The stag seems to be following me of late. I see him as a friendly entity. Western Pagans might know him as Cernunos, Herne or a form of the Wild Man of the Wood. In natural history, the Red Stag (or Bull Elk to North Americans) is a powerful figure, bent on procreation above all else. Metaphysically, or metaphorically, I see him as representing fatherhood and therefore a deep creative impulse. A primal urge to make something, to bring forth a representation of ones deepest being as a gift to the future.
The Red Stag came up in a reading I did recently. Here is part of what I wrote about him in that reading -
 | "The Red Stag is a beautiful and imposing creature, but I wouldn't describe him as cuddly!! This is an animal preoccupied with breeding, and with fighting to breed. When we try to transpose that directly into human behaviour he just doesn't sound like a very nice guy. So let's not do that! Cards don't work that way. Let's think of the creative urge. In the animal, it's the urge to create more elk, but here it might mean an incredibly strong urge to make something meaningful, or to pass on something important. This is also a form of love, although it's not the directly nurturing, caring and protective love of a mother, or of many modern fathers. It's also the love of an artist or other creative person for their work, and ultimately for the society who will benefit in some way from that work. Although the creative urge can sometimes make people appear selfish, at some level they are driven by love." |
The Celts talked of imbas or of awen. Words that might be explained, if not exactly translated, by other words such as breath, inspiration, muse, impulse, enlightenment and so on. Where does this come from? Although I have no firm answers, I think it's an important question. The answers may lie in each person's belief system. God ... some particular god or goddess ... the soul ... the psyche ... ancestral memory. I think the important concept is this: it comes from somewhere good. This inspiration, literally a breath blowing into us, and giving us life, is asking us to operate at a higher vibration - to bring that which is beautiful to light, to be shared. Just as there can be no ill reason why the stag wishes to procreate, surely there can be no bad energy in awen. (What the recipient does with it, I suppose, is another story.)
I've noticed that many people are worried about opening the door to awen in the form of meditation, or something like a card reading. Yet it is only a chance for a deeper version of a familiar experience. The experience of being moved by nature or art, the experience of creating something meaningful or of knowing something greater than ourselves. While you have probably experienced all these things in a very pleasurable way, you may have also experienced them as challenging at times. They may allow us to feel or release deep emotions, make us aware of our mortality, cause us to question our beliefs or simply to expend effort. However, we call the shots. We can walk out of the theatre if the movie is too graphic, or stay in our own garden rather than have an extreme wilderness experience, we can enjoy the creativity of raising kids, rather than painting the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.
When we meditate, we try in some way to de-clutter our thoughts. Whether we strive for an "empty" mind or a focused one, we are surely opening ourselves to imbas, as well as simply de-stressing. Fifteen minutes on the meditation cushion is unlikely to bring either nirvana nor terror, however, it could be the start of something good. It could be the start of enlightenment. It could become a chance for a regular visit to an island of peace, and a chance to begin to carry a little more peace within.
When I do a reading for someone, we are both opening ourselves to a high level of inspiration. How deep this experience goes depends partly on my skill and intention in delivering a reading. Once it is placed in your hands, though, it becomes your responsibility. You get to call the shots. You can take it lightly, with a grain of salt, if it doesn't suit you, or you can over think it to such a degree that it drives you a little nuts. (I hope you don't do that, of course!) I hope that it becomes a little piece of awen that moves through me to you. I hope that it inspires your life in some great ways, but you have to take it, and make it yours and work with it for this to happen. I do believe that this is another reason that you have nothing to fear from a reading. You deal with the material in your own time, on your own terms.
When I do a reading for someone, we are both opening ourselves to a high level of inspiration. How deep this experience goes depends partly on my skill and intention in delivering a reading. Once it is placed in your hands, though, it becomes your responsibility. You get to call the shots. You can take it lightly, with a grain of salt, if it doesn't suit you, or you can over think it to such a degree that it drives you a little nuts. (I hope you don't do that, of course!) I hope that it becomes a little piece of awen that moves through me to you. I hope that it inspires your life in some great ways, but you have to take it, and make it yours and work with it for this to happen. I do believe that this is another reason that you have nothing to fear from a reading. You deal with the material in your own time, on your own terms.
| When I consider this creative energy as it presents itself in our lives, I think we might understand it best through some questions. What am I driven to create? Am I honouring my creative impulse? Do I need to deal with anything that's blocking this? Is there an imbalance in my creative energy? We need to sort these things out occasionally, get them out of our way, and then we probably need to get out of our own way, and just do it. Like the stag, it's by giving ourselves over to the creative impulse that we truly find out who we are. |  Stag image: Peter Trimming |
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