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Yule Deer Invocations to Aid and Strengthen Our Compassion

Yule Deer Invocations to Aid and Strengthen Our Compassion

Last updated on: December 11, 2020 at 12:00 pm by Melissa Hill

Yule Deer Invocations to Aid and Strengthen Our Compassion 2020-12-05T11:57:52-04:00 Melissa Hill

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These yule deer invocations are inspired by many threads of story, song, poetry, and folk art woven together. They are both true and untrue, real and not real. They live on the edge of liminal space where the thin line of the dawn emerges from the darkness and the deer forages for the tips of white pine in the snow.

The deer is an iconic part of winter solstice myth, from Rudolph the red-nosed savior to folklore about the deer as the carrier of the sun, to the Scythian fire deer, a goddess in her own right, and daughter of the sun. I have taken these ideas into myself and attempted to distill something modern and useful for now, making art and prayer about this motif. For me, what emerged was the cycle of the hunter and hunted the sacrifices we make to keep our lives going, and the internal strength that comes when you are doing what needs to be done.

Sacrifice is a difficult thing, we often talk blithely about it as pagans, sacrificing incense or alcohol and those are good things. The Spirits clearly appreciate our efforts. However, sometimes it’s the almost invisible sacrifices that mean the most. It’s the parent who takes a third job in order to support their children. The adult child who chooses to move home and take care of their elderly parent. The supportive partner, the true friend, so many ways to sacrifice for the needs of others. It’s a fine line, to be supportive versus being used, and certainly, I’ve personally looked back and wished that I had shared less of my time with some people. But in many ways, that sharing is what makes us human. It is a powerful expression of compassion and love.

It behooves us all to take some time to consider our sacrifices:

How and what do you sacrifice for others?
What do others sacrifice for you?
How can you be more compassionate and giving?
What gifts could you be giving to the world this year?

Consider if you are asking too much from your community or not enough. If you do have plenty of presents under the Christmas tree, consider helping others. Likewise, take the time to make sure your money or effort is going to worthy causes, rather than doing what is easy and feeling good about dumping some change into the red buckets of Salvation Army’s anti-trans grocery store gimmick. If you are struggling for money or time, it’s okay to ask for help. Take it from someone who has struggled with asking often enough. Recently I read Amanda Palmer’s The Art of Asking, and it was incredibly valuable for me, as an artist who works for my dinner.

Onward to the invocations! Read them out loud or silently, light a candle and imagine it to be the sun as you call on the power of the Yule Deer. If you’d like, you can pick up a print of my painting pictured below, a rendition of the sun deer in a series I’ve done for the whole Wheel of the Year. It works very well as part of an altar to call on the strength of the deer.

Yule deer invocations: image is of a watercolor painting of a deer looking at you with a four fold geometry behind the deer. There is a starry sky and a border filled with folk art.

Prayer Story of the Sun Deer

Found in Bulgarian, Scythian, Hungarian myth.

The deer that holds the sun in its antlers

It runs.

The fleeing deer whose heart is shaped as the crescent moon

it leaps.

The sacred deer racing through the mountains to the highest peak.

The holy deer races from the hunter’s hunger.

Pursued in the winter darkness, holding the light in her tines.

Will the hunter catch her, will the darkness hold, will the hunter’s stars be king of both day and night?

She reaches the peak, she leaps and is caught as the light ascends to the sky.

Sacrifice.

The spear strikes true and the hunter has won his prey, but still, the light ascends on the darkest day.

The holy deer walks wounded.

The sacred deer is hunter’s meat.

Life given, life taken, and life continued again, the soul of the sun is free.

the darkness begins to wane.

Sun strengthened by sacrifice’s gift.

Yule Deer Invocation: a digital watercolor painting of a buck deer standing in a woods with the sun between it's antlers.

Prayer To The Sun Deer for Strength in Sacrifice

Bright Horn’ed Doe, Be with me in darkness

Light Footed Foe, Be with me in fear

Let fright flee from me even as I run

Let strength be with me, bright as the sun

Let stamina be in me, to get my duty done

The fire of the sun above me

The love of the earth below me

The light of the moon within me

The blessings of the grove around me

I am strengthened by the spirits

I am given wisdom for my work

I am brave

I am cunning

I am true

I have work to do.

Resources about the Yule Deer Invocations

The Dancing Goddesses by Elizabeth Wayland Barber

Scythian fire deer

https://medium.com/@Mullerornis/on-the-scythian-pantheon-44781876b6ef

Hungarian Horned Sun Doe

https://www.whitestag.org/program_spirit/legend/ethnic_stories_of_the_white_stag.html

Slavic Deer Woman

https://eldermountaindreaming.com/2018/08/07/elen-of-the-ways-magical-deer-woman/

Plant spirits including yew and dandelion create a wreath around the name Dandelionlady

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