Deer Medicine & The Deer Spirit Logo
In July 2006, I led a guided meditation at my Reiki Circle in which we sent a grounding cord from our 1st chakra to the iron crystal core of earth. As everyone connected to the core, the energy in the room shifted and we entered an altered state. The silence was so deep... so beautiful... and then, in my inner eye, I saw Deer Spirit enter the circle!
How auspicious to have Deer enter our circle! To the indigenous people of the Americas, especially the Huichol tribe in Mexico, Deer is regarded with great reverence and respect. The Huichol believe that deer is the animal of love and the heart and is deeply connected with the spirit world. The Deer Dance is the most sacred dance for the Huichol, one that helps them connect with the divine. The Huichol word for deer is Kayumarie.
​
"If you've never been really up close and personal with deer they really can be the sweetest beings.
They do have such great hearts. I used to have a friend who referred to deer as the king of the animals and this is not because deer had some power over but rather because they have great heart.
They have great compassion not only for their own kind but for others and also because they are prepared to make sacrifices not only to preserve their own families and their own communities but sometimes so that human beings might live and thrive." - quoted from Robert Shapiro's blog
Later, while studying Aluna Joy Yaxkin's wonderful book - "Mayan - Pleiadean Cosmology", I discovered the Mayan sun sign called Manik. Manik means "the hand that heals" and the power animal for Manik is the Deer.
Later that week, Granny Wolf and I went to Pennsylvania to take part in the sweat lodge ceremony. Wanagi Wi, our host, spoke of Kayumarie in the lodge. The Lakota Sioux prayers and medicine songs were so beautiful! After the lodge, the whitetail deer came near the house to eat the apples we left for them. We went inside to eat dinner and I saw the wands that Wanagi Wi makes from antlers and quartz crystals. One of them was calling out to me - "take me, take me!" I bought the wand and now I use it to draw the Reiki power symbol in the 7 directions for the opening blessing at the circle. The next Monday I arrived at Madison Wellness Center to set up for the Reiki Circle and there was a little Christmas reindeer on the chest where we set up our Reiki altar. Now I knew without a doubt that the Deer was the totem animal of our Reiki tribe!
The main qualities that I see embodied in Deer are gentleness, silence, grace and love and these are the qualities that we can embody as Reiki practitioners. Let's take a look at these qualities and see how we can incorporate them into our healing practice.
Gentleness
When I took Reiki 1 & 2 with Louisiana Zinn, she told us to always use a very light touch - "Light as a feather ", she used to say. When I teach, I always emphasize this. I've found that when we touch very gently, the Reiki is more powerful and flows more freely. It seems that when there is a little bit of air between the hand and the body, the subtle vibrational field of the Reiki can interface more effectively with the receiver's energy field.
Silence
I've found that inner and outer silence is essential to healing. If you come to Deer Spirit Reiki circle, you will be asked to maintain silence during the treatments. If we are thinking too much, the mind is noisy and we can't feel the subtle healing energies flowing through us. When the mind becomes still, like the surface of a lake on a windless day, we can enter into the temple of the heart. We leave the temporal realm behind and enter the transcendent realm, which is infinite and eternal. In this realm we can listen to the silent messages of spirit which speak to us through intuition. When we work in silence and inner peace, our client may be entrained into these vibrations with us and this is when deep healing can occur.
Grace
Grace happens when we let go of fear and surrender to Source. Grace is forgiveness and whole hearted acceptance. Grace is elegance, beauty and generosity of spirit. As Reiki practitioners, we can be a conduit for the gift of Grace.
Love
When I say love, I'm not talking about infatuation or the clinging, grasping kind of love that arises out of self centered fear, loneliness, and insecurity. I'm talking about Big Love - transcendental, unconditional and all encompassing. This love which heals comes through grace from Source in the inner silent sanctuary of the spiritual heart. This is Deer Medicine!
Deer Spirit Healing