Majestic and full of dignity, the deer is one of the most peaceful animals. It is said that they are the guardians of the forest and guides of those who enter him with respect and desire to learn the mysteries of natural kingdoms.
The deer observes, wait and, in a jump, pounces on him with all his grace and extreme resistance. It shows us how it is possible that a prey animal keeps its life with its mere presence. He has his own royal and safe way to walk and keep his head up despite the weight he carries and that, in fact, is linked to balance and dignity.
Did you know that there are deities associated with deer? If you feel a connection with this spiritual animal and want to connect with a deity too, continue reading this article!
Main conclusions
In different cultures and mythologies, deer are often associated with qualities such as grace, sweetness and life cycle. Here are some deities and gods commonly linked to deer:
- Artemis (Greek mythology): Artemis is the Greek goddess of hunting, nature and the moon. It is often represented with a deer, a symbol of its relationship with nature and hunting.
- Cernunnos (Celtic mythology): Cernunnos is a Celtic God associated with nature, fertility and forest. It is often represented with horns, which means its connection with the deer and the animal kingdom.
- Elen de los Caminos (Celtic mythology): Elan de los Caminos is a figure of Celtic mythology associated with the roads of deer and migratory routes. It represents the trip and the orientation.
- Freya (Nordic mythology): Freya is a Nordic goddess associated with love, fertility and beauty. Sometimes it is represented in a car lying by cats or riding a wild boar, but its relationship with the deer is also recognized.
- Maponus (Celtic mythology): Maponus is a Celtic God of youth, music and hunting. Sometimes he is represented with a lyre and is associated with the deer.
- Marishi-Ten (Japanese Tintoism): Marishi-Ten is a Japanese systa deity associated with the protection of Buddhist teachings. It is often represented in a white deer.
- Saraswati (Hinduism): Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music and arts, is sometimes associated with a white swan or a deer. It symbolizes creativity and wisdom.
- The white deer (diverse mythologies): In various mythologies, the white deer is usually considered a sacred and elusive creature, which represents searches or spiritual trips.
- Lugh (Celtic mythology): Lugh, Celtic God of Light, is sometimes associated with deer. It represents various aspects of skill, including hunting.
- God with horns (neopagaganism): In the Neopagana and Wiccana traditions, the Cornudo God is a deity associated with nature, hunting and change of stations. Often adopts the form of a figure with horns or antlers, reflecting the symbolism of the deer.
These deities and gods associated with deer highlights the various cultural interpretations of these animals, which symbolize qualities such as grace, fertility, the cycle of life and the connection between the human being and the natural world. Deer usually play important roles in myths and rituals around the world.
Content
- 5 powerful deities associated with deer
- God cernunnos
- Artemisa/Diana
- Daal
- Herne
- Finn Mac Cumhail
5 powerful deities associated with deer
God cernunnos
Cernunnos
Cernunnos in Celtic mythology, the god Cernunnos is the spirit of male animals with horns, especially deer and cervatillos. According to archaeological sources, the god Cernunnos was venerated in Gaul, in the Italian peninsula, in Gaul Cisalpina and on the southern coast of the British island.
Emblem of fertility, of the animal kingdom, in particular of cornudas and wild nature, the god Cernunnos was always represented as a divinity with horns. However, it seems that Cernunnos was a divinity worshiped by pagan and pre -ethful peoples, of shamanic and esoteric origin, residents of the Indo -European peninsula.
Numerous representations and engravings of the paleolithic era that date back to the 3000 BC population of the Indo Valley represent the Cornudo God as the god of the underworld, emblem and a half taken in Roman times with the representation of it as dis paer or dite, is in turn taken by Dante Alighieri in the hell of the divine comedy.
Artemisa/Diana
Artemis with Cierva, better known as «Diana de Versailles». Marble, Roman work, imperial era (I-II DC centuries). Found in Italy
In Greek mythology, an especially significant story is known in which the protagonists are divinity and a man. This is the goddess Artemis and Actteón, a myth that can acquire different meanings according to the point of view that we attribute to you. A multifaceted legend, atrocious in some aspects and expressive in others. Artemisa, as we all know, was the goddess of hunting, a virgin goddess armed with a gold arc and arrows.
He hunted in the forests with his reliable hunting dogs and a nymph host. Acteon was the son of Aristeo and Autonoe, but was raised by the Centaur Quirón, who taught him hunting techniques. According to the main version of this myth, which is the most widespread and known, on a specially hot day, the goddess Artemis decided to cool off with her nymphs in a lake in the shadow of the chip forest.
Actaeon was in full hunt. He persecuted a wild boar with his hounds when he found himself in front of a pond. There he saw the goddess Artemis already her naked servants taking a bath. When Artemisa noticed the look of Actaeón, furious and red of shame for having exposed to the trial of a mortal and not having an arc and arrow by hand, he decided to throw water, transforming him into a young deer.
At first, Acteon did not even realize what had happened to him, but when he reached a pool of water, he looked at each other and learned of the spell. Meanwhile, his 50 dogs reached him and, not recognizing his master, they pounced on him and torn him apart. Artemisa is the Greek version of the Roman goddess Diana.
Daal
An illustration of the Esvana Dalí goddess made by the artist Esvano Vakhtang Oniani. Cover of a Georgian translation of the Esvana ballad გივერგილ/Givergil, published in 1969.
Daal is the Georgian goddess. She is the goddess of hunting and patron saint of deer and other cornudos of the forest. It is often represented as a beautiful naked woman who lives in nature and can even become one of her favorite animals.
They tell the legends that Daal defended at all costs their beloved cornudos and, in some cases, some hunters even died for marking animals or capturing them. But it is not that he hated hunters, at all. He just wanted to be as respectful as possible with animals, and he liked to receive offerings in his name to bless the hunters with incredible gifts.
Herne
Herne’s illustration the hunter by George Cruikshank. Posted in 1840
Herne is a god of English folklore. We need to know their history to understand their association with deer. One day, a king decided to go hunting to his own forests, Herne only accompanied him because he believed he was the best hunter and, therefore, deserving of the king’s company; It looked like a loose hunt because they had been unable to find anything to hunt for most of the day until, suddenly, Herne saw a powerful and beautiful deer.
Herne tried to approach, but was mortally injured by the deer cornice and fell stunned to the ground, but the powerful animal was also affected by the impact and fell unconscious to the ground.
Meanwhile, the king fled for fear of the deer waking up. Fate wanted a Druid to pass by who, seeing the unconscious hunter, did everything possible to help him, also turned to his arts to return Health to Herne, but nothing worked. The Druid then understood that the only way to return the health to man was to give him the vital force of the same deer he was hunting.
However, Herne, to recover her life, had to give in return her skills as a hunter. Suddenly, Herne woke up and returned to a new life next to the deer. He had become what he had always hunted, his appearance had changed: his spirit had joined that of the animal, so that his appearance was neither that of a man nor that of a beast. In his head he now had long and branched horns and his skin was now as white as the fur of a deer, his eyes had become red and his own senses had been amplified.
Back to life, Herne went to the castle to inform the king of what happened but when she arrived at the castle she felt observed, all the other hunters now saw him like a monster in addition to a thief. The king, once back, had told that the hunter had fled after stealing his magnificent dam.
It was Herne’s word against her sovereign’s. He decided then that he could not live like this and decided to take his life, the next morning the king and the other hunters found Herne hanged in an oak. No one had the courage to pick it up, so they left him there, so that no one would worry about him.
During the next night, however, Herne woke up, the vital force of the deer did not allow him to sacrifice his life: he was a hunter with extraordinary abilities, and he was not allowed to waste them in that way. The deer then went to him and proposed a pact: he would be reborn, but he would have to protect from the hunters what he himself had hunted throughout his life.
Herne accepted, driven by revenge and the hatred she felt towards those who had betrayed and abandoned her. Thus Herne was born, God of wild hunt.
Finn Mac Cumhail
Finn McCool comes in the help of the Fianna. By Stephen Reid
Finn was a mythical hunter-Guerrero God of Irish mythology. Finn Mac Cumhail, leader of the Fianna, was an experienced hunter and Guerrero. One day, while hunting with his faithful sits, he met a deer, what better dish for dinner?
The dogs followed him and finally approached him. However, unlike the other times, this time the dogs of Finn, Bran and Sheolan, who were before human, began to play with the deer and did not seem interested in having it as a dinner. Finn realized that the deer had some magical power … he didn’t know exactly which one, but he took it to the castle with him waiting to find out.
The deer received a decent arrangement within the fortress. When Finn went to bring him food, he met a beautiful woman in his place. She told him that it was a Druid who turned her into a deer and that when he arrived his curse broke. They fell in love immediately.
She and Finn married and had a son. But then they were forced to separate their paths, since Finn left for war and the Druid returned to turn it back into a deer, …