The Horse at Paisley Park

A friend and I toured Prince's Paisley Park this week. In the last area before exiting, we were allowed to take photos.  To that point, I had no interest in taking photos. It wasn’t about pictures but about learning about this man’s creativity, artistry, talent, and inventive genius, which continue to give to others to this day.

It’s difficult for me to enter a place like this and NOT feel the energy, or channel insight or messages.  My emotions went from joy and exhilaration to sadness and defeat, back to an expansive understanding and more joy.  So, upon entering this room, my eyes kept looking up to this sculpture that sits high above his personal stage. I asked the tour guide about it, but she didn't have any information.

The little picture on the right is a small metal horse I picked up years ago while traveling, meant to replicate the ancient Greek or Trojan horse of Mycenaean times (1750 bc to 1050 bc). Meaning of horse includes:

• Power & Nobility - Horses were sacred to Poseidon and associated with divine strength and sovereignty.

• War & Strategy - The Trojan Horse myth represents hidden forces, strategy, and destiny unfolding through unexpected channels.

• Freedom & Movement - Horses symbolize forward momentum and transition — crossing thresholds.

• Sacred Messenger Energy - In myth, horses often bridged worlds — carrying heroes between realms.

Prince was certainly tied in far beyond what people knew about him. I imagine that piece may have carried meaning for him as it overlooked his stage.  Paisley Park is not just a venue; it was a portal, and knowing this sculpture was there adds another mythic layer.

First, the horse archetype, viewed through a shamanic lens, represents movement between worlds. Horses are journey-carriers. In many traditions, they are the vehicle that carries consciousness across thresholds from ordinary awareness into visionary states. The elongated, stylized form makes it feel less like an animal and more like an energetic archetype. It isn’t grazing. It’s poised. Watchful. Like a guardian of creative passage.

Now layer in Prince’s world. Prince was deeply mystical, symbolic, and esoteric. Purple lighting, dimensional stage design, hidden meanings, everything at Paisley Park was intentional. The horse in that space could represent:

• Creative sovereignty

• Erotic life force energy (horses carry primal vitality)

• Freedom from confinement

• Crossing into new artistic dimensions

• Mythic rebirth

  
  

The glowing eye was from the photo's lighting, but it does make it look more powerful, and honestly, it was glowing like that for me. In shamanic symbolism, the illuminated eye often represents awakened awareness the third eye activated through art, sound, and altered states. It feels less decorative and more initiatory. Horses, importantly, are not just about speed. They are about rhythm. Sound. Pulse. Drumming. Movement. That aligns beautifully with Prince’s mastery of vibration and frequency.

In this framework, it could symbolize:

• The soul’s vehicle of evolution

• The bridge between earthly form and higher creative consciousness

• The sacred masculine in motion — disciplined yet fluid

Paisley Park itself is like a temple of artistic alchemy. The horse feels like a guardian of that alchemy or even that space, holding the field where sound becomes transformation.

It’s less of a statue. More of a threshold marker.   And the purple light? That’s crown chakra energy creative divinity embodied.

I want to honor Prince and not overstep by assigning any meaning to his sacred space. In that honoring him I believe his work reflected a depth that felt spiritually connected.

After my visit, I wondered why it had been so long before I’d visited Paisley Park, as I’ve lived in Minnesota my entire life, Prince is from Minnesota, and I’ve interacted with a number of people in his life as they’ve come to me to connect with him and others here in my office.  I’ve always felt honored, but today I felt more in awe of this human who graced us with his gifts. Left a road for future musicians and changed the music industry. He’ll continue to interact through his music, but he left us so much more. If you’ve not been to Paisley Park – go! It’s worth knowing more about this amazing human.