patient who originally had been violently forced to coitus by her husband very often dreams (after separation) that a wild horse springs upon her and kicks her in the abdomen with his hind foot. Plutarch has given us the following words of a prayer from the Dionysus orgies:
[Greek: e)lthei~n ê(/rôs Dio/nyse A)/lion e)s nao\n a(gno\n sy\n Chari/tessin
e)s nao\n tô~| boe/ô| podi\ thy/ôn, a)/xie tau~re, a)/xie tau~re.][1][10]
Pegasus with his foot strikes out of the earth the
spring Hippocrene. Upon a Corinthian statue of Bellerophon,
which was also a fountain, the water flowed out
from the horse's hoof. Balder's horse gave rise to a
spring through his kick. Thus the horse's foot is the
dispenser of fruitful moisture.[11] A legend of lower
Austria, told by Jaehns, informs us that a gigantic man
on a white horse is sometimes seen riding over the mountains.
This means a speedy rain. In the German legend
the goddess of birth, Frau Holle, appears on horseback.
Pregnant women near confinement are prone to give oats
to a white horse from their aprons and to pray him to
give them a speedy delivery. It was originally the custom
for the horse to rub against the woman's genitals. The
horse (like the ass) had in general the significance of a
priapic animal.[12] Horse's tracks are idols dispensing
blessing and fertility. Horse's tracks established a claim,
and were of significance in determining boundaries, like
the priaps of Latin antiquity. Like the phallic Dactyli,
a horse opened the mineral riches of the Harz Moun-*
- ↑ Come, O Dionysus, in thy temple of Elis, come with the Graces into thy holy temple: come in sacred frenzy with the bull's foot.
