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Deck: The Shining Tribe Tarot
Spread: Card of the Day
Date: Sat Jan 26 13:42:14 EST 2019
Today's Card
4 of Trees (Reversed)
Shelter us, cool us.
Lift us, conceal us.
Parades of bright color,
a sky of green leaves.
The fours are about structure, while the suit of Trees shows us the fire of the sun rooted in growing things. Together they give us the idea of life energy given form while still growing and vibrant. This is a card that celebrates the simple gifts of nature and home. The picture is balanced, even serene, without being static. We see a house sheltered by two overarching trees. The energy is not outside the house, with a separation between our structured lives in society and the vibrancy of nature. Instead, two smaller trees grow within the frame of the house itself. The card shows a time in which our lives have form and yet remain free and joyous, with many possibilities.
A sun shines over the doorway, as if to bless the house with life. The sun has eight rays, reminiscent of the eight-rayed Star in trump 17 as well as trump 8, Strength, and the eight-sided geometric form called an octagon. Symbolic tradition considers the octagon halfway between the circle of spiritual perfection and the square of material form. Like the square, the number four suggests matter and physical reality as well as structure, while fire belongs to the sun and is often considered the element that links us to Spirit. The eight-rayed sun over the door symbolizes divine energy taking form in our lives. The door itself is red, for the animal life that joins with the green of the leaves and the lush hillside. The knobs on the door are golden, the color of the sun and spiritual wisdom.
The Four of Trees is the first of the completely new cards done for Shining Tribe. The only remnant from the original Four of Trees (in the Shining Woman Tarot) is the grain that grows at the bottom of the picture, between the two trees, reaching up to the level of the door. This grain, which we also find on the Star card as a symbol of Persephone and the constant hope of renewal in spring, represents first of all the simple miracle of food. We take for granted (especially those of us who live in modern cities, where the supermarkets always carry plentiful food) that the earth grows what we need to keep us alive and that the sun pours down its warmth, which the plants transform into their own cell structure so that food will grow that we can take into our homes and our bodies. Just because it happens all the time, each spring and summer, does not make it any less a miracle, any less a gift.
Divinatory meanings: Joy, life's simple pleasures, a happy home. Abundance without excess. A life that is structured and organized, but in a simple way, so that the person feels able to breathe and appreciate the world and its beauty. Appreciation of the many simple gifts (and miracles) that give meaning and spiritual structure to our lives.
Reversed: The serenity and vibrancy remain, but may not be so apparent to the person. The person may need to open his or her eyes to the wonders of life that exist in the present situation. Alternatively, the doors may be opening; that is, a situation that has become overly structured may be making room for new possibilities.
Presented by The Shining Tribe Tarot app from The Fool's Dog.
Spread: Card of the Day
Date: Sat Jan 26 13:42:14 EST 2019
Today's Card
4 of Trees (Reversed)
Shelter us, cool us.
Lift us, conceal us.
Parades of bright color,
a sky of green leaves.
The fours are about structure, while the suit of Trees shows us the fire of the sun rooted in growing things. Together they give us the idea of life energy given form while still growing and vibrant. This is a card that celebrates the simple gifts of nature and home. The picture is balanced, even serene, without being static. We see a house sheltered by two overarching trees. The energy is not outside the house, with a separation between our structured lives in society and the vibrancy of nature. Instead, two smaller trees grow within the frame of the house itself. The card shows a time in which our lives have form and yet remain free and joyous, with many possibilities.
A sun shines over the doorway, as if to bless the house with life. The sun has eight rays, reminiscent of the eight-rayed Star in trump 17 as well as trump 8, Strength, and the eight-sided geometric form called an octagon. Symbolic tradition considers the octagon halfway between the circle of spiritual perfection and the square of material form. Like the square, the number four suggests matter and physical reality as well as structure, while fire belongs to the sun and is often considered the element that links us to Spirit. The eight-rayed sun over the door symbolizes divine energy taking form in our lives. The door itself is red, for the animal life that joins with the green of the leaves and the lush hillside. The knobs on the door are golden, the color of the sun and spiritual wisdom.
The Four of Trees is the first of the completely new cards done for Shining Tribe. The only remnant from the original Four of Trees (in the Shining Woman Tarot) is the grain that grows at the bottom of the picture, between the two trees, reaching up to the level of the door. This grain, which we also find on the Star card as a symbol of Persephone and the constant hope of renewal in spring, represents first of all the simple miracle of food. We take for granted (especially those of us who live in modern cities, where the supermarkets always carry plentiful food) that the earth grows what we need to keep us alive and that the sun pours down its warmth, which the plants transform into their own cell structure so that food will grow that we can take into our homes and our bodies. Just because it happens all the time, each spring and summer, does not make it any less a miracle, any less a gift.
Divinatory meanings: Joy, life's simple pleasures, a happy home. Abundance without excess. A life that is structured and organized, but in a simple way, so that the person feels able to breathe and appreciate the world and its beauty. Appreciation of the many simple gifts (and miracles) that give meaning and spiritual structure to our lives.
Reversed: The serenity and vibrancy remain, but may not be so apparent to the person. The person may need to open his or her eyes to the wonders of life that exist in the present situation. Alternatively, the doors may be opening; that is, a situation that has become overly structured may be making room for new possibilities.
Presented by The Shining Tribe Tarot app from The Fool's Dog.
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Deck: The Druid Oracles
Spread: Card of the Day
Date: Tue Jan 29 11:50:14 EST 2019
Today's Card
Sow
Muc
Pronunciation: Mooc
keywords
Generosity • Nourishment • Discovery
The card shows a sow with her piglets. In the fields behind her we see wheat and barley, said to have been brought to Wales by the divine sow Henwen, the "White Ancient." On the horizon we see the Hill of Tara, in Ireland, which was once known as Muc Inis, Pig Island, when the Tuatha De Danann changed it into the shape of a pig. In the foreground to the right grows sow-thistle, and to the left deadly nightshade, which—it is said—pigs can eat without harm. On the ground lies one of the favorite foods of pigs, the nuts of the beech tree.
Upright Meaning Muc, with her large litters, symbolizes abundance and fertility. Drawn upright, this card may mean that you are called upon to be generous. Feeling connected to the love of the Goddess for all her creatures, you are able to give freely, knowing that you, in turn, are nourished and sustained by her. Choosing this card, you can open yourself to the abundance that exists throughout nature. You can allow yourself to accept this abundance, knowing that life perpetually renews itself, and that you need not worry about ever being disconnected from it. Allow yourself to feast on life—to enjoy its beauties and its sensual delights. The Goddess is generous, giving to all and renewing all.
Reversed Meaning You may need to revise your image of yourself. There is an old saying in Gaelic: "When you thought you were on the sow's back, you were beside her in the puddle." Although the sow symbolizes nourishment, fertility and giving, she can also represent greed and "pig-ignorance." You may need to work toward a greater understanding of the subtleties of life, rather than relying simply on your looks or physique. Without wisdom even beauty can be unattractive, as another Gaelic saying indicates: "As a golden jewel in a pig's snout, is a fair woman without sufficiency of understanding." Pigs' bristles were used for centuries for artists' brushes, and the leather of pigs is exceptionally soft—appearances can be deceptive, so judge people or propositions on their true merits and intrinsic worth rather than their outward appearance.
The Tradition of the SOW
The pig that I killed last year
Has produced young this year
Traditional riddle
Much of the ancient wisdom has entered our everyday world through traditional sayings. Riddles, particularly, were used by the Bards to convey ideas with humor and to test the wits of their audience. The riddle of the pig that produces young, even though killed, refers to a coppiced tree—which appears to have been cut down, until its new shoots are seen in the spring. But beneath this straightforward answer lies a clue that directs us to the symbolic and totemic meaning of the pig in the Druid tradition. The pig is sacred to the Goddess, the providing and nourishing aspect of divinity, and as such it is often depicted in the old tales as a magical beast, which is constantly reborn however many times it is eaten. In Ireland, at each of the hostels of the Otherworld gods, there would be great cauldrons filled with boiled or roasted pork, supplied by pigs who were continually reborn after each slaughter. In the father-god Dagda's sidh, or fairy mound, there was an unending supply of drink, three trees which perpetually bore fruit, and a pig that was always alive to provide food.
The Pig as Nourisher
The pig as a gift from the gods or the Goddess to nourish human-kind was clearly recognized by the Celts. They farmed pigs to such a degree that, the classical writer Diodorus Siculus noted, "they have such enormous herds of swine that they afford a plenteous supply for salt meat." These herds were allowed to forage in the woods, keeping down unwanted shrubs and undergrowth. In the spring and autumn they were turned on to the fields to manure and break up the soil.
Because of the pig's importance to the Celtic way of life, it was honored and respected, and was also used ritualistically
Spread: Card of the Day
Date: Tue Jan 29 11:50:14 EST 2019
Today's Card
Sow
Muc
Pronunciation: Mooc
keywords
Generosity • Nourishment • Discovery
The card shows a sow with her piglets. In the fields behind her we see wheat and barley, said to have been brought to Wales by the divine sow Henwen, the "White Ancient." On the horizon we see the Hill of Tara, in Ireland, which was once known as Muc Inis, Pig Island, when the Tuatha De Danann changed it into the shape of a pig. In the foreground to the right grows sow-thistle, and to the left deadly nightshade, which—it is said—pigs can eat without harm. On the ground lies one of the favorite foods of pigs, the nuts of the beech tree.
Upright Meaning Muc, with her large litters, symbolizes abundance and fertility. Drawn upright, this card may mean that you are called upon to be generous. Feeling connected to the love of the Goddess for all her creatures, you are able to give freely, knowing that you, in turn, are nourished and sustained by her. Choosing this card, you can open yourself to the abundance that exists throughout nature. You can allow yourself to accept this abundance, knowing that life perpetually renews itself, and that you need not worry about ever being disconnected from it. Allow yourself to feast on life—to enjoy its beauties and its sensual delights. The Goddess is generous, giving to all and renewing all.
Reversed Meaning You may need to revise your image of yourself. There is an old saying in Gaelic: "When you thought you were on the sow's back, you were beside her in the puddle." Although the sow symbolizes nourishment, fertility and giving, she can also represent greed and "pig-ignorance." You may need to work toward a greater understanding of the subtleties of life, rather than relying simply on your looks or physique. Without wisdom even beauty can be unattractive, as another Gaelic saying indicates: "As a golden jewel in a pig's snout, is a fair woman without sufficiency of understanding." Pigs' bristles were used for centuries for artists' brushes, and the leather of pigs is exceptionally soft—appearances can be deceptive, so judge people or propositions on their true merits and intrinsic worth rather than their outward appearance.
The Tradition of the SOW
The pig that I killed last year
Has produced young this year
Traditional riddle
Much of the ancient wisdom has entered our everyday world through traditional sayings. Riddles, particularly, were used by the Bards to convey ideas with humor and to test the wits of their audience. The riddle of the pig that produces young, even though killed, refers to a coppiced tree—which appears to have been cut down, until its new shoots are seen in the spring. But beneath this straightforward answer lies a clue that directs us to the symbolic and totemic meaning of the pig in the Druid tradition. The pig is sacred to the Goddess, the providing and nourishing aspect of divinity, and as such it is often depicted in the old tales as a magical beast, which is constantly reborn however many times it is eaten. In Ireland, at each of the hostels of the Otherworld gods, there would be great cauldrons filled with boiled or roasted pork, supplied by pigs who were continually reborn after each slaughter. In the father-god Dagda's sidh, or fairy mound, there was an unending supply of drink, three trees which perpetually bore fruit, and a pig that was always alive to provide food.
The Pig as Nourisher
The pig as a gift from the gods or the Goddess to nourish human-kind was clearly recognized by the Celts. They farmed pigs to such a degree that, the classical writer Diodorus Siculus noted, "they have such enormous herds of swine that they afford a plenteous supply for salt meat." These herds were allowed to forage in the woods, keeping down unwanted shrubs and undergrowth. In the spring and autumn they were turned on to the fields to manure and break up the soil.
Because of the pig's importance to the Celtic way of life, it was honored and respected, and was also used ritualistically
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. At the late Iron Age shrine at Hayling Island in Hampshire, large numbers of pigs have been found buried, and the shrine at South Cadbury in Somerset is connected to an avenue of burials of young pigs, calves and lambs. At the burial site of Skeleton Green in Hertfordshire male pigs were found buried with the men, while the women were buried with birds. A similar connection between male burials and pigs has been discovered in France, and the four columns of the inner sanctum of the Romano-Celtic temple at Hockwold in Norfolk rested on pig and bird bones—perhaps echoing this association of male with pig and female with bird. At the great Druid center of Chartres in France a young pig has been found ritualistically interred in a pit, and at Winklebury in Hampshire a pig and a raven were found buried together in a ritual shaft.
These pits or shafts were used to make thanksgiving offerings and were symbolically associated with the Underworld. The pig as a primary source of nourishment meant that it was a central feature of both the earthly Celtic feast and the Underworld feast too. Many chariot burials in both Britain and France include entire pigs—undoubtedly to ensure the soul's nourishment beyond the mortal realm.
Grandmother Pig
As a source of nourishment, the pig represents the Goddess, and in parts of the Scottish highlands a brood-sow is termed Sean-mhair—grandmother. As evidence that Druidry was perhaps originally Goddess-centered, Druids were referred to as "piglets" and the Goddess was sometimes pictured as a sow. One of the early Welsh Triads, The Three Powerful Swineherds of Britain, talks of the sow Henwen, the White Ancient, who gives birth to a wolf-cub, an eagle, a bee, a kitten and a grain of wheat. Henwen was said to possess great wisdom, having eaten the nuts which had fallen from the beech—a sacred tree of the Druids symbolizing ancient knowledge and tradition. Also within Welsh mythology, Ceridwen, responsible for the initiation and transformation of Gwion Bach into the magical bard Taliesin, is known as the goddess of pigs and barley. She manifests sometimes as a pig, her neophytes being addressed as piglets, her worshipers as swine, her Druid as boar or boar of the trees and her Hierarch as swineherd.
A pig is completely omnivorous—it will eat virtually anything it finds. But this lack of discrimination is balanced by the pig's ability to find hidden treasure, and pigs have been used to discover truffles and other fungal delicacies for centuries in Britain and Europe.
The ability of pigs to discover the earth's secrets is one of the reasons why the pig is so important in the Druid tradition. Both male and female pigs are sacred to the Goddess—the sow representing her life-giving aspect, the boar symbolizing her life-taking aspect. To fully understand the role of the pig as a totem animal we must study and work with both sow and boar.
Presented by The Druid Oracles app from The Fool's Dog.
These pits or shafts were used to make thanksgiving offerings and were symbolically associated with the Underworld. The pig as a primary source of nourishment meant that it was a central feature of both the earthly Celtic feast and the Underworld feast too. Many chariot burials in both Britain and France include entire pigs—undoubtedly to ensure the soul's nourishment beyond the mortal realm.
Grandmother Pig
As a source of nourishment, the pig represents the Goddess, and in parts of the Scottish highlands a brood-sow is termed Sean-mhair—grandmother. As evidence that Druidry was perhaps originally Goddess-centered, Druids were referred to as "piglets" and the Goddess was sometimes pictured as a sow. One of the early Welsh Triads, The Three Powerful Swineherds of Britain, talks of the sow Henwen, the White Ancient, who gives birth to a wolf-cub, an eagle, a bee, a kitten and a grain of wheat. Henwen was said to possess great wisdom, having eaten the nuts which had fallen from the beech—a sacred tree of the Druids symbolizing ancient knowledge and tradition. Also within Welsh mythology, Ceridwen, responsible for the initiation and transformation of Gwion Bach into the magical bard Taliesin, is known as the goddess of pigs and barley. She manifests sometimes as a pig, her neophytes being addressed as piglets, her worshipers as swine, her Druid as boar or boar of the trees and her Hierarch as swineherd.
A pig is completely omnivorous—it will eat virtually anything it finds. But this lack of discrimination is balanced by the pig's ability to find hidden treasure, and pigs have been used to discover truffles and other fungal delicacies for centuries in Britain and Europe.
The ability of pigs to discover the earth's secrets is one of the reasons why the pig is so important in the Druid tradition. Both male and female pigs are sacred to the Goddess—the sow representing her life-giving aspect, the boar symbolizing her life-taking aspect. To fully understand the role of the pig as a totem animal we must study and work with both sow and boar.
Presented by The Druid Oracles app from The Fool's Dog.
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Deck: The Druid Oracles
Spread: One Card
Date: Tue Jan 29 11:51:02 EST 2019
Your Card
Hind
Eilid
Pronunciation: Elij
keywords
Subtlety • Gracefulness • Femininity
The card shows a white hind in the forest in late summer or early fall. Acorns hang heavy from the oaks. The hind calls us to follow her deeper into the forest. Standing in a shaft of sunlight, she appears so elusive we are not even sure if she is of this world.
Upright Meaning Eilid brings us the gentleness and grace of the feminine principle. Whether you are male or female, opening to the qualities of the hind will enable you to achieve a greater degree of sophistication, subtlety and elegance—in the best possible senses of these terms.
Deer, and the white hind in particular, call to us from the Otherworld, from the realm of Faery, and invite us to look beyond the material, beyond the superficialities of life, toward the heart of things, toward the realm of causes rather than effects. Poised in moon or sunlight, Eilid invites us to begin an exploration of the Otherworld, of the spiritual dimension of life.
Reversed Meaning This card may be advising you to be less self-effacing. Rather than adapting yourself, like a chameleon, to the perceived demands and expectations of those around you, you may need to become more assertive. You may also need to be wary of becoming preoccupied with the Otherworld. Our psychic life has its seasons, and at times it is good and balancing for us to explore the inner mysteries, but at other times it is important for us to focus our awareness on everyday life. You may have reached a time when an interest in the esoteric needs balancing with a period of outer activity. Do not worry that you will lose touch with the Otherworld, for the magical white hind will always be waiting for you at the edge of the woods, ready to guide you into the heart of the forest.
The Tradition of the HIND
The clear voice of the red-backed deer
Under the oak tree, high on the summit
Gentle hinds and they so timid
Lying hidden in your well-wooded glade
From "Deirdre Remembers a Glen," Irish fourteenth century
A female red deer is known as a hind, and this graceful animal was considered especially sacred by the Celts and Druids. In Scotland they are called "fairy cattle" and it is said that they are milked on the mountain tops by the fairies. Others believe that the hinds themselves are fairy women who have taken the form of deer.
There were at least three great hag-goddesses in Scotland who cared for these fairy cattle—one, called the Cailleach-mor-nam-fiadh, lived in the mountains on Jura, another, known as the Cailleach mhor Chlibric (The Great Hag of Clibric), protected the deer from hunters, and the third, the Cailleach Beinn-a-bhric, herded and milked them in the hills and forests. Verses of her milking song are still known to this day.
Lugaid and the Hag
The connection between hind and hag is also found in Ireland, in the story of how Lugaid became king. His father King Daire was told that whichever son of his was named Lugaid would inherit the throne. Because he could not bear to favor one of his five sons over the other four, he named each of them Lugaid. A Druid then told him that the son who caught a young hind would become the king. The five brothers set out hunting and eventually managed to hunt and eat a fawn. They then got lost in a snowstorm, and came upon an extraordinary house occupied by an ugly hag who asked each of the brothers to have intercourse with her. Four of them refused, but Lugaid Laigde, who had killed the fawn, agreed, and as he made love to her she turned into the most beautiful of women—symbolizing the goddess of the sovereignty of Ireland.
The Irish goddess of wild things was known as Flidhais—probably a divine huntress like Diana. Like the Great Hags of Scotland, she cared for deer cattle, and is known to some as the deer goddess.
Fairy women could be turned into deer by their rulers—a hundred sidh (fairy) girls met this fate when their queen had a fit of jealous rage. Mortals could become deer too:
Spread: One Card
Date: Tue Jan 29 11:51:02 EST 2019
Your Card
Hind
Eilid
Pronunciation: Elij
keywords
Subtlety • Gracefulness • Femininity
The card shows a white hind in the forest in late summer or early fall. Acorns hang heavy from the oaks. The hind calls us to follow her deeper into the forest. Standing in a shaft of sunlight, she appears so elusive we are not even sure if she is of this world.
Upright Meaning Eilid brings us the gentleness and grace of the feminine principle. Whether you are male or female, opening to the qualities of the hind will enable you to achieve a greater degree of sophistication, subtlety and elegance—in the best possible senses of these terms.
Deer, and the white hind in particular, call to us from the Otherworld, from the realm of Faery, and invite us to look beyond the material, beyond the superficialities of life, toward the heart of things, toward the realm of causes rather than effects. Poised in moon or sunlight, Eilid invites us to begin an exploration of the Otherworld, of the spiritual dimension of life.
Reversed Meaning This card may be advising you to be less self-effacing. Rather than adapting yourself, like a chameleon, to the perceived demands and expectations of those around you, you may need to become more assertive. You may also need to be wary of becoming preoccupied with the Otherworld. Our psychic life has its seasons, and at times it is good and balancing for us to explore the inner mysteries, but at other times it is important for us to focus our awareness on everyday life. You may have reached a time when an interest in the esoteric needs balancing with a period of outer activity. Do not worry that you will lose touch with the Otherworld, for the magical white hind will always be waiting for you at the edge of the woods, ready to guide you into the heart of the forest.
The Tradition of the HIND
The clear voice of the red-backed deer
Under the oak tree, high on the summit
Gentle hinds and they so timid
Lying hidden in your well-wooded glade
From "Deirdre Remembers a Glen," Irish fourteenth century
A female red deer is known as a hind, and this graceful animal was considered especially sacred by the Celts and Druids. In Scotland they are called "fairy cattle" and it is said that they are milked on the mountain tops by the fairies. Others believe that the hinds themselves are fairy women who have taken the form of deer.
There were at least three great hag-goddesses in Scotland who cared for these fairy cattle—one, called the Cailleach-mor-nam-fiadh, lived in the mountains on Jura, another, known as the Cailleach mhor Chlibric (The Great Hag of Clibric), protected the deer from hunters, and the third, the Cailleach Beinn-a-bhric, herded and milked them in the hills and forests. Verses of her milking song are still known to this day.
Lugaid and the Hag
The connection between hind and hag is also found in Ireland, in the story of how Lugaid became king. His father King Daire was told that whichever son of his was named Lugaid would inherit the throne. Because he could not bear to favor one of his five sons over the other four, he named each of them Lugaid. A Druid then told him that the son who caught a young hind would become the king. The five brothers set out hunting and eventually managed to hunt and eat a fawn. They then got lost in a snowstorm, and came upon an extraordinary house occupied by an ugly hag who asked each of the brothers to have intercourse with her. Four of them refused, but Lugaid Laigde, who had killed the fawn, agreed, and as he made love to her she turned into the most beautiful of women—symbolizing the goddess of the sovereignty of Ireland.
The Irish goddess of wild things was known as Flidhais—probably a divine huntress like Diana. Like the Great Hags of Scotland, she cared for deer cattle, and is known to some as the deer goddess.
Fairy women could be turned into deer by their rulers—a hundred sidh (fairy) girls met this fate when their queen had a fit of jealous rage. Mortals could become deer too:
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in the Fionn Cycle of tales from Ireland a Black Druid turns Fionn's future wife into a fawn. In the Welsh tale Math, from the Mabinogion, the brothers Gwydion and Gilfaethwy are turned into a stag and a hind for one year as a punishment. And in both the Scottish and Irish tradition, the mother of Ossian was turned into a hind through enchantment before she gave birth to the hero-poet.
"Three Ages of Man, Age of Deer, Three Ages of Deer, Age of Oak Tree"
In the world of the Celts the deer was treasured for its hide: the skin of the hind was used to make women's clothes, and in the Irish Cattle Raid of Cooley, Cu-Chulainn's charioteer is described as wearing a "skin-soft tunic of stitched deer's leather, light as a breath." Archeologists conclude that the deer was probably the most common wild and hunted creature to be buried in the British ritual pits. At the major ritual site of Winklebury in Hampshire a pit containing a red deer surrounded by twelve foxes was unearthed, showing the importance the Celts attached to both these creatures.
The hind in particular was seen as a magical animal, capable of affecting men's lives and ways. The Scottish Lord of Kilmersdon's life was changed when he followed a magical white hind through the forest. After a mile or so it vanished, but such happiness came into his life from that moment that he built a Lady Chapel in the local church in gratitude. Another enchanted hind appeared before a hunter in the Highlands as a beautiful woman, holding the arrow he had just loosed. "I am the leader of my herd," she told the astonished hunter, "I am under Fith Fath (enchantment) and you must promise only to shoot at stags, not hinds." As he made his promise, the woman vanished, singing gently of her deer herd.
Further evidence of the way fairies protected their animals is shown in another Scottish tale of a hunter's dog who chased a white fairy hind grazing near Loch Ericht. The hind eventually led the dog into the waters of the loch, a gateway to the Underworld, and neither was ever seen again. In Ireland the story is told of Fionn mac Cumhaill who hunts a deer to the edge of a lake. Suddenly she turns into a beautiful girl who drops her ring in the water and asks Fionn to retrieve it. As he does so, he turns into a withered old man.
The Goddess, too, protects her deer. In another Irish tale, the Fianna were at one time hunting a fawn that led them to Slieve-nam-Ban, the Hill of the Woman. There she put down her head and vanished into the earth.
If our intention is to harm the animal realm, we should beware. But for those of us who hunt for knowledge, and not to kill, the shape-shifting hind will lead us ever deeper into the heart of the forest, ever deeper into encounters with the Otherworld, and with the realm of Faery.
Presented by The Druid Oracles app from The Fool's Dog.
"Three Ages of Man, Age of Deer, Three Ages of Deer, Age of Oak Tree"
In the world of the Celts the deer was treasured for its hide: the skin of the hind was used to make women's clothes, and in the Irish Cattle Raid of Cooley, Cu-Chulainn's charioteer is described as wearing a "skin-soft tunic of stitched deer's leather, light as a breath." Archeologists conclude that the deer was probably the most common wild and hunted creature to be buried in the British ritual pits. At the major ritual site of Winklebury in Hampshire a pit containing a red deer surrounded by twelve foxes was unearthed, showing the importance the Celts attached to both these creatures.
The hind in particular was seen as a magical animal, capable of affecting men's lives and ways. The Scottish Lord of Kilmersdon's life was changed when he followed a magical white hind through the forest. After a mile or so it vanished, but such happiness came into his life from that moment that he built a Lady Chapel in the local church in gratitude. Another enchanted hind appeared before a hunter in the Highlands as a beautiful woman, holding the arrow he had just loosed. "I am the leader of my herd," she told the astonished hunter, "I am under Fith Fath (enchantment) and you must promise only to shoot at stags, not hinds." As he made his promise, the woman vanished, singing gently of her deer herd.
Further evidence of the way fairies protected their animals is shown in another Scottish tale of a hunter's dog who chased a white fairy hind grazing near Loch Ericht. The hind eventually led the dog into the waters of the loch, a gateway to the Underworld, and neither was ever seen again. In Ireland the story is told of Fionn mac Cumhaill who hunts a deer to the edge of a lake. Suddenly she turns into a beautiful girl who drops her ring in the water and asks Fionn to retrieve it. As he does so, he turns into a withered old man.
The Goddess, too, protects her deer. In another Irish tale, the Fianna were at one time hunting a fawn that led them to Slieve-nam-Ban, the Hill of the Woman. There she put down her head and vanished into the earth.
If our intention is to harm the animal realm, we should beware. But for those of us who hunt for knowledge, and not to kill, the shape-shifting hind will lead us ever deeper into the heart of the forest, ever deeper into encounters with the Otherworld, and with the realm of Faery.
Presented by The Druid Oracles app from The Fool's Dog.