Fragments of forgotten Kabbalah

The whole Zlatý kůň region and its surroundings conceal mysteries we can only sense, speaking through place names, the magical arrangement of geological layers, unusual plant communities, archaeological finds and legends. V. Palivec remarks in his book of Zlatý kůň tales: ‘The cult of the White or Golden Horse, attested for instance in southern England at Uffington Castle, was widespread among ancient Celts. The Mabinogi often speaks of white horses and a goddess in gold who appears to knights and disappears before they can catch her: Rhiannon, daughter of Eveydd the Old. The white horse was often adorned with gold, hence Golden Horse. Around Zlatý kůň many names derive from horse: Zlatý kůň, Kobyla quarry, V koníku, Koněprusy, with prusý meaning white. One tradition says Koněprusy was once famous for breeding pacing horses, moving both legs on one side forwards together rather than in a normal gait. Many ancient tribes, especially eastern peoples, supposedly favoured such horses on campaigns. The tale of Maxen Wledig in the Mabinogi, directly mentioning a pacer, suggests the Celts did too.’ Another tradition places a sanctuary of white, prusý, horses here, the source of Horymír's Šemík. Equine meanings may also be sensed in nearby names such as Koda and Kotýz. It is as if we skirt a magic circle, uncertain yet ever more firmly seated on an allegorical horse representing open-minded, astonishing Kabbalah. The source also links the word cabala with mare, Latin caballus, and komon, from which it derives the Czech word kůň, horse.