Deer Medicine
*Lady Stearn Robinson & Tom Gorbett/The Dreamer's Dictionary:
If the deer was captive or in an unnatural surrounding, it signifies emotional upsets and/or disappointment in some trusted friend; however, in its natural habitat it augurs the cementing of a new and pleasant friendship. To kill a deer or see a dead one is a warning to look out for a backbiter masquerading as a friend.
*Mary Summer Rain/On Dreams:
Deer applies to a tendency to be cautious; watchful; aware.
*Denise Linn/The Secret Lanugage of Signs:
A deer can represent the gentle aspects of yourself. This can also be a sign of feeling victimized and defenseless. Remember, there are no victims, only volunteers. Try to find areas in your life where you can take control and make changes. If you identify with the innocent deer, remember too the power of the stag--magnificent and forceful.
*Jamie Sams & David Carson/Medicine Cards:
Gentleness. One day Fawn heard Great Spirit calling to her from the top of Sacred Mountain. Fawn immediately started up the trail. She didn't know that a horrible demon guarded the way to Great Spirit's lodge. The demon was trying to keep all the beings of creation from connecting with Great Spirit. He wanted all of Great Spirit's creatures to feel that Great Spirit didn't want to be disturbed. This would make the demon feel powerful, and capable of causing them to fear him.
Fawn was not at all frightened when she came upon the demon. This was curious, as the demon was the archetype of all the ugly monsters that have ever been. The demon breathed fire and smoke and made disgusting sounds to frighten Fawn. Any normal creature would have fled or died on the spot from fright.
Fawn, however, said gently to the demon, "Please let me pass. I'm on the way to see Great Spirit."
Fawn's eyes were filled with love and compassion for this oversized bully of a demon. The demon was astounded by Fawn's lack of fear. No matter how he tried, he could not frighten Fawn, because her love had penetrated his hardened, ugly heart.
Much to the demon's dismay, his rock-hard heart began to melt, and his body shrank to the size of a walnut. Fawn's persistent love and gentleness had caused the meltdown of the demon. Due to this gentleness and caring that Fawn embodied, the pathway is now clear for all of Great Spirit's children to reach Sacred Mountaion without having to feel the demons of fear blocking their way.
Deer teaches us to use the power of gentleness to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings who are tyring to keep us from Sacred Mountain. Like the dappling of Fawn's coat, both the light and the dark may be loved to create gentleness and safety for those who are seeking peace.
If Deer has gently nudged its way into your cards today, you are being asked to find the gentleness of spirit that heals all wounds. Stop pushing so hard to get others to change, and love them as they are. Apply gentleness to your present situation and become like the summer breeze: warm and caring. This is your tool for solving the present dilemma you are facing. If you use it, you will connect with Sacred Mountain, your centering place of serenity, and Great Spirit will guide you.
Contrary: Deer in the contrary position indicates that you are courting your fear by fighting the internal demons of negative ideas. This is a clue to you that force is not always the best method. You may not be willing to love yourself enough to feel your fears and let them go. You may be projecting your fears on others. It may also be others whom you fear, reminding you of a time when you reacted to life in much the same manner. At any rate, love is the key. The only true balance to power is the love and compassion of Deer. Be willing to find things to love about yourself and others, and your demons will melt away. Your fears cannot exist in the same place that love and gentleness abide.
Remember, Fawn can teach you many lessons about unconditional love. In its true application, unconditional love means that no strings are attached. The gentleness of Fawn is the heart-space of great Spirit which embodies His/Her love for us all.
*D.J. Conway/Animal Magick:
Deer/Stag:Deer are even-toed, hooved animlas of the family Cervidae. They also chew a cud, like cattle do. Most males have antlers which are shed every year. However the female among the caribou have antlers like the males. The coats of deer are of a neutral color in shades of red, brown, or gray; the fawns in some species are temporarily spotted with white.
The species of deer come in all sizes, from the tiny deer of Africa to the now extinct Irish elk which had an antler-spread of eleven feet from tip to tip. Some type of deer is found in nearly every area of the world. The deer can go a long time without water and still maintain its strength.
The deer has long been considered a magickal creature. This animal was sacred to such Greek goddesses as Artemis, Aphrodite, Athene, and the roman Diana. At an Attica festival, Artemis was presented with a sacrificed deer and honeycakes in the shape of a deer. This goddess who was also called Elaphaia ("She of the Red Deer") and Elaphebolia ("She Who Strikes the Red Deer"). The Etruscan version of Artemis is shown winged, holding a deer in one hand and a lion in the other.
Fawn skins were worn by the Greek Maenads and the Bacchant and Orphic devotees. The fawn skin was also a sacred garment of the lower initiates of some of the Greek mystery religions. Dionysus was said to wear the magicakal skin of a fawn, tiger, or leopard and had been placed on a fawn skin by Hermes when he was born from the thigh of Zeus.
However, the stag was also a creature of Apollo at Delphi. The Greeks believed that the stag could identify medicinal herbs and plants. In early Egyptian temple paintings the deer is shown with Isis.
On a Minoan seal is shown the figure of an antlered stag dancer with large breasts. Stag dances were perfromed by men dressed as women a the New Year in England, Romania, and Germany into the ninteenth century.
In India, the deer was th emount of the god Vayu, deity of the wind. In China, Lu-Hsing, god of salaries and employees, rode a deer; to the Chinese the deer represented high rank, official success, and wealth.
Among the Celts, the stag was an animal of Cernunnos, the hunting god Cocidius, and the hero Ossian. When connected with these deities, the stag symbolized the virility of the warrior, the Sun, and fertility. Deer were sacrificed as substute for the Horned God in goddess rituals. In Celtic myth, a white doe or white stag was often sent by the Otherworld deities to guide some human into their realm. The animal god Cernunnos wore an antlered headdress. The Irish goddess Flidais was associated with deer; they drew her chariot. Sometimes deer were called faery cattle and messengers. Stories tell of nymphs and faeries changing into fawns to escape capture. The skin and antlers of deer were used as ritual garments.
From earliest times the stag was a sacred animal in the Black Sea and Anatolia areas, and among the Hittites. In some Sumerian rituals the statue of their fertility god was clothed in the skin and antlers of a stag.
In both China and Japan the dragon is often called the Celestial Stag. Chinese also have a god of immortality, Shou-Hsien, sometimes pictured as a white stag. In certain cultures of Asia and pre-Columbian America the stag was associated with regeneration because it shed and renewed its antlers each year. It was also believed to be an enemy of the snake.
Amulets made of deer skin parchment were preferred by ceremonial magicians of the Middle Ages. Some of the magickal power of the deer was believed to remain in such parchment.
To Native Americans, deer and all forked-horned animals represented dangerous psychic and spiritual powers that had a double ature. By observing this creature, humans learned to hide when being hunted.
Superstitions: If deer feed on the herb dittany, they can become immune to arrow wounds. Deer, especially stags, can be charmed by the music of pan-pipes. After eating snakes, a deer can shed its coat and old age with it. To heal, use the right antler. To keep snakes away, burn either antler. Ointments made from stag bone marrow will cure fevers.
Maickal attributes: Keen scent, grace, swiftness, gentleness. Using other methods to reach your goals than force. Being alert for any danger. A white deer in meditation often bears a message or will lead you to seeking, abundance, dreams, intution, introspection, listening, death and rebirth, transformation. Accept others as they are and don't try to change them. Deer: woodland Goddess, psychic powers, alternative paths to a goal. Stag: Lord of the Underworld, messages from guides, better understanding of the cycle of death and rebirth.
*Timothy Roderick/The Once Unknown Familiar:
Key Words: Shy, light, sensitive, intuitive
Magical influences: Peace, tranquility, easing of nerves, ability to see future events clearly.
Personality: Deer are true introverts; they shy away from any suspected confrontation. They know who their enemies are and steer clear of them. Deer are among the most psychically sensitive personality types; they can impart information about events moments before they happen. They are quite at peace with themselves and the world.
*Patricia Telesco/The Language of Dreams:
Swift, agile movement. The deer is an excellent guide through any figurative forests in your life. Buddhist: A representation of the Wheel of Law in action. Also symbolizes meditation and gentility. A stag specifically is regarded as solar and masculine in aspect, banishing evil by symbolically trampling snakes under its swift, strong hooves.
*Bobby Lake-Thom/Spirits of the Earth:
Deer are good powers and can be messengers in many different ways. They can be our eyes and ears if we acquire their power. They can tell us what is up ahead on the road while we are traveling, help us to see into the future via dreams and meditation, and remind us that we should try to live lives that are balanced and graceful. If a woman sees a buck while traveling, it is a warning that she might meet a man up ahead who has sexual desire for her. And more than likely he will be flirtatious. This can be a good sign or a bad sign, depending on one's personal desires and perspective. By the same token, if a man sees a doe alongside the road, it is usually a sign that he will encounter a sensuous and flirtatious woman, a woman who would like to mate with him. Once again the sign can be good or bad, depending uon wone's ethics, desires, or preference.
If you go on a vision quest and see a Deer along the way, it is usually an indication that you will meet a stranger on the trailk, so study the Deer's behavior well. More than one Deer means more than one man or woman. If the Deer comes close to your campfire and hangs around, it is trying to bring you a message from the spirit world. Thank it for coming and ask it to talk to you in a dream, in a language you can understand. I provide a detailed example and experience of such a sigutation in my book Native Healer. If a man sees a big buck pawing the ground with its head bent downward, then it is a sign that he will encounter a challenger in a social situation involving women.
*Brad Steiger/Totems:
Among all Native American tribes who had contact with the deer, the graceful creature was considered a sacred totemic animal. The Medicine doctors of various tribes believed that the deer had a keen sense of determining which plants yielded the greatest curative powers, and a great deal of time was spent stalking the deer for its ostensible knowledge of pharmacology as well as its flesh.
The Native American zodiac names deer people as those born from May 21 to June 21 and asys that they are generally of a good disposition, but they sometimes appear to be creatures of perpetual motion.
In numerous cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, the male deer, the stag, was regarded as a symbol of regeneration because of the way its antlers are renewed. In certain mystical traditions, the horned deer is also linked with the Tree of Life because of the similarity between its antlers and the branches of a tree. Consequently, the horn contained great magic, whether worn intact, broken in pieces, or ground into powder.
Very early in humankind's religious observations, the stag became the Shamans' Horned God, the sarificial consort of such goddesses as the huntress Diana/Artemis. With the spread of Christianity across Europe, the Horned God easily became a representation of Satan; but in nearly as many instances, the stag was idealized as a symbol of Christ, for the deer, as did Jesus on the cross, gave its blood (flesh) for humankind. St. Withburga has the doe, the female deer, as her animal symbol.
If the deer has come to you as your totem animal or if you have felt drawn to the animal through a dream or a vision, your spirit self is now in the company of one who has long been cherished as an intermediary between the Great Mystery and humankind. With the deer as your totem, you will feel an acceleration of your powers of intuition. Many Shamans attribute the greatest psychic sensitivity to the Deer People.
With the deer as your spirit helper, you will find that you have an increased desire to spend more time in the Silence and in nature. You will also notice that your dreams have become more enriched. Among the lore of some native tribes is a regard fro the deer as the Lord of the Dream. To focus on the deer before falling asleep, according to some, will bring prophetic dreams that may be shared or the good of your family and/or your community.
*More...
*Lady Stearn Robinson & Tom Gorbett/The Dreamer's Dictionary:
If the deer was captive or in an unnatural surrounding, it signifies emotional upsets and/or disappointment in some trusted friend; however, in its natural habitat it augurs the cementing of a new and pleasant friendship. To kill a deer or see a dead one is a warning to look out for a backbiter masquerading as a friend.
*Mary Summer Rain/On Dreams:
Deer applies to a tendency to be cautious; watchful; aware.
*Denise Linn/The Secret Lanugage of Signs:
A deer can represent the gentle aspects of yourself. This can also be a sign of feeling victimized and defenseless. Remember, there are no victims, only volunteers. Try to find areas in your life where you can take control and make changes. If you identify with the innocent deer, remember too the power of the stag--magnificent and forceful.
*Jamie Sams & David Carson/Medicine Cards:
Gentleness. One day Fawn heard Great Spirit calling to her from the top of Sacred Mountain. Fawn immediately started up the trail. She didn't know that a horrible demon guarded the way to Great Spirit's lodge. The demon was trying to keep all the beings of creation from connecting with Great Spirit. He wanted all of Great Spirit's creatures to feel that Great Spirit didn't want to be disturbed. This would make the demon feel powerful, and capable of causing them to fear him.
Fawn was not at all frightened when she came upon the demon. This was curious, as the demon was the archetype of all the ugly monsters that have ever been. The demon breathed fire and smoke and made disgusting sounds to frighten Fawn. Any normal creature would have fled or died on the spot from fright.
Fawn, however, said gently to the demon, "Please let me pass. I'm on the way to see Great Spirit."
Fawn's eyes were filled with love and compassion for this oversized bully of a demon. The demon was astounded by Fawn's lack of fear. No matter how he tried, he could not frighten Fawn, because her love had penetrated his hardened, ugly heart.
Much to the demon's dismay, his rock-hard heart began to melt, and his body shrank to the size of a walnut. Fawn's persistent love and gentleness had caused the meltdown of the demon. Due to this gentleness and caring that Fawn embodied, the pathway is now clear for all of Great Spirit's children to reach Sacred Mountaion without having to feel the demons of fear blocking their way.
Deer teaches us to use the power of gentleness to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings who are tyring to keep us from Sacred Mountain. Like the dappling of Fawn's coat, both the light and the dark may be loved to create gentleness and safety for those who are seeking peace.
If Deer has gently nudged its way into your cards today, you are being asked to find the gentleness of spirit that heals all wounds. Stop pushing so hard to get others to change, and love them as they are. Apply gentleness to your present situation and become like the summer breeze: warm and caring. This is your tool for solving the present dilemma you are facing. If you use it, you will connect with Sacred Mountain, your centering place of serenity, and Great Spirit will guide you.
Contrary: Deer in the contrary position indicates that you are courting your fear by fighting the internal demons of negative ideas. This is a clue to you that force is not always the best method. You may not be willing to love yourself enough to feel your fears and let them go. You may be projecting your fears on others. It may also be others whom you fear, reminding you of a time when you reacted to life in much the same manner. At any rate, love is the key. The only true balance to power is the love and compassion of Deer. Be willing to find things to love about yourself and others, and your demons will melt away. Your fears cannot exist in the same place that love and gentleness abide.
Remember, Fawn can teach you many lessons about unconditional love. In its true application, unconditional love means that no strings are attached. The gentleness of Fawn is the heart-space of great Spirit which embodies His/Her love for us all.
*D.J. Conway/Animal Magick:
Deer/Stag:Deer are even-toed, hooved animlas of the family Cervidae. They also chew a cud, like cattle do. Most males have antlers which are shed every year. However the female among the caribou have antlers like the males. The coats of deer are of a neutral color in shades of red, brown, or gray; the fawns in some species are temporarily spotted with white.
The species of deer come in all sizes, from the tiny deer of Africa to the now extinct Irish elk which had an antler-spread of eleven feet from tip to tip. Some type of deer is found in nearly every area of the world. The deer can go a long time without water and still maintain its strength.
The deer has long been considered a magickal creature. This animal was sacred to such Greek goddesses as Artemis, Aphrodite, Athene, and the roman Diana. At an Attica festival, Artemis was presented with a sacrificed deer and honeycakes in the shape of a deer. This goddess who was also called Elaphaia ("She of the Red Deer") and Elaphebolia ("She Who Strikes the Red Deer"). The Etruscan version of Artemis is shown winged, holding a deer in one hand and a lion in the other.
Fawn skins were worn by the Greek Maenads and the Bacchant and Orphic devotees. The fawn skin was also a sacred garment of the lower initiates of some of the Greek mystery religions. Dionysus was said to wear the magicakal skin of a fawn, tiger, or leopard and had been placed on a fawn skin by Hermes when he was born from the thigh of Zeus.
However, the stag was also a creature of Apollo at Delphi. The Greeks believed that the stag could identify medicinal herbs and plants. In early Egyptian temple paintings the deer is shown with Isis.
On a Minoan seal is shown the figure of an antlered stag dancer with large breasts. Stag dances were perfromed by men dressed as women a the New Year in England, Romania, and Germany into the ninteenth century.
In India, the deer was th emount of the god Vayu, deity of the wind. In China, Lu-Hsing, god of salaries and employees, rode a deer; to the Chinese the deer represented high rank, official success, and wealth.
Among the Celts, the stag was an animal of Cernunnos, the hunting god Cocidius, and the hero Ossian. When connected with these deities, the stag symbolized the virility of the warrior, the Sun, and fertility. Deer were sacrificed as substute for the Horned God in goddess rituals. In Celtic myth, a white doe or white stag was often sent by the Otherworld deities to guide some human into their realm. The animal god Cernunnos wore an antlered headdress. The Irish goddess Flidais was associated with deer; they drew her chariot. Sometimes deer were called faery cattle and messengers. Stories tell of nymphs and faeries changing into fawns to escape capture. The skin and antlers of deer were used as ritual garments.
From earliest times the stag was a sacred animal in the Black Sea and Anatolia areas, and among the Hittites. In some Sumerian rituals the statue of their fertility god was clothed in the skin and antlers of a stag.
In both China and Japan the dragon is often called the Celestial Stag. Chinese also have a god of immortality, Shou-Hsien, sometimes pictured as a white stag. In certain cultures of Asia and pre-Columbian America the stag was associated with regeneration because it shed and renewed its antlers each year. It was also believed to be an enemy of the snake.
Amulets made of deer skin parchment were preferred by ceremonial magicians of the Middle Ages. Some of the magickal power of the deer was believed to remain in such parchment.
To Native Americans, deer and all forked-horned animals represented dangerous psychic and spiritual powers that had a double ature. By observing this creature, humans learned to hide when being hunted.
Superstitions: If deer feed on the herb dittany, they can become immune to arrow wounds. Deer, especially stags, can be charmed by the music of pan-pipes. After eating snakes, a deer can shed its coat and old age with it. To heal, use the right antler. To keep snakes away, burn either antler. Ointments made from stag bone marrow will cure fevers.
Maickal attributes: Keen scent, grace, swiftness, gentleness. Using other methods to reach your goals than force. Being alert for any danger. A white deer in meditation often bears a message or will lead you to seeking, abundance, dreams, intution, introspection, listening, death and rebirth, transformation. Accept others as they are and don't try to change them. Deer: woodland Goddess, psychic powers, alternative paths to a goal. Stag: Lord of the Underworld, messages from guides, better understanding of the cycle of death and rebirth.
*Timothy Roderick/The Once Unknown Familiar:
Key Words: Shy, light, sensitive, intuitive
Magical influences: Peace, tranquility, easing of nerves, ability to see future events clearly.
Personality: Deer are true introverts; they shy away from any suspected confrontation. They know who their enemies are and steer clear of them. Deer are among the most psychically sensitive personality types; they can impart information about events moments before they happen. They are quite at peace with themselves and the world.
*Patricia Telesco/The Language of Dreams:
Swift, agile movement. The deer is an excellent guide through any figurative forests in your life. Buddhist: A representation of the Wheel of Law in action. Also symbolizes meditation and gentility. A stag specifically is regarded as solar and masculine in aspect, banishing evil by symbolically trampling snakes under its swift, strong hooves.
*Bobby Lake-Thom/Spirits of the Earth:
Deer are good powers and can be messengers in many different ways. They can be our eyes and ears if we acquire their power. They can tell us what is up ahead on the road while we are traveling, help us to see into the future via dreams and meditation, and remind us that we should try to live lives that are balanced and graceful. If a woman sees a buck while traveling, it is a warning that she might meet a man up ahead who has sexual desire for her. And more than likely he will be flirtatious. This can be a good sign or a bad sign, depending on one's personal desires and perspective. By the same token, if a man sees a doe alongside the road, it is usually a sign that he will encounter a sensuous and flirtatious woman, a woman who would like to mate with him. Once again the sign can be good or bad, depending uon wone's ethics, desires, or preference.
If you go on a vision quest and see a Deer along the way, it is usually an indication that you will meet a stranger on the trailk, so study the Deer's behavior well. More than one Deer means more than one man or woman. If the Deer comes close to your campfire and hangs around, it is trying to bring you a message from the spirit world. Thank it for coming and ask it to talk to you in a dream, in a language you can understand. I provide a detailed example and experience of such a sigutation in my book Native Healer. If a man sees a big buck pawing the ground with its head bent downward, then it is a sign that he will encounter a challenger in a social situation involving women.
*Brad Steiger/Totems:
Among all Native American tribes who had contact with the deer, the graceful creature was considered a sacred totemic animal. The Medicine doctors of various tribes believed that the deer had a keen sense of determining which plants yielded the greatest curative powers, and a great deal of time was spent stalking the deer for its ostensible knowledge of pharmacology as well as its flesh.
The Native American zodiac names deer people as those born from May 21 to June 21 and asys that they are generally of a good disposition, but they sometimes appear to be creatures of perpetual motion.
In numerous cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, the male deer, the stag, was regarded as a symbol of regeneration because of the way its antlers are renewed. In certain mystical traditions, the horned deer is also linked with the Tree of Life because of the similarity between its antlers and the branches of a tree. Consequently, the horn contained great magic, whether worn intact, broken in pieces, or ground into powder.
Very early in humankind's religious observations, the stag became the Shamans' Horned God, the sarificial consort of such goddesses as the huntress Diana/Artemis. With the spread of Christianity across Europe, the Horned God easily became a representation of Satan; but in nearly as many instances, the stag was idealized as a symbol of Christ, for the deer, as did Jesus on the cross, gave its blood (flesh) for humankind. St. Withburga has the doe, the female deer, as her animal symbol.
If the deer has come to you as your totem animal or if you have felt drawn to the animal through a dream or a vision, your spirit self is now in the company of one who has long been cherished as an intermediary between the Great Mystery and humankind. With the deer as your totem, you will feel an acceleration of your powers of intuition. Many Shamans attribute the greatest psychic sensitivity to the Deer People.
With the deer as your spirit helper, you will find that you have an increased desire to spend more time in the Silence and in nature. You will also notice that your dreams have become more enriched. Among the lore of some native tribes is a regard fro the deer as the Lord of the Dream. To focus on the deer before falling asleep, according to some, will bring prophetic dreams that may be shared or the good of your family and/or your community.
*More...
