So, how is it that Linda and I didn't notice the horse's pain in the container when we first bought it?
I can think of two reasons.
First, we were hungry. Hungry for nourishing and beautiful things that would help us create a Mystical and Magical environment in the run down house we were staying in. The design, colors, and portray of Father Christmas with all the gifts and beautiful colors answered that need strongly - especially since Christmas was approaching.
Second, we hadn't watched Stormy May's movie, so we were pretty much unaware of what the horse's head was depicting. In other words, we were just as brainwashed as everyone in this regard... it's just the way it is... ignore it... let's pretend all is ok... Of course this is not an excuse, but it still is a reason for the omission.
Father talked about this problem early in our journey as he explained how undernourishment in the physical and spiritual levels causes people to dismiss and overlook all the details that would point out to the reality of any situation. This is why so many people fall for scams...
To explain this, Father used the example of a commercial store filled with beautiful things that helped soften the darkness to which it was really catering to. Hungry or starved people would be so focused on the beautiful things that "nourished" their Souls or provided "candy" for their eyes that they would easily dismiss the darkness as if it was a minor "mishap" by the owner which it wasn't.
All the beauty, colors, plush and luxurious garments, toys, and patterns displayed on the container are all intended to hide the cruelty of a man who is inflicting great pain upon the horse he is riding. Of course this is not about the character of Father Christmas but rather about the cruelty that was inserted into this painting through purposeful choice by the painter so as to mix "goodness" and "cruelty" so to speak and create confusion... blur the lines... create the illusion that "goodness" and "cruelty" go hand in hand together... that the "good" are just as cruel as the "evil." After all, the horse could have been drawn with loose reigns...
This beauty also makes the painter's choice to introduce cruelty into an otherwise benign image difficult to accept and easily brushed off for how could someone capable of depicting such beauty harbor such cruelty?
This is but one example of how beauty is used by darkness, death, decay, and destruction to fool us.
It is time for us to wake up to this misuse of beauty, learn to recognize when darkness, death, decay, and destruction hide behind it, and choose to not fall for their scam.