Freedom!  I love this word and all it entails.  I came to the world loving and needing freedom.  I know this now, because I came in absolutely loving horses.  What do horses have to do with freedom?  In many cultures horses symbolize freedom.  Wild horses running free, manes and tails absolutely flying in the wind, is a visual that can bring a sense of exhilaration, wildness, abandon, to the person receiving this image.

I was in love with horses.  I loved photos and calendars of them.  Every birthday or at Christmas I was lucky enough to look forward to receiving a model horse from either my parents or usually my grandparents.  Who out there remembers Breyer toy maker?  Yup.  One of my favorites was one that I believed was an accurate model of my image of Black Beauty.  I can remember occupying myself for hours in my room, working on a clay sculpture of that horse.  Playing outside, I would pretend my bicycle was a horse.  I would even pretend that I was a horse!  Horses evoked strength, beauty, and absolute freedom.

Freedom is a tenet of our own United States Constitution.  It is the ideal that shines as a beacon to those around the world who seek it.   Even though I recognize that there are many people around the world who are not free, and even in our own country – “the land of the free” – this ideal is not being fulfilled given  censoring and various demands and controls put upon the people of this country, we still have a structure that may be as close as we can get at this time. 

Hermes Trismegistus, an ancient Greek scholar, also known as Hermes the thrice greatest,stated, “As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…”  This wisdom has so much truth behind it.  From what we see in nature, to what we experience in ourselves,  we know that if there is freedom in one area, the capacity exists for freedom in all areas.   Taking that little nugget – which is following the same principle as the hologram,  by the way, one little sliver of the whole reflects the whole —  let’s take a look at how free we feel at our personal microcosmic level.   You, right now, in your life, are you free?  How free are you?  Are your thoughts and opinions yours?  Or, are your thoughts and opinions informed by news or others in your social circle? Do you consciously make all your choices?

These are great questions and food for thought.  It took me a bit of time to first realize that I was not making my own decisions for what was best for me, but was instead choosing as a result of my conditioning.  I was making decisions based on what my parents would approve or what would be pleasing to those around me.  That was my first step, the awareness.  From there, I would try to pause and take a breath to become conscious of what the energy of my heart was sharing with me.  Then, I could make a decision based on me instead of others. 

There is an enormous amount of information and literal programming out there in today’s world.  As we navigate our lives, it is important to make sure that they are, in fact, our lives. Becoming more conscious of our personal freedoms is a great step in that direction.  Becoming aware of our thoughts, feelings, and decisions helps us to call our energy and power back to us and exercise the freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  May we all exercise and enjoy and honor these rights for ourselves and everyone we encounter, manes and tails flying.

Wendy Casey – 2023