You can find teachers in the least expected places and situations. In September 2017, I found mine in the form of a magnificent white Camargue horse in Southern France. Camargue horses are said to be the oldest breed on Earth. It was day two of our transformative spiritual journey following the footsteps of Mary Magdalene. The energy had already brought up many strong emotions inside me and I had no idea what was true for me any more.
On that beautiful autumn afternoon, we were to literary connect with the Spirit of the White Camargue Horse, which stands for freedom, purity, mystery and magic. When we arrived on the spot, there were over 20 white horses waiting for us. For the first time in my life I had to entrust my life to an animal. It was my first time on the back of a horse and I was terrified. My training took around 20 seconds. I was told how to pull my reins to turn left, right and slow down. That was it!
When we set out I was so stiff with fear I could barely look around. Mosquitos appeared out of nowhere and were biting my legs, arms and legs. Still, all I could focus on was the head of my horse. Her name was Surprise. With every step she became more and more anxious. I was really mad at myself for making that choice. I didn’t have to do the horse ride. It was voluntary, yet, my mouth was faster than my reason! As I was giving out to myself in my head, I heard my guides saying: “she can feel your fear and anger. Relax and tell her you trust her.” I mustered all my courage and did that. Suddenly I saw the whole thing in a completely new light. Here I was in that beautiful place in France with ancient white horses, pink flamingos and hauntingly beautiful scenery and all I could think of was my fear of falling off the horse and nasty mosquitos.
It really shook me up and I decided to truly connect with the Spirit of Surprise. She was the one taking me on a journey now. Even when we went into the marshes and thorny bushes I let her take the lead and carry me into safety. Once I truly relaxed I understood what the message of the mosquitos was. At the time there were a lot of people and unimportant situations distracting me from my real journey and life purpose. Their bites were like those of mosquitos, pretty acute and demanding my attention. When I realized that I felt that the Spirit of the White Horse was taking me deeper into my energy to that place of surrender. This is where you do nothing and just hand over the reins to the Universe to carry you.
While I was in that place of surrender, Surprise continued to carry me where and how she wanted and the mosquito feast on my body was well underway. Irrespective of all that, I started feeling enormous space opening up inside me. It was freedom. For the first time in my life, I experienced it so clearly. I had no control over anything at the moment but I was free to do and be everything I wanted. All my confusion and emotions were gone. I had no idea what was next but I decided to trust the journey.
We were done after two hours. When I got off the horse, I was sore, bitten, scratched and so grateful for the healing and profound transformation. That darn White Horse I dreaded so much in the beginning, turned out to be the most surprising guide, teacher and healer.
Thank you Surprise for carrying me through that part of my journey. I often think of you, especially when I have to hand over the control over my life to the Force of Creation. I hope you continue to spread your magic in the beautiful area of Camargue <3