Unicorn
by William Jay Smith
The Unicorn with the long white horn
Is beautiful and wild.
He gallops across the forest green
So quickly that he's seldom seen
Where Peacocks their blue feathers preen
And strawberries grow wild.
He flees the hunter and the hounds,
Upon black earth his white hoof pounds,
Over cold mountain streams he bounds
And comes to a meadow mild;
There, when he kneels to take his nap,
He lays his head in a lady's lap
As gently as a child.
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Unicorns
The unicorn has become a dynamic symbol of all the
magic, enchantment, and power of the faerie realm.
It has universal appeal and symbolism. It has been
written about in India, Africa, China, Babylon,
early Christianity, and is even found in modern stories
and lore.
Descriptions of the unicorn vary. To classical writers
the unicorn had a stag's head, the feet
of an elephant, the tail of a bear, and the
body of a horse. It also had a single black
horn. Ctesia the Greek, in his work Indica,
wrote that the unicorn had a white
body, a purple head, and dark blue eyes. Its horn was
white at the base, black in the center, and
dark red at the tip. Most descriptions,
however, give it the form of a horse with a single
spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.
Perhaps the greates reason for the unicorn's widespread
appeal is that it falls within the
limits of probability. Many animals on the planet
have horns...so why can't a horse?
The unicorn appeals to the imagination. It is part of
the world of dreams. It is a symbol of the sun
and long life. It reflects mystery, power,
beauty, chastity, and ferocity. It is a symbol of
humanity's longing for the mysterious and unattainable.
The killing of a unicorn is the
symbolic loss of innocence.
The apple tree is its home, and thus an apple blossom
can be used in meditation to help draw
the unicorn out into the open. Cedar is also good, as the
unicorn is known to keep its treasures in a
cedar box.
Submissiveness, purity of heart and gentle, loving innocence
are what draws unicorns out into the open.
The search for the unicorn can be likened
to the quest for the Holy Grail-only the
strongest and most pure will achieve it.
Encounters with a unicorn can bring new understanding
of purity and chastity and the true power
of sexuality. The unicorn holds the knowledge
and treasures of alchemy. It can stimulate
healing, and the unicorn can purify water
simply through its presence. More than anything
else, an encounter with a unicorn will free
the imagination. And when the imagination is
truly free, the entire faerie realm is opened wide.
