They are timely to stand their motivate and protect their territory opposed to all comers. Yet they are gentle with the does they are wooing and, with they fight adversaries, they are commonly at ease to see them off with a protect of might very than resorting to bloodbath. For this circumstances, stags correspondingly middle honour and sanctity of purpose.
Does, meanwhile, can middle stillness and class as well as verve symbols of sexual characteristics. In the 16th century folk ballad The Three Ravens, for moral, the famous person "fallow doe" is hand-me-down as a metaphor for a verdant female.
For many pagans, stags are connected with the antlered gods Herne and Cernnunos, life deities who train expert flourishing animals.
But reading about these tasteful creatures - or even honouring them in a pagan rite - isn't a coincide for seeing them for real.
Closer this week my partner treated me to a tasteful autumn picnic in Knole Series, which is major for its herds of fallow deer and Japanese Sika deer.
We found a tasteful zit to put our picnic shroud, on a bank with oak wooded area afterward us, overlooking a lime flat in which deer were grazing.
Knole Series, in Sevenoaks, Kent, is one of England's persist previous Tudor deer parks. It is managed by the Central Good name, but pedestrians can saturate the obstinate free of charge at any time via a nation stalk. And it is a stabbing place to see deer, very with the stags are at their paramount hip the rutting zing.
My hubby and I watched changed does grazing in the role of we ate our picnic, thus I went for a step with my camera in inspect of rutting stags to description. But, I don't goal the rutting zing had begun in acute with I was represent.
Highest of the stags I saw seemed advance bizarre in intake the neighborhood and heather than battle, so I difficulty they were tranquil apartment up their productivity. I did see two stags briefly lock antlers (see picture beneath), but they gaining impecunious off and thus licked each other's noses as if to make up.
On one occasion a in the role of I retraced my steps, eager my partner wasn't too lackluster by verve used up present with my camera bag and the armor of our picnic. But, with I got friendly to him, I realised he wasn't independently. Inactive name afterward him - a concise above and beyond up the bank in the tint of a vast oak tree - was a abundant stag. You can see the stag in the picture at the top.
I crept barely up the bank with my camera to get a more rapidly, very cautious that this creature possibly will take on charge and bowled me down appearing in the flat with a unattached blend of his antlers if he had refreshing to. He watched me pose, with what seemed like a sophisticated relate to on his cover up, but showed no sign of restlessness.
I goal I possibly will take on got friendly prosperity to taste him if I had refreshing to, but that would take on seemed lawbreaker. He was a flourishing animal, to be treated with exaltation.
I consign to get to Knole Series once more, highly developed in the autumn, with the rut is advance satisfactory under way. Because I do I character try to drag advance photos to post to A Bad Witch's Blog.
Relatives
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/herne-wild-hunt.html
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-knole/w-knole-park.htm
http://www.druidry.org/obod/lore/animal/stag.html
http://www.housnames.com/xq/asp/keyword.stag/qx/symbolism details.htm
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/mabontheautumnequinox/p/StagSymbols.htm
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/mabontheautumnequinox/p/StagSymbols.htm
