I am a Sagittaria

Born December tenth, I got my Sagittarius star sign like everyone else who appeared in the world around this date. However, being a female centaur(centauress), I am actually a Sagittaria, according to Latin grammar. The legend says that a centauress is really an Amazon on a hourse - practically inseparable.

After my exile from Russia. which happened because I created the first non-governmental organization(NGO) in Leningrad, and published a non-official Almanac(samizdat Woman and Russia),I was invited to many countries by feminist organization. I remember the greeting banners were, in fact, handmade quilts depicicting an image of a powerful Sagittaria. I had designed this same sign earlier with Gena our samizdat`s artist. The Canadian women made a tremendous amount of effort to re-create this sign of Sagittaria in fabric.

This sign of ours truly followed me around the Earth. Women from Italy, Greece, Austria, French, US, Finland, UK, etc., were evidently attracted to my Sagittaria and reprinted the sign in their articles describing our Woman and Russia Almanac. Only a mythical centaur - half male, half horse was known in Russia before a young graphic artist, a 19 year old genius named Nadia Rusheva, had drawn her little centauresses.

Nadia lived a very short life - like Joan of Are - yet she left thousands of fine pen and ink drawings of sassy, playful, teenage centauresses. We just re-created in our samizdat Woman and Russia, Nadia`s idea, revealing a more mature adult centauress - a Sagittaria.

This the idea was transferred from the beginning of the 1960`s(when Nadia worked on her images), to the end of the 1970`s in Russia, then troughout the 1980`s with my trips, shows and lectures around the world. And now in the new millennium we have two real centauresses - our Ta Tu girls. Lena and Yulia, two Russian musicians, have been composing together since high school. Now, they fearlessly sing everywhere:in Japan, France, UK, etc.

I have a son their age. I named him Philip, which translates from ancient Greek into "horse lover". I have been drawn to horses by some magnetic power all my life - including seahorses. I emphasize seahorses because it is not a female but a male who becomes pregnant and carries the fetus in his belly in this species. Thus, a seahorse frees us from bias. Tired of all that patriarchal glorification of female pregnancy, I admire seahorses for breaking the rule.

Recently, at the start of this year, which is also the 25-th Anniversary of publishing our samizdat Almanac, I went to the Dominican Republic and did something I wanted to do for years - I went horseback riding in Samana.

I met an unexpected and splendid teacher - a German woman almost 70 years old who now lives in Calais, France. She offered to me her black "chaps" - the English classic style leather leg covers(also used by motorcyclists). She introduced herself as Charlotte and warned that the road ahead of us might be difficult as she ended up with bleeding calves when she rode this trail the previous year.

I felt uncomfortable taking Charlotta`s shiny new chaps, but she was persistent in her generosity. I don`t know what I whould have done withought her because our guides for this one-hour ride weren`t useful - two guys constantly showing off with no instruction.

Even thought I asked them to find a calm horse for me, I receive a Rambo(his name says it all!). Rambo refused to listen to any directions. Charlotte was galloping in front of the guides on her horse "Diablo" farther and farther.

My saddle, despite my British chaps, wasn`t in English style - it was a cowboy type - less stable saddle. I thought OK, if it is my destiny, I have to take care of myself. So I squeezed Rambo`s equestrian belly with my thighs after watching the scene for a while and getting annoyed with the guides. My uneasy horse went into a gallop!

"Wow!Yeah, Rambo is a good galloper", - said Alfonso, one of the nonchalant guides - in French with a Spanish accent, which I am not trying to imitate - when I was surpassing him.

"Well, I don`t have much choice, n`est-ce pas?

From that moment on, I followed Charlotte. Rambo happily galloped with Diablo trough the streets of Las Galeras and onto the beach of Paraiso y Camino del Sol, leaving our guides behind. Charlotte encouraged me with her amiable comments. She inspired me become a degnified "caballera".