Deer is an auspicious symbol. The meaning, history and significance of the deer tattoo

Myths

The deer is an auspicious symbol associated with the Sun, sunrise, light, purity, renewal, rebirth, creation and spirituality. Due to the resemblance of deer antlers to branches, the image of a deer is associated with the Tree of Life. In addition, deer antlers symbolize Sun rays, fertility. An adult male deer is a solar emblem of abundance.

Like the eagle and the lion, the deer is the eternal enemy of the snake; symbolically it is associated with the sky and light, while the snake is associated with the night and life underground. A deer in a fight with a snake symbolizes the conflict between positive and negative, light and darkness.

Like the eagle and the horse, the deer is a mediator between heaven and earth, a messenger of the gods. Hittite, Sumerian-Semitic and Shinto deities rode on deer; deer were harnessed to the carts of Time and Christmas.

Most characteristic features deer - swiftness, grace and beauty; Maybe that's why deer are associated with poetry and music.

IN medieval art in the West, the deer symbolized solitude and purity, and in Japanese poetry- loneliness and love languor.

For the Chinese it means happiness and longevity, white deer- the male symbolizes Shou-Xin, the god of longevity. In addition, deer is associated with wealth and good fortune; the word "deer" in China is consonant with the word "abundance."

The ancient Mayans called themselves Ah-Maya, "people of the Deer." This animal was considered the main tribal ancestor and therefore a sacred animal. The Mayan constellation Deer (Capricorn) was associated with the new year, the next stage in life. This month it was recommended to focus only on earthly concerns. It was believed that as soon as one manages to live through the month of active Deer, it will be like this for the whole year. It was believed that those born this month are distinguished, on the one hand, by their connection with traditions, and on the other, by the desire for something new, to improve the existing. During this month, the ancient Mayans turned to priests for predictions or engaged in divination themselves.

Among the Celts, the deer is a symbol of the Sun, fertility and vitality, dignity, masculinity, speed, mediator between the world of gods and the world of people. The Celts believed that the deer was the main animal in the magical herds of the gods. Deer antlers were considered a symbolic representation of tree branches. The branches of the horns, like branches and leaves on trees, were considered symbols of rebirth and reproduction. The Celtic god Cernunnos, associated with the cycles of death and rebirth of nature, was depicted with branched stag antlers or with a stag and a bull standing at his feet. The legends feature a white deer, which for the Celts was a mystical animal that came to earth from the Other World and possessed the gift of wisdom and omniscience.

In German-Scandinavian mythology, four deer pluck the leaves of the world tree Yggdrasil. In addition, the deer Eiktürmir (“oak-tipped horns”) and the goat Heidrun eat its leaves while standing on the roof of Valhalla.

In the Greco-Roman tradition, the deer is an attribute of Artemis (Diana). Enraged by Artemis, the hunter Actaeon was turned into a deer because he saw her bathing.

In Christian symbolism, the deer represents religious enthusiasm and zeal, as converts longed for knowledge "as a deer longs to reach a cool stream to drink." It is in this meaning that the deer is depicted on baptismal fonts, as well as in religious painting- drinking at the foot of the cross. In Christian iconography, a deer trampling a snake is the emblem of a Christian fighting evil. Some saints are depicted with a deer as their attribute, for example a deer with a crucifix between its antlers - the emblem of St. Hubert.

In alchemy, the deer together with the unicorn signify the dual nature of Mercury, philosophical mercury. Alchemists see in ancient myth about the hunter Actaeon, transformed by the goddess Artemis into a deer, proof of the possibility of transforming metals.

Among the Slavs, deer was considered the personification of ancestors. According to legends, he could perform various miracles, speak human voice. In ancient carols, deer, like horses, carry the souls of the dead to other world. The deer was considered a royal animal: it rules over all horned animals.

Deer often appears in heraldic images, where it “means grace and moderation.”

Words are tormenting trumpets,

thundering in the deep forest, -

watching, calling to each other rudely,

Where will I carry the flame?

But what do I care about the greedy barking of Diana,

do you catch stomping and flying?

My soul is a huge deer -

The maddened dogs will be shaken off!

Shakes off - and along the burning path

will rush with its horns wide open,

through the black thickets of the night

to the fiery shores!

The White Stag is a character in many Celtic myths and symbolizes the time period of 7 months. This is the beginning, the initiating energy. Therefore, if you want your business, which you are starting to argue, then you can ask for help from White Deer. If you want the energy of prosperity to always be present next to you, then you can always call Deer Spirit to help on every new moon and every full moon.

White Deer Energy gives great hope and enthusiasm, but at the same time you will still have to overcome physical obstacles, although this will be much easier to do. If you often call on the White Deer in meditation, then accept its character traits, such as caution in life, restraint and perseverance in achieving goals. The enormous energy of this symbol can lift a person very high.

Also, with the help of this symbol, you can eliminate conflicts in the family and even help advance your career.

How to work with the White Deer symbol?

Light a white candle. Imagine yourself in the forest and try to imagine a totem in front of you. The deer is a symbol of hermitage, so try to be alone so that nothing disturbs you. And first, tell him about what may be weighing heavily on your soul. That is, in the beginning, of course, there is purification. In order to work with this symbol, you will have to completely cleanse yourself. Deer is the enemy of snakes, you will have to pull these snakes out inner world and clear the way for new energy.

In order for your spiritual emanations to connect with the energies of this symbol, Firstly Energy contact should be carried out constantly, like a meeting. Then, the Soul must sincerely desire to express itself. The soul must choose the forms of its work, know exactly what it could use and what it would never accept. Therefore, listen to what your conscience says. When interacting with this symbol, you can begin to meet people from the past, from those reincarnations in which you interacted or even from the past of this life, you will meet those people with whom you have unfinished business. Don't be afraid of difficulties, just remember that you are under Higher guidance and you have to go through now. What seemed forgotten will come to life and you will need to end some relationship or figure out the situation until the end.

After you have worked with this symbol for 40 days in a row, you can go and buy yourself a ring with the stone. This will be your amulet. He will support you when difficulties arise, he will protect you from some situations, just remember that any amulet will not live for you. You, like Robin Hood, will have to fight and move forward. Only you, like him, will be protected by the Supreme Patrons.

Wise decisions will come to you and your intuition will rise to higher levels. high level. Just, in addition to all this, develop laconicism and modesty. The energy of this symbol will help you establish harmony and the correct relationship between the soul and circumstances, even those that occurred in the previous incarnation. What was normal and traditional for you may change. Continue to work with this symbol, and the best proof between you and the energy of the symbol will be if the White Deer visits you in a dream. Then rest assured that you are safe and protected.

Each animal, one way or another, is reflected in folklore, but, perhaps, none of them carries such a symbolic load as the deer - one of the most beautiful animals in Russia.

The deer family today contains fifty-one species with many subfamilies. Representatives of different families differ significantly in size: from the size of a hare (pudu deer) to the size of a horse (elk), and in habitat: Eurasia, America, Australia, New Zealand.

There are also common features, uniting all deer. Almost all of them, with the exception of the water deer, have branched antlers, which are shed and regrow annually.

Some species prefer to live alone, but usually deer live in groups or herds, the number of which is different types various.

Basically, herds are built according to the harem principle. One male, the leader, leads a family of several females with cubs. During the mating season, the famous “deer fights” flare up, fights between males, in which the weapons are not only antlers, which grow just in time for the mating period, but also fangs.

In all world cultures, deer is the personification of light, purity, rebirth of life and creation. This is a symbol of the sun, sunrise, the great Tree of Life. An adult male is also an emblem of abundance; he is likened to a king and is considered the royal prey during the hunt.

The deer is the eternal mediator between earth and sky. It is no coincidence that Santa Claus arrives on reindeer; this is not just a common mount of the northern regions. These are also echoes of pagan myths about Sumerian-Semitic, Hittite and Shinto deities who used to travel exclusively on deer. In many fairy tales, the Lord of Time or Old Man Time also travels on reindeer.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, the deer symbolized the purity and purity of solitude. In Japanese poetry there is loneliness and the pangs of love.

In the Chinese epic, the white deer is the embodiment of the god of longevity Shou-Xin. Having an image of a deer in your home means longevity, good luck and wealth.

The ancient Mayan tribes also revered the deer. Ah-Maya – means “people of the Deer”.

The Celts considered the deer to be the main animal in the herds of the gods. The branches of its horns are nothing more than symbols of rebirth and reproduction. Among the Celts, the god Cernunnos was in charge of the cycles of seasonal rebirth and death of nature, who was depicted with luxurious antlers, and often in the company of a deer or bull. In Celtic legends, the white deer is a messenger from the other world, but not hostile to people, but bringing wisdom and omniscience.

The Scandinavians have the Yggdrasil tree in the center of the universe, the branches of which are nibbled by four deer. On the roof of Valhalla (the Scandinavian paradise where heroically fallen warriors feast eternally with the supreme god Odin and the Valkyrie maidens) stands the deer Eikturmir, whose antlers are oak-tipped. He is accompanied by the goat Heidrun.

In myths Ancient Greece deer is the companion of the goddess of hunting Artemis. According to the myth, this is the hunter Actaeon, who spied on the bathing goddess, for which he was turned into a deer.

Christians often depict deer on baptismal fonts, or drinking from a spring at the foot of the cross. This is due to the fact that converts to the faith are as thirsty for knowledge as a deer dreams of drinking from a cool stream. A deer trampling a snake is a symbol of a Christian conquering evil.

In alchemy, the deer signifies the philosophical mercury and the dual nature of Mercury.

Among the ancient Slavs, deer was able to perform miracles, give gifts, speak human language and was the personification of ancestors.

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Deer also appear as wonderful messengers and guides, showing the heroes the path to their goal. Deer are credited with healing powers, especially the ability to seek out medicinal herbs. IN fine arts a deer wounded by an arrow and holding a bunch of medicinal herbs in its mouth is a symbol of love longing. The deer also symbolizes caution and keen hearing.

However, as a result of observations of the habits of this animal, the symbolism of loneliness associated with the deer arose - both in European and Japanese traditions.

Among the American Indians and some Asian peoples, an adult male deer is a solar emblem of abundance; its branched antlers symbolize the Tree of Life, the sun's rays, Longevity and rebirth (the antlers change periodically). A young deer can be a symbol of defenselessness.

In China, deer is associated with wealth and good fortune, the word “deer” there is a homonym for the word “abundance”.

In Christian art, the male red deer represents hermitage, prosperity, and purity. Mentioned as the enemy of the snake, which can be lured out

Deer is the patron saint of the Siberian peoples

from cover with your breath, and then trample. In Christian iconography, a deer trampling a snake is a symbol of the destruction of evil, and in the Bible there is a comparison of a deer thirsting for water with human soul thirsty for God, which is why the male deer often symbolizes piety. It is in this meaning that the deer is depicted on baptismal fonts, as well as in religious paintings - drinking at the foot of the cross. The deer also symbolizes Christ, who seeks out the devil in order to destroy him.

The white deer was a favorite badge English King Richard II; when he ordered that every inn should have some kind of sign, many took his white deer; This emblem is still often found on pub signs.

The female deer is found less frequently as a symbol, usually as a companion to the lunar goddesses of the hunt, including the ancient Greek Artemis (Diana). It can also symbolize feminine in initiation rites.

The deer was a sacred animal in the Greek mysteries of Bacchus, and participants dressed in deer skins. Since the deer was associated with the worship of the Moon goddess, Bacchic orgies took place at night.

The deer was often a ancestral figure (totem) among the peoples of Central Asia, hence the legend that the ancestors of Genghis Khan were a wolf and a deer. U North American Indians, who lived northwest of the Great Lakes, deer was also considered one of the totems. For example, among the Hurons (southeast of the Great Lakes) there was a clan of Deer.

Some tribes of the ancient Germans were also called by the names of animals, among them there was a tribe called “Young Deer”.

The Khanty and Mansi peoples decorate their national clothes various kinds embroidery, among which a canonized ornament called “deer antlers” was established.

Thus, from ancient times, the deer not only provided people with food and clothing, providing the opportunity for survival, but also acted as a strong magical intercessor, who, having struck the ground with its ringing hoof and flashing its golden horns in the distance, was ready at any moment to come to the rescue and protect from trouble, protect from evil. Perhaps it was precisely for these qualities that people endowed the beautiful, proud and strong animal that they began to call it the Noble Deer.

Deer is one of the most common patron spirits and assistants of shamans Siberian peoples. The beginning shaman imagined himself as a deer, imitated its habits, began to snort like a deer, and this process of “entry of the spirit into the shaman” lasted a long time, sometimes two or three years. After this period, the shaman made himself a mallet for the tambourine. Having stuck it into the ground, the initiate sang shamanic songs. In a dream, a deer appeared to him, from whose skin he needed to make a tambourine. The tambourine is perceived as the shaman’s deer, on which he “rides to the upper world to the spirits.” The tambourine depicts the animals and birds that protect the shaman. Some shamans, for example the Evenki, in addition to the tambourine, also have a ritual costume symbolizing a deer, and a staff in their hands.

To the imagination of a northern Slav, every thunder cloud seemed to be a deer driving the chariot of Perun the Thunderer (an ancient Slavic deity, an analogue of Elijah the Prophet in the Christian tradition or Zeus-Jupiter in the Greco-Roman tradition) across the heavenly sea-ocean. From Ilya's day in Rus' they stopped swimming, saying: “from Ilya's day the leaves on the trees turn yellow, and in rivers and lakes the water cools down because on that day the Deer swam across the river and cooled the water.” The same idea is reflected in German legends about “sunny” deer.

The Celts believed that the deer was the chief animal in the magical herds of the gods (this is what may have led to the tradition that Santa Claus travels in a reindeer sleigh); some Celtic gods wore stag antlers.

Many Hittite, Sumerian-Semitic and Shinto deities also rode deer.

In alchemy, both male and female deer often act as symbols of transformation, which is associated with the myth of Artemis, who turned the hunter Actaeon into a deer because he saw her while swimming naked.

In heraldry, a deer is always depicted in profile, running, walking or lying down.

The deer is an auspicious symbol associated with the Sun, sunrise, light, purity, renewal, rebirth, creation and spirituality. Due to the resemblance of deer antlers to branches, the image of a deer is associated with the Tree of Life. In addition, deer antlers symbolize the sun's rays and fertility. An adult male deer is a solar emblem of abundance.

The most characteristic features of a deer are swiftness, grace and beauty; Maybe that's why deer are associated with poetry and music.

IN medieval art in the West, the deer symbolized solitude and purity, and in Japanese poetry - loneliness and longing for love.

U Chinese means happiness and longevity, the white male deer symbolizes Shou-Xin, the god of longevity. In addition, deer is associated with wealth and good fortune; the word "deer" in China is consonant with the word "abundance."

Ancient Mayans called themselves Ah-Maya, "people of the Deer". This animal was considered the main tribal ancestor and therefore a sacred animal. The Mayan constellation Deer (Capricorn) was associated with the new year, the next stage in life. This month it was recommended to focus only on earthly concerns. It was believed that as soon as one manages to live through the month of active Deer, it will be like this for the whole year. It was believed that those born this month are distinguished, on the one hand, by their connection with traditions, and on the other, by the desire for something new, to improve the existing. During this month, the ancient Mayans turned to priests for predictions or engaged in divination themselves.

U Celts deer is a symbol of the Sun, fertility and vitality, dignity, masculinity, speed, a mediator between the world of gods and the world of people. The Celts believed that the deer was the main animal in the magical herds of the gods. Deer antlers were considered a symbolic representation of tree branches. The branches of the horns, like branches and leaves on trees, were considered symbols of rebirth and reproduction. The Celtic god Cernunnos, associated with the cycles of death and rebirth of nature, was depicted with branched stag antlers or with a stag and a bull standing at his feet. The legends feature a white deer, which for the Celts was a mystical animal that came to earth from the Other World and possessed the gift of wisdom and omniscience.

IN German-Scandinavian mythology Due to its tree-like appearance and the periodic renewal of its antlers, the deer was a symbol of life rejuvenating again and again, rebirth and the passage of time. In ancient northern mythology, four deer hide in the crown of the world tree Yggdrasil. There they eat buds (hours), flowers (days) and branches (seasons). In addition, the deer Eiktürmir (“oak-tipped horns”) and the goat Heidrun eat its leaves while standing on the roof of Valhalla.

IN Greco-Roman tradition deer is an attribute of Artemis (Diana). Enraged by Artemis, the hunter Actaeon was turned into a deer because he saw her bathing.

IN Christian symbolism the deer represents religious enthusiasm and zeal, as the converts thirsted for knowledge "...as a deer longs to reach a cool stream to drink." It is in this meaning that the deer is depicted on baptismal fonts, as well as in religious paintings - drinking at the foot of the cross. In Christian iconography, a deer trampling a snake is the emblem of a Christian fighting evil. Some saints are depicted with a deer as their attribute, for example a deer with a crucifix between its antlers - the emblem of St. Hubert.

IN alchemy the deer together with the unicorn signify the dual nature of Mercury, philosophical mercury. Alchemists see in the ancient myth of the hunter Actaeon, transformed by the goddess Artemis into a deer, proof of the possibility of transforming metals.

U Slavs the deer was considered the personification of ancestors. According to legend, he could perform various miracles and speak in a human voice. In ancient carols, deer, like horses, carry the souls of the dead to the other world. The deer was considered a royal animal: it rules over all horned animals.

Deer antlers symbolized the rays of the sun. In antiquity, deer was considered the enemy of poisonous snakes, and deer skin was considered an amulet against snake bites. The deer sucks the snakes out of their holes and, to protect himself from their poison, drinks water from the spring within three hours: then he will live for another five years. “If you have a snake in your heart and you hate it - this is a sin, then hurry to the springs, to the veins of the Holy Scripture and drink living water...and do not die because of sin.” All this also repeats the text of the medieval book about animals (bestiary). Deer discovered the miraculous power of the herb dictamnus (Latin dictamnus, Dictamnus), so if they are hit by hunting arrows, they use this plant to heal wounds.

Deer often appears in heraldic images where “means grace and moderation.”