The wind horse is an allegory for the human soul in the shamanistic tradition of Central Asia. In Tibetan Buddhism, it was included as the pivotal element in the center of the four animals symbolizing the cardinal directions and a symbol of the idea of well-being or good fortune. It has also given the name to a type of prayer flag that has the five animals printed on it.
Depending on the language, the symbol has slightly different names.
- རླུང་རྟ་, rlung rta, pronounced lungta, Tibetan for wind horse
- хийморь, Khiimori, Mongolian literally for "gas horse," semantically "wind horse," colloquial meaning soul.
- Rüzgar Tayi, old Turkic for foal of the wind.
Read more about Wind Horse: In Tibetan Usage, Heraldry, Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the words wind and/or horse:
“Not I, not I, but the wind that blows through me!
A fine wind is blowing the new direction of Time.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“[T]he syndrome known as life is too diffuse to admit of palliation. For every symptom that is eased, another is made worse. The horse leech’s daughter is a closed system. Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)