Deer of all types are an ever-present symbol included in the lore and celebration of winter holidays around the world. For modern Pagans, the two connections of the deer to come to mind first this sabbat season are likely to be the stag of modern Pagan and Wiccan lore and of course the yearly appearance of Santa’s reindeer. However, deer have found a special cross-cultural place in the symbolism of many faiths at Yule time and beyond.
Practitioners of various world traditions celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice, as the return of the light and the rebirth of the sun. The Stag is itself a solar symbol, representing the divine masculine and the god. The lore of the battle between the Oak King and the Holly King is a seasonal staple for many modern Pagans. Visually, the Oak King is depicted as Lord of the Forest in green leafy finery but he is also commonly antlered—harking back to the stag. However, the associations of these magical and antlered animals with the divine masculine harks back even farther to ancient Celtic and European cultures. Images of what are thought to be the horned god, an antlered human form posed in posture similar to a deer’s body, were found in a cave wall in southern France dating back to the Paleolithic period. Similar images have been used to depict the horned god Cernunnos.
To be equated to and used as a manifestation or symbol of a god shows the importance of such an animal to these cultures. European cultures have shamanic elements running deep within them, almost all of which place the deer in a place of significance with the Divine. There are links in Norse lore of the deer with the goddess. Many theorize that Santa’s sleigh being depicted as being pulled by reindeer is a carryover from Freya’s chariot—pulled by stags. Yule was a celebration of central importance in Norse culture, in fact the term Yule is in actuality an Old Norse term for “wheel.” Many Norse considered Yule to be the beginning of the wheel of the year, bringing forth a sense of rebirth and new beginnings, themes carried throughout many cultures and into our modern day Yuletide celebrations.
Druidic traditions place the Stag as a central animal spirit of great power and integrity—a spirit that assists a person in gaining access to the Otherworlds. They too, like many other Pagan traditions, hold the stag as a symbol or manifestation of horned god figures. Additionally, they are considered in Druid lore to be an animal that has been around since the beginning of time and are associated with fertility. This certainly adds to the Stag’s power as a fitting symbol for the recurring and central seasonal themes of celebrating birth and rebirth (and thus new beginnings).
It is important to note that while different cultures logically have lore revolving around different species of deer indigenous to their location, there is a great deal of shared lore, symbolism, and characteristics among them. Whether it be whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, caribou, or reindeer, much of their spiritual attributes remain the same even though each also has individual distinctions. A common spiritual characteristic assigned to deer is heightened perception. Looking at the natural behavior of the deer this is not surprising. They appear to have an exceptional perception of the activity going on in their surroundings and the proximity of other beings to themselves—whether this be due to acute hearing, a sixth sense, or a combination thereof. The visual symbol of the antlers are often connected to this characteristic. They visually cue us to the symbolism of antennae. Their being positioned in a way so as they appear to extend from the eyes and upwards toward the sky—perhaps tuning into the signals around them in the physical world and beyond into the ethereal. Interesting to note is that while in the United States we often associate the antlers to male or stag deer, this is not a logical conclusion worldwide. This is because in whitetail deer, the most prevalent deer species in the United States, only males grow antlers. However, in many other species, including caribou and the seasonally iconic reindeer, both sexes exhibit antlers. Due to this, in the United States, Santa’s reindeer often experience a case of mistaken identity. We often see his flying reindeer depicted not with images of actual true reindeer but instead with those of whitetail deer.
At this time, it is worth harking back to the art such as that found in south France of the human figure imposed on top of/within that of the reindeer. There is another interpretation of this and similar art that has been found of its kind—shamanic shapeshifting. In this context, the shamanic act of shapeshifting can be described as the merging with or taking of an animal spirit into the body by the shaman, thereby gaining the added power and assistance of the animal spirit. Considering the great importance of reindeer in these cultures, this would not be an uncommon ritual act and therefore stands as a very viable interpretation. Reindeer antlers and furs are often used in the construction of shamanic ceremonial garb among the peoples whom the reindeer is of prime importance to and they are a spirit often called upon in shamanic ceremony.
Reindeer have a long history of importance in Siberia and Mongolia that carries through to modern day—even though Mongolia’s climate has changed to the point that reindeer can largely no longer live there. However, its symbolic cultural importance remains. Burial mounds of Mongolian chiefs in the Altai Mountains have included the remains of reindeer bones among other items, such as gold ornaments and ceremonial clothing, showing the level of esteem given to the reindeer. Reindeer were thought to be the perfect animals for riding in the afterlife. In Siberia, reindeer still have both practical and spiritual importance. Reindeer are used to tow sleighs and as transportation and work animals. (With the reindeer’s recurring role cross-culturally as a mode of transport, both earthly and Otherworldly, it is no wonder they developed into the steeds that drove Santa’s sleigh!) For many peoples the reindeer was and is what the buffalo was to indigenous peoples of the North American plains region—food, clothing, transportation, and spiritual ally. In his classic work, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Mircea Eliade speaks of one of the stories from the lore of the Yukagir people of shamans, who when the tribe was threatened with famine would take a shamanic journey to the “Earth-Owner” and plead for the resource of food to sustain his people, and is gifted the soul of a reindeer. After returning from the journey, the shaman goes to a prescribed earthly location, a reindeer appears, and he then shoots and kills the deer with bow and arrow—this was to be interpreted to mean that in the foreseeable future, food would no longer be scarce.
Another story Eliade relays is from the Avam Samoyed people and involves a shaman who during illness experienced a visit to the Otherworlds in which his helping spirits eventually led him to a cave where he witnesses two women giving birth—to reindeer. He was given the gnosis that the reindeer was to be the animal to aid people in all areas of life and serve as a food source. He observes the reindeer leave the cave, each through one of two exits that led north and south respectively, to go into the world and fulfill that prophecy. So many Yuletide themes can be gleaned here all in one story: a sacred birth, the giving of a spiritual gift, the reminder of the importance of helping others selflessly, and even the granting of an animal ally.
The deer and its spirit are so ingrained into magical and spiritual history that it was almost destined to find its way into cultural celebrations clear through to our modern day. The next time a deer appears before you on a holiday card, in a light display, or perhaps live in the flesh before your very eyes—stop and remember the ancient power that is the gift it has brought to you!
Bibliography
Andrews, Ted. Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1993.
Carr-Gomm, Philip and Stephanie. The Druid Animal Oracle: Working with the Sacred Animals of the Druid Tradition. New York: Fireside, Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1994.
Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964.
McCoy, Edain. Sabbats: A Witch’s Approach to Living the Old Ways. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1994.
Morrison, Dorothy. Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2000.
van Reterghem, Tony. When Santa was a Shaman: The Ancient Origins of Santa Claus & the Christmas Tree. St. Paul, MN, Llewellyn Publications, 1995.
Vitebsky, Piers. “Excerpt: The Reindeer People.” NPR. February 11, 2006. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5199713.