Why the Four Horsemeeples of the Apocalypse

I went to Catholic school and one of the most interesting classes I took was Religious Themes in Film and Literature…

Mr. Hook was legendary. He taught drama and produced the school plays and of course, this class was one of the most popular high school electives because this was also where we learned about symbology, numerology, and got to watch The Omen and The Exorcist, among other great horror movies. His passion and storytelling were incredibly captivating and enthralling and I loved our class discussions of Bible stories referenced on screen and the printed page.

This class was also where I was first introduced to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—those ominous equestrians that marked the beginning of the End. Whether in the Book of Revelations or in Supernatural where Death arrives in a 1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville, each of the horsemen embody a facet of the apocalypse: Conquest or Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death.

2020 was a maelstrom. We literally dealt with fires, floods, earthquakes, famine, locusts, war, and you know, a pandemic. Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse—it did and it continues. 2021 continues to rage and ravage with more floods, famine, fire, drought, disease, and distrust. In times of extreme stress, I find that I can either laugh or cry and so we thought we would acknowledge the year with a tongue-in-cheek nod, but with a more lighthearted twist. My husband thought that Horsemen of the Apocalypse would be a great addition to our Halloween line-up. For those of you who follow our blog, you may already know why “meeples.” My husband and I love board games and meeples are the playing pieces that are used in games (my + people = meeple). And hence, our horsemeeples were born.

Our horsemeeples do carry swords and scythes and scales, but our jovial jockeys represent our four chocolate types instead of despair and devastation. The first horseman, who rides in on a white horse is White Chocolate with Cranberry. The second roughrider wields a sword on a red horse; that is our Cinnamon Salted Caramel in Coconut Milk Chocolate (it’s also paleo and the longest flavor name ever). The third cowboy on his dark horse carries the scales: Dark Chocolate with Orange. The last badass buckaroo is one of our most popular “to-die-for” flavors: Melk® Chocolate with Peanut Butter.

Our horsemeeples of the Apocalypse do not signify the end of civilization but call for levity in the face of adversity. Finding the lighter side, and remaining positive despite fear and anxiety.