Goats are curious creatures.
Most people consider them dull, weird and stubborn, as they are not found on lists of ‘world’s smartest animal’ but when they feel like it, they act like they are.
I got to spend a part of my life in the Arabian country of Oman - home to rocky hills, sandy dunes, and bleating goats.
You could look out your window while doing the dishes and find a herd of goats outside hurriedly charging towards rocky hills for no obvious purpose (not a lot of grass as observed by human eyes).
At the start of their climb, they looked rushed and confused, as if surprised to find that uneven terrain has snuck in under their feet.
You would roll your eyes at the antics of this creature and continue soaking another dish. Mere moments later, you look over, and find the herd has elevated itself, 50 feet higher than they were a moment ago, looking as surprised as ever.
You would find one of the herd, standing at a 60 degree angle at the edge of a rock, oblivious to its precariously balanced position, munching on a bunch of grass growing sideways out of a rock crevice.
Behind it, the herd, some munching, some foraging, some bleating at the birds, some staring into the beyond.
Goats get into all sorts of positions and situations rather suddenly. You always think ‘they cannot possibly’, and when you look again, they already have.
They are not grand and graceful like horses or cows, and yet in their form, lies their greatest medicine - firm cornerstones that attract what is plenty.
Goat Medicine is meeting cliff-edges with indescribable surety, without needing to look the part, nor anticipate the future.
Walking Our Cliff Edges (with Goats)
On the Winter Solstice of 2022, we welcome the Capricorn season and the coming New Moon on December 23rd in the same sign. These cosmic energies to me, like the Goat creature itself, feel curious.
I’ve personally not had an easy time with this energy signature, but I have come to respect its medicine over the last several years.
There is a level of stubbornness, delay and slowing of pace that comes with this time of year. Maybe we experience that while driving through traffic or check-out lines while shopping or trying to close up business for the year end.
Maybe we have so much we need to do and so many ideas, and we are rushing towards a self-created deadlines adding pressure to ourselves and others. Maybe we see others as obstacles in our path and hinderances on our journey.
Perhaps there is a growing exhaustion and restlessness within us; we have many desires and thoughts, but we cannot seem to aim and land where we want.
Though we are tired, our sleep hygiene may be questionable.
We may wobble on plans, or others may flake on us.
Maybe despite our best laid plans, a snow storms comes and buries our driveways.
We are so busy, and yet we are unsure what we have done or are doing.
Traditionally, Capricorn is an Earth sign that is Water sensitive. It symbolizes the union between the physical and the emotional realms and realities within us. This year in particular, the mental realm is also invited to the party (Gemini energy).
This is sorely needed, as we get to align the physical creations of our realities with our mental and emotional Truths.
Ask yourself: If the next thought in your mind is instantly manifested into physical reality right in front of your eyes, would we be delighted, afraid, resistant, horrified?
Truthfully now, as we peer deeper still into ourselves (like this goat below).
It is important to note that Truths here, are not the stories and narratives that we repeatedly tell ourselves or hear from peers and external authority figures.
These are our Inner Truths, which we are here to realize and activate.
For example, if we view the environmental destruction of our world, we may feel deep despair and anger. These are emotions, which by nature, are transient. They are true in the moment we feel them, and then other feelings come.
When we go deeper, we may witness a thought-pattern that sounds like: ‘humanity is a parasite on the the planet Earth and destruction is inevitable.’
Even this, is a thought structure or pattern. It may come up repeatedly and in different forms, and it cycles through our consciousness often, especially when we are sad about the oceans or angry about deforestation. This may come from a combination of beliefs we have long held, sensory inputs and memories of yesterday.
When we go even deeper, we reach the edge of our thoughts, memories, stories and emotions - the cliff of our knowing.
When we can muster the stability and certainty to stand here and observe the horizon that divides what we know from what we do not know, perhaps we may hear our Inner Truth.
Animals like Goats and other herbivores have eyeballs that are horizontal, versus ours that are rounded or that or birds that are vertical. Goats always have their eyes at the edge of their world to take in the expanse of their horizon; it helps inform them of dangers while they perform circus worthy feats on the side of rocky hills.
Maybe we want our Inner Truth to be a specific instruction so we have an outline of what to do and how to proceed. That want comes from a desire to seek surety, rather than be it, ourselves.
Our Inner Truth may sound something like - You are Creation, creating itself.
Only the weirdly curious within us - the part of us that has sacrificed the importance of ‘what we look like and what others think’, the part that has learned to stay balanced at the edge of our knowing, and walk surely and bravely on uneven terrain - can behold the wonder of our deep Inner Truths and know what to do next.
This is where the mystical element of the Capricorn Sea-Goat comes in. The answer to the question, ‘what to do’, or ‘what to do next’, is metamorphosis.
To activate physically and emotionally this newly revealed truth, means that we may not longer be able to hold the beliefs, thoughts and emotions we did just a few moments ago.
They change form upon interaction with our profound Inner Truths.
With this comes a whole new set of thoughts, ideas, emotions and options.
This may seem pleasant, and sometimes it is. Other times, it requires a reformatting of our identity and attachments. This can seem scary and we may wobble, but this too, is part of our walk.
Maybe all we do is cry and have a release in our bathtub, honouring the waters within us and around us in a silent prayer.
Maybe decide that at all costs, we will keep our water canister close at hand, never needing to purchase another plastic water bottle.
Maybe we find all the ocean documentaries on Netflix and watch them quenching our thirst to learn right now.
Maybe we decide to move our whole life away from the city we live in, and create a plan to move to a dwelling by the sea next year.
This is us, Walking with Goats.
The steps reveal themselves as we take them.
Worry has no place here, because we are okay to not know and take courageous steps towards our dreams.
The activation is in the process; the outcome is a guiding star, nothing more.
Under the light of this set of stars, we learn to experience our life path as meandering, rather than linear and straight-forward; naturally loving the curves.
We take things one step at a time and actually move through obstacles, rather than trying to escape, blame or deny them.
We search for our hearts desire, and even when it is growing sideways out of a rock crevice 50 feet up in the air; we position ourselves in the most creatively stable way to take a bite of that which is rightfully ours.
We enjoy the long way around as we now perceive hinderances as opportunities to build endurance and strength, knowing that soon we will be at an edge and we are well-prepared to face the unknown.
Since we do not care that others perceive us as dull and stubborn, we reclaim our pace, our authority and our truths as we walk our cliff edges and achieve our dreams.
Our herd is with us, so we are supported. We know ourselves, so we are whole. We finally let go of all else, and just walk our walk in our own way.
We prioritize the process of climbing and doing, rather than the summit or goal.
We take steps backwards, sideways and forwards, taking stock of the plenty that we already are; not because we do not know what is next, but because we do.
Our eye is on the horizon and our steps are grounded and present in our physical and emotional realities.
The Bleating Herd
One last part of the energy signature I feel in this season is that of acknowledging the collective. This seems like it is just budding, and will take a little more time to come to full blossom.
Since they are herd animals, Goats are happy in the company of their collective, and express obvious depression when they are isolated. An individual goat may look like it is doing its own thing, but the herd is near and around, bleating their own unique Inner Truths across the rocky hillside.
If you’ve ever heard the cacophony of a herd of goats, you know exactly what I mean. There is no unison or synchronicity - whatsoever.
That is their way. To screech and soften their alarming bleats at whim.
I suppose they also do not care what they song sound like, as individuals or in choir.
This is important medicine for those of us who may feel alone or purposeless in the world right now. Know that there is a grand opportunity to trust in the energy that we are plenty.
To participate in this though, requires a little time and preparation.
Perhaps we need to give ourselves permission to take bizarre steps in awkward directions and find our courage.
Maybe we need to make sounds from our heart’s expression as a call to our herd.
If we are rushing, we may need to wait and listen; alternatively, if we are frozen, we need to take just take a step in any direction.
We may have to risk the unsafe and rocky terrain and look weird as we climb up to sharp edges high above.
Perhaps from this vantage point, under these stars, we will finally see that we were never alone in the first place. And we hear a call across the sky that we recognize as our herd’s song.
Love this: "We search for our hearts desire, and even when it is growing sideways out of a rock crevice 50 feet up in the air; we position ourselves in the most creatively stable way to take a bite of that which is rightfully ours."
So wonderfully empowering.