Why Epona?

I am very drawn to Her and have been for my whole life, though I didn’t realize it until about four years ago. From the time that I was born, I have been fascinated with Her creatures. There was a magickal connection between us from the start. My mother and sisters tell me that, when I was small, I used to insist that I had an invisible—to everyone BUT me--herd of horses that were with me at all times. I thought of them as my sisters and brothers, who were watching over me and protecting me from harm. I used to leave oats and apples out for them as often as I could sneak into the kitchen cupboards without getting caught. I guess you could call those things my first offerings.

When I learned to read, I devoured every text I could find in the public library on horses. By the age of 8, I had read over 100 texts, everything from the evolution of the horse to training techniques and riding tips. The local librarian would simply shake her head and laugh at my single-mindedness as I checked out 20-30 volumes at a time. Even the novels I read were about horses and their humans--I DESPISE the word "owner"! As if a mere human could truly own such incredible, magickal creatures!

Although my father raised and raced Standardbred race horses while I was a small child, I wasn't fortunate enough to have access to riding horses until I was 10 years old. My sister and my new brother-in-law took me riding at a local stable. I'll never forget the first horse I rode. His name was Rex and he was a beautiful grey Appaloosa with liver-colored spots. From that first ride, I was entranced!

Somehow, when I was in middle school, I managed to convince my mother to let me ride by myself every weekend. (If you knew my mother and her hatred of horses, you would understand how truly amazing it was that my father and I managed to overrule her...) I had friends who would have liked to go with me, but I preferred to ride alone. I remember practicing for hours the techniques that I had found in all of my research, until Rex and I were a true team.

Soon, high school and all that came with it--studies, a social life and a part-time job--intruded and I no longer had time to ride on the weekends. I knew there was SOMETHING missing from my life at that time, but didn't connect it with no longer being around my beloved horses. I was sure that it was related to religion, so I began to attend Catholic Mass on the sly. I know it's laughable to think about having to sneak out of the house to go to church, but I did. My mother--who, ironically, doesn't follow any real religion--threw a fit when my oldest sister converted to Catholicism.

The Catholic belief system didn't fill the hole in my life, so I went from a regular worshipper to what my friend Lysa used to call being a "Catholic of Convenience": attending Mass on Easter and Christmas Eve, but not the rest of the year. After years of feeling spiritually lost, I “found” Paganism, but couldn’t seem to make a connection with any particular Goddess. For the first two years that I practiced, I always called on Goddess as a vague, nameless entity. For the next year or so, I experimented with several Goddess forms that appealed to me in one way or another. None of them really resonated with me the way that I knew would happen when I called upon THE Goddess whom I would truly serve.

Then, my ex-husband, Juan, took me horseback riding. The moment I mounted the mare, Epona’s name resounded in my head and everything clicked into place. Usually, when I tell people about the experience, I say that She got tired of waiting for me to figure it out and gave me a swift hoof in the ass! LOL

Epona has blessed and enriched my life so much, but it is hard to put my feelings about Her into mere words. The simplest way that I can explain it is this: She is my Mother, my friend, and my protectress. In return, I give Her my love, devotion, and respect.

Background image courtesy of:

My Virtual Epona Altar
Who Is Epona?