(*Version 2 where the author has not gotten so carried away with complex content).
People say cows have no business in horseplay, but who’s ever heard of ‘cowsplay’? And then there’s never been a holy horse or cash horse. We don’t wait until the horses come home, and Seth Godin, didn’t make his millions writing a book called Purple Horse. And although the idea of spiritual horses carrying the human soul to Valhalla sounds more attractive than a cow clomping to the afterlife, it’s clear our allegiance is still with the beauty of the bovine and the essence of the sacred cow. The question then begs asking, ‘Have you checked in on your herd lately?’
We’ve all got subscriptions to various sacred cow protection groups. They are the ideas, opinions, theologies, relationships, processes and paradigms which remain immune , untouchable and unquestioned. With a “hey diddle diddle”, even in the absence of a fiddle, we’re prepared to “jump over the moon.”
Whilst these cows are the mainstay of much, the keepers of consensus, the stability in storms, and have often passed the test of time; they are as much our sacred as they are our stumbling block. Blinding our vision, blocking our ears and braking our progress. The sacred turned sacrilege.
Evaluating our sacred requires receptiveness, tolerance, benevolence, and bravery. A genuine desire to explore our realities, have the hard conversations, consider the contra, and accept that what is sacred today may require realignment tomorrow. In the Spanish bullfighting showdown, ‘Toro Bravo’ gets a shakedown, shutdown or wake up call. The arena of sweat and tears presents the valiant fighter with a reaffirmation of personal conviction to ideals, ideologies, or institutions. Alternatively, the struggle may just serve up a realistic reminder that, ‘you can lead a cow to water, but you can’t make it drink’. Resulting in an abiding by the state of play and enduring of our allegiance to the familiar.
In the line-up of holy heifers, cows, and bulls, amongst the Brahman, Angus, Hereford Holstein Friesians, and Texas longhorns; we often find it’s pedigree and heritage that have helped arbitrate our sacred. Our absorption of the hallowed has oft times been passive acceptance, learned behaviours and opinions, and protection of status quo. Periodically, our stock selection is arrived at through dedicated deliberation, exploration of ideas and ideology, and rejection of the mainstream.
However, as pure bread lineages of pre-determined affinities, perceptions, and politics jostle for pole position and preservation; the corral of complacency or conviction becomes a place where time stands still. Sitting in a stable of the unreviewed, we run the risk of our sacred leading rapidly and dangerously to stereotypes, stigmas, and stagnation.
Considering the relevance of the ‘real’ is always going to require some amount of review. A voluntary sign up to a sweaty, dirty, dusty cattle muster. A cracking of the stockwhip, rounding up of the random, and mobilisation of the mob. A ‘saddle up’ leads ultimately to the drafting – separation of stock. Requiring a supplementing of the herd with new sacred, turning out to pasture of the old, or perhaps even a transformation of the obsolete into high-end, overpriced, grass-fed steaks.
But halo removal and drafting aren’t restricted to champion Matadors, bull riders or cattle muster legends. If the ‘sacred ‘is a stop sign for the exploration of beauty, growth, richness, challenge, and change; it behoves a grabbing and control of the bull rope, a reciprocation of flaring nostrils, and firm bracing for a crazy, turbulent ride. In the rodeo of reflection and realignment, it’s time we benchmark our beef, set free our thinking, and say farewell to our beloved Trojan cows.
