In the Odyssey, Greek soldiers, along with Odysseus, were able to capture the city of Troy after a fruitless ten-year siege by hiding in a giant horse supposedly left behind as an offering to the goddess Athena. The Trojan Horse is now a metaphor for externally introduced subversion.
Gifts are a form of magic, infused with the intention of motive and the energy behind the giver.
True gifts are given with no strings (energy cords) attached, out of a sense of pure love, appreciation and joy. The giver does not have any expectation of what they will receive in return, and there was no sense of duress, guilt, fearfulness or obligation behind the gift. True gifts are given out of INSPIRATION (the infusion of spirit) - not Ego with its ulterior motives of need and lack.
One must practice extreme awareness and vigilance in the gifts (material energy) they accept from others. Many gifts may seem utterly appealing only to serve as shackles of dependency and weakness, or Trojan Horses opening a gateway of energy directly into your most intimate spaces.
Remember that sometimes when you accept one stream of abundance, you may be closing off other more fruitful and giving streams. When an egoic form is giving and in control, it’s like taking air from a ventilator, rather than stepping outside and realizing the infinite air that’s freely available.
When one receives a gift destructively rather than in harmony with the natural flow of abundance, then the Law of Reciprocity will sometimes act in uncanny and unpleasant ways - taking your energy indirectly. An example is people who are on welfare, seemingly feeling as though they are getting without giving, yet losing energy in their motivation and will power to create, becoming as dependent and stuck as their giver is to them.
Gifts from deities and angels must always be met with the reciprocity of gratitude and the gift of carrying the intention of love and the energies of these beings forward, continuing the energetic stream of abundance.