For the wixaritarie people who inhabit central Mexico and are more commonly known as huicholes, the deer is an animal that translates the language of the gods for men. For the huicholes, the deer is the first shaman or mara’kame that later becomes an interlocutor between the shamans and other gods. The deer is closely linked to two plants: its heart is a peyote – the animal and the plant are one in essence – and corn, which is a deer and is represented by its antlers. In this tradition there is an infinity of deer and the most important are the original five, which are located at the five cardinal points (the blue, red, white, black and yellow deer). The reproductive cycle of the deer is connected to the huicholes’ ritual calendar.

The deer, which is related in many traditions with kindness, softness and gentleness, is, in one way or another, an animal that is connected to the gods and the sacred. One of the reasons for this could be its physical characteristics – its stare, its agility, its speed and its antlers— which inspire those values and symbols in the imagination of humans and in its metaphorical nature.

Tagged: Deers, Shamanism, Symbols