HOX Zodiac- Horse Celebration (Event 3)

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The Hox Zodiac Horse Event was the opportunity to hear  stories of four individuals who are deemed horses as their Chinese zodiac animal and the connections they have noticed in their lives to their zodiac animal.

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  OMG, This Looked Delicious!

Maryam Razi discussed her hox zodiac dinner party in Tehran which sounded and looked delicious. She shared a connection she made regarding a certain horse that flourished in Persia and shared connections between Persian medicine, which used the concept of the four humors (body fluids) to the concept of the four elements of earth, wind, air and fire.

 

 

Linda Weintraub revealed that although she is a horse according to the hox zodiac, she doesn’t have any real connection to horses.  However, she told of one transformative memory regarding the play equus   (about a seven year old boy who becomes obsessed with a particular horse). She made a heartwarming observation of the other guests stories at the end of the lecture, noting that they all had a functional relationship with the horse of caring for feeding and cleaning them.

 

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Petia Morozov asked how can we enter the horses world rather than requiring them to be in ours? Her story was about riding a horse when she was young and being taken into the river. She developed and maintains an obvious love of the animal that one can sense as she described feeding them.

Aleksandra Mara has an incredible connection with her zodiac animal. She shared her love of horses. She also shared some information about astrology and zodiacs. Acknowledging the fact that studies show there really is no validity to them. However, she noted that these identity cords can create connections and cohesiveness between people. Like an additional common notion for humanity to bond on.

The hox zodiac charts the link between the hox gene and a relationship with the Chinese animal zodiac. The dinner party takes it further by combining the notion of food and the environment. The hox zodiac charts other aspects such as element, planet, season, color and organ. There is a playing game designed to research more about this study and an example of a card from the game that charts the horse above.

An interesting conversation brought up was the domestication of animals, horses have been domesticated for 6000 years and were a source of food prior to being tamed as work horses and for riding. This point was made with the wine offering and I could not tell what the vineyard was, but I believe there was a horse on the label.

This experience is seems to be about finding our deep connections with other living beings and learning to, as one guest mentioned “experience our civilized lives with awe.”

According to the Chinese zodiac I am a rabbit. According to Professor Vesna’s paper Games of Chance: Explorations into our Animal Selves, the rabbit rules the large intestine, and my season is Spring. Also I like to be around family and friends and avoid conflict. Well, I am not so sure, but if I wanted it to be true I believe I could find the rational.

Sources

Chavez, Mark, producer. “The Twelve States of the HOX Zodiac .” Vimeo, created for Building Bridges Art Exchange, 31 May. 2018, www.vimeo.com/channels.

“Homeotic Genes and Body Patterns.” Homeotic Genes and Body Patterns, Genetic Science Learning Center, https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/basics/hoxgenes/.

Ramakrishnan, Siddharth, and Victoria Vesna. "Games of Chance: Explorations into Our Animal Selves." Handbook of Digital Games and Entertainment Technologies (2017): 777.

http://hoxzodiac.com/

https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/horse/domesticating-horses