittingly eating what they think is beef, but also crime, poverty and pollution to their neighborhoods.

I have been signing petitions, written letters and called the OK Gov's office.   I hope you are too.  You can find out more at Shut down Oklahoma Horse Slaughter Bills SB375 & HB1999.

Of course, we desperately need to get the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act going. But first, it appears, we need to get a new bill STARTED. Since the 2011 bill died this January, I have been unable to find anything about it. Write your Reps., tell them we want it and we want it DONE this time!  We can't keep fighting this a state at a time, we need to get this finished once and for all on the national level. Then there is no recourse, no way these money grubbing scumbags can push through.  And, yeah, if they do go ahead in OK, then I'll  rejoice at the financial disaster it will be for them because of their cruel shortsightedness.

Warriors for the Horse Goddess

This article isn't here, as it's rather long for a blog post and I wanted a permanent home for it. It was originally written to submit to an anthology, but the anthology is not being published so I decided to go ahead.  I think that the message of how important defending horses from slaughter and abuse is needs to get out there as much as possible. It is also a sort of experimental piece for me, intersecting my own journey back to horses through Macha with information both on historical/literary Horse Goddesses and the political reality.

Warriors for the Horse Goddess 

 

Horse racing at Lughnasadh

 Seriously, stop spamming this with race wagering sites! This is an anti-racing post, so that's just insane! Stop!

As we approach the Gaelic holiday of Lughnasadh or Lùnasdal, one of the things that comes up is the association of the holiday with horse races.  The key event at this time was the assembly known as "óenach" which is glossed as "a contention of horses" and included swimming and racing the horses (Patterson pg 144, O'Donovan, pg. 127-128). These events probably were centered around people proving their horse stock, for sale or prestige, and in Ireland fairs held at this time, such as The Puck Fair, still involve horses. One famous horse race in Ireland was during Conchobar's assembly where Macha was forced to prove her husband's boast that his wife could outrun the king's horses.(The Metrical Dindshenchas (English) Irish). Horses were an important part of the culture, so horses as an important part of such events is not surprising.

Through the past couple of decades I have seen several Celtic Polytheists of various types suggest that this connection means that attending modern, professional horse races is a way to relive those old assemblies. I have even seen it suggested that this in some way honors the Horse Goddess. This concept troubles me deeply, for while it may not be on the same level as those who suggest eating horse meat the reality is there that, if nothing else, going to races supports an industry that routinely slaughters horses and use nurse mares whose own foals are killed at birth for "pony skins."

Explain to me how that is honoring a Horse Goddess? I suppose it replicates the horror that Macha and her twins suffered but do you want to be on that side of it? There are other ways.

Never mind that the atmosphere at these events is far from that of an ancient gathering.  

Saorsa has been practicing for

Obviously, not many Pagans have their own horses to race for fun or to "unrace" (we have long joked that we have unraces, we just make sure to take time to just hang out and watch our horses be horses...however, we may be doing some run racing soon, including water races although Saorsa may be the only one willing to go in). To replicate these horse races what can one who doesn't have their own horses do?

Personally, I favor taking time to volunteer at a horse rescue. Lughnasadh is often a time when hay is coming in, but help is needed in all situations by most rescues. If you can't volunteer, consider taking up a collection for a local rescue. Many Pagan groups today collect food or other items for charity when they gather, why not do so for horses. Perhaps even towards an ex-racer and/or nurse mare foal focused group?  Perhaps also take time to write to your congress people and try to end horse slaughter.

Consider attending county fairs. While I'm not crazy about either showing or racing at all, the level at fairs is far different from professional race tracks especially at the smaller fairs. Please consider still making that donation and writing those letters, as some of the horses in the show ring will end up in rescue or on the road to slaughter too.

Of course, for your own games I know many groups who do hobby horse races.  Often there are kid races where most of the kids old enough to walk think it's totally uncool and adult races where the adults have a blast proving to their kids how uncool they are. It brings "the horses" home. And make those donations and write those letters just because it needs doing.

If you want to honor the Horse Goddesses, save the horses. If you want to have a feel of ancient times by being around horses be around horses that need you. Do not think for a moment that there is anything but corruption at the race track or that it's somehow holy. The horses deserve better, the Horse Goddesses certainly do.

Nerys Patterson. Cattle Lords & Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland, Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame, 1994

 John O'Donovan, ed. and trans. (with notes and translations from Whitley Stokes) Sanas Cormaic Calcutta: O. T. Cutter for the Irish Archeological and Celtic Society, 1868,

The next step back to stopping horse slaughter returning

The House is supposed to vote  next Tuesday on the Appropriations bill. Let's make sure they keep the defunding of horse slaughter in the bill this time!  If you don't already have them on speed dial here's a way you can let your Representative know.

A small step back to where we were before....

But at least it's a step in the right direction. House Appropriations Committee votes to defund horse slaughter inspections.

While it's important that the defunding be reestablished and we need to encourage our Representatives to vote for this and our Senators to get it in their version, we absolutely must continue to work to get  The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act H.R. 2966, S.1176 through at last! We need to cover all angles to get horse slaughter finished in our country.