VII - The Road (The Chariot): Horsehead blacksmith tongs hold horsetail flywhisks, symbols of purification and authority that are used by West African and Tibetan shamans. The smith uses tongs to grip and manipulate a piece of hot iron. Tongs are made in many shapes, each for a specific job. In European tradition, the jaws are called the "bit" and the handles are "reins". The fanciful horsehead pattern is similar in shape to the "hammer eye" tongs that are used when forging a hammer. The split handles with horse's hooves indicate movement with a sure sense of direction and a well-defined goal. If the tongs represent control, the hammer represents skill. The smith keeps her eye on the work, not her tools, and her mind is always a step ahead in the forging. She must hit the hot iron in the proper place and with the right touch. If she is too gentle, the blow will have no effect and her energy will be wasted. If she is too forceful, the work will be ruined. With concentration, self-control, and confidence in her skills, her will and her spirit ride the rhythm of the hammer. The hammer and tongs are the smith's means of achieving magical flight, the equivalent of the shaman's drum or "wind horse". The result is useful objects like the horseshoe, which represents travel and the taming of horses, and thus the human use of iron to dominate Nature. It also represents the responsible use of power, and shows one way that the smith can clear the way ahead for others as well as herself. Ogun, the West African orisha of iron and blacksmithing, is he who "opens the road" and the "Wild Man" who protects the primeval forest.