Horse and rider
Relationship between the physical body and the psyche
July 20th 2015
Let’s study the symbolism of riding a horse. The rider stands for our psychic part and the horse our physical body. So each of us is both rider and horse. And just as the rider has to deal with the horse, we have to provide for the needs of our physical body. But it’s not always easy to tell whether the needs we feel are those of the horse or of the rider.
You are tired: is your tiredness physical or psychological? You have eaten well, and yet you are still hungry. But who is hungry? Is it your body or you? Or else you are not hungry even though you haven’t eaten and your body really should need food. This contradiction can also occur in the area of sexuality: your body doesn’t want any more, but you ask for more, or conversely, you wouldn’t want any more, but your body demands it. Occasionally, despite being prodded by your spurs, your mount takes you along dangerous paths where you would not want to venture. Or else your horse finds the way to save you, as it has sensed a danger that you, the rider, its master, have not. This image of horse and rider has many things to teach us.