Jeri Smith-Ready

Animal of the month - Horse

In September I began discussing the Animal of the Month as it pertains to the characters in the Aspect of Crow series. Last month I discussed the Cougar, and Adrek in particular. This month our favorite critter is, if you can't guess from the photo: Horse!

Here’s the description of a typical Horse, from the Discover Your Spirit Animal quiz results:

As a Horse, you're sensitive, peaceful, and social. You easily make friends with members of all species, but you hold a special place in your heart for those who respect your intelligence. Sometimes your empathy can leave you vulnerable to others' moods or manipulations. Don't let one grumpy person ruin your whole day.

Best matches: Wolves, Otters, Swans

Watch out for: Foxes, Spiders, Owls

If you’re a Horse, you’re communicative and caring, and you enjoy the company of others. Everyone likes you.

None of this applies to Filip, the main Horse character in the Aspect of Crow series. He’s an Ilion (Descendant) native introduced briefly at the end of Eyes of Crow. In Voice of Crow he becomes one of the central characters. I've included an excerpt of his first scene on my website.

Much to his dismay, Filip discovers that even though he’s an Ilion who believes in his people’s pantheon of human-like gods, the Horse Spirit has called him and given him magic.

At first, this seems appropriate, since he was a cavalry officer. But Horse’s power is telepathic communication with animals. In the first phase, a Horse can hear (in words) what an animal is thinking. But since Filip resists accepting his power, he can’t control it, which means he’s bombarded with the mental chatter of dogs, horses, and worst of all, in the middle of the night, mockingbirds:

On one level he heard the mockingbirds chirp and tweet, but only in the background. Overlaying that was, "Bad raccoon I’m a chickadee stay away stay away I’m a robin pick a fight berries berries grass is wet too many redbirds berries mine tree-to-take tree-to-take hee hee hee tell me a song fight on babies don’t fly…"

He doesn’t even like animals.

Interestingly, his personality is nothing like the Horse profile from the Spirit Animal quiz. I took the quiz on his behalf and he turned out to be a Bear, which goes a little like this:

You're #1! At least, you're happiest when in charge. You lead with courage, integrity, and compassion. People gravitate to your confidence and charisma, and they feel safe in your care. But be careful not to believe your own hype—stubborn pride is every Bear's downfall.

It's okay that he's not a typical Horse, even by the end of Voice of Crow. Filip--like his people--has a lot to learn, and a long way to go.

Labels: Voice of Crow

• posted by Jeri @ 6:28 PM
• 3 comments