Druid Animal Oracle Study Group-Stag

majah kahlana

First of all I apologise for getting behind on this. Life got in the way and I forgot I was doing this lol.

Okay now for the Stag:
I love the arch of the birch trees in this card. It makes me feel as if the Stag is about to led you on adventure that starts when you step through that arch. I dont see the Stag as being just the male counterpart to the Hind. I look at a Stag and think, "Majesty, power, authority, fatherhood (sorry left-over from Disney's Bambi, I think lol)" This is a magnificent animal, I think. Its like God was showing off when He made the Stag. Kind of like "Look what I can do." Then He creates this animal that just exudes power all over the place. It sort of reminds me of those guys described in romance novels... ultra Alpha male, super sexy, women falling at their feet, men tripping all over themselves to be aligned with him in some way.
As for an interpretation of this card: Fierce independence in a good way, power used to better mankind (like a king), and even a bit of sexual magnetism thrown in the mix.

Love to hear your thoughts.
MK
 

2dogs

I love the arch of the birch trees in this card. It makes me feel as if the Stag is about to led you on adventure that starts when you step through that arch.

Yes that is definitely an archway. I have aleady read that the silver birch represents new beginnings and purity, which with the beautifully coloured dawn sky on the other side makes me think of a gateway to some ideal otherworld or dream world through which fresh energy and new things are coming to rejuvenate the physical world that we know. The symbol on the rock in the bottom right reminds me of a geyser erupting from a pool, a ray or particle shooting out of an atom, an electrical switch or the two circles and straight line of nothing, everything and one. I also get the feeling of powerful energy from the forked lightning shapes of the stag's antlers and the branches of the birch trees above, the rising sun and the way the image has caught the stag mid stride and bellowing, he is very nearly coming out of the picture. The human figure carved on the rock at bottom left is presumably a god, who appears to be holding something in his left hand and throwing it forward with his right - possibly the seeds of the plants flowering right at the front of the card? He is wearing antlers, giving me the idea that he has taken the form of or is acting the part of the stag. All in all the message I am getting from this card is one of a continuously active creative force and a god that doesn't stand apart from the world but takes part in it, experiencing it from the inside, feeling what it is like to be a stag, or indeed anything else.
 

2dogs

Having just received some new Druidical decks I have been looking through them for stags and birch trees to find out more of what these symbols mean -

The Green Man Tree Oracle lists Birch as the first letter in the Druid alphabet and gives it the message of following a good start through to a successful conclusion.

The birch appears in all four aces of the DruidCraft Tarot due to its association with beginnings, and is joined by the stag in the Ace of Wands, the stag being the totem animal of Fire. This again has the idea of starting a project and then putting in the energy to complete it.

The Lord in the Sacred Circle and DruidCraft Tarots are similar human figures wearing antler headdresses. These expand on the figure carved on the rock rather than the main subjects of the stag and birch trees and so lead off into a somewhat different avenue of exploration.

The Stag in the Wildwood Tarot doesn't resonate with me particularly at the moment but the Ancestor card fits in very well - a woman with the head of a stag standing between two birch trees in the snow and beating a drum. This is about being led to a new path and passing through a gateway leading into the far forest, beginning a commitment from which you cannot turn back. This card is associated with the Druid festival of Imbolc, marking the stirrings of the first signs of spring. Seeing as the date of Imbolc is the first of February this makes me think this sort of study is probably what I should be pursuing further ;).
 

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