I asked before, but the question was buried in a barage of posts on magic. Pardon my American Ignorance, but what is this landmark called the White Horse?

: P.S. I don't know the Nagual or the Totem you speak of. Please explain these to me.

It is more common in animistic cultures, and is very strong in the many Native American cultures. I prefer the Aztecan term Nagual to Totem only become everyone thinks of Totem poles and associates the idea incorrectly with clans and even (horror!) mascots.

Traditionally the Nagual is your Animial Spirit Guide, and supposedly you have one main one, although that "one" thing is probably the tenant I'm most susupicious of. Often young men went on vision quests as a rite of puberty and a major part of this quest was to be spoken to by your Nagual. Not only is this animal spirit supposed to guide you (the way a Guardian Angel or Patron Saint might guide a Catholic) but you yourself possess the attributes of this animal. For example, think of the farsightedness of Eagle, or the strength of Bear, the cleverness of Fox, the swiftness of Deer, the instantaneous strike of Snake ...

I seldom buy into anything hook line and sinker, but as usual, I think there is some truth behind this.

Let me tell you about some weird experiences. Although I now study my Tai Chi directly under the chinese Grand Master, when I began six years ago, my first teacher was one of his students. My teacher was from Mexico, raised Catholic, but his whole family converted to Evangelical Christianity when he was in his twenties. It always astounds me the way people so easily combine elements of different religions -- it's so much more common than the conservative believer realizes. The amount of Mexican syncretism between Catholicism and Paganism is very, very high. Even after his conversion to a protestant sect, my teacher retained many of his Nativisitic influences, including belief in the Nagual.

I had played around with the idea privately, but it wasn't until I met this man that I began to take it dead seriously. You see, you never tell anyone your Nagual because it gives them power over you. (Makes sense -- if you understand a person's core, you do in fact have information which can help you manipulate them.) He was absolutely floored one day when I looked at him and I said, "You know, some times I look at you and it's like I see something else. Tiger. You're a tiger. I don't mean than in a flirtatious sense, I mean that somehow that animal is what I see when I look at you, especially when you do your Tai Chi, or when you are sparring." I had correctly guessed. Months later, when I was training at the Kung Fu school, and he was working me out hard to the point of frustration, certain mannerisms surfaced, and he started chuckling, and walked up to me and whispered the name of an animal in my ear. He also guessed correctly.

10 years ago I might have told you what that animal was, but at this point I'm superstitious enough to keep it to myself.

Hope this helps. In more modern instances, you will find the idea of the nagual in a TV show called "The Sentinal" where the protagonist is a Jaguar, and also if you prefer a more European representation, there is a movie called "Ladyhawk."

Blessings,

Galadriel