Dear Friends,
I want to share with you the amazing experience of joining with deer spirit which inspired this painting.
My hope is that you can use these methods to also join with deer and gain the deep forest insights deer spirit has to offer
. I should say that you don’t have to go hiking to do this. You can simply sit and focus on the painting and get many of the same experiences.
One day
my husband took me out into the mountains to see wild deer. I really didn’t know what to expect as we put on our day packs and began hiking.
At some point he saw a disturbance on the ground he said meant a deer had crossed the trail. We followed the sign, cutting off across country away from the trail.
Then one set of tracks joined many and we were on a deer trail which wound around through the woods and fields.
We came to a place he called one of their “haunts.” He said a haunt is a sacred place they instinctually like, where traces of their energies remain. If you wait there various deer will come to it, almost in reverence. It always looks like a beautiful little spot that makes your heart skip a beat he told me.
He then told me to visualize the deer being in the place we now stood. “You have to see them there” he said, which helps you better follow them if the trail runs out.
He said a haunt is a sacred place deer instinctually like, where traces of their energies remain.
Then it got really interesting.
He told me that
you then have to ask deer spirit if you can enter their space
. He said if you present yourself honestly without trying to hide anything or cover up any weaknesses, deer will let you become part of the herd, and you can project your spirit into the body of one of them. “Being pure of heart so you can join is not about having never done anything wrong” he said. “It is about having pure intentions and in a sense laying bare your soul.”
Being pure of heart to enter deer spirit is simply about being honest about yourself and your intentions. What you may have done in the past is not of consequence. Those things are forgiven in this world.
He explained that you have to feel your energies go out and enter the deer then see yourself looking out through the eyes of the deer at the place where the tracks show the deer has just been. He said that you try to imagine as much of the deer’s experience as you can and relate it back to your physical experience. He usually repeats these words as he enters the deer:
"My breath to your breath. My heart to your heart. My eyes to your eyes. My mind to your mind. My soul to your soul."
He then told me that he uses the same method with other animals, especially with birds so he can project himself out to them and see what they see as they fly. For him it works best with raven. But he said you can also do it with plants, trees, water, and landscape.
He had me touch a tree and feel the soul of the tree join with my heart.
Anyone can do this and the experience is like an awakening.
I tried it and I got little glimpses or flashes of the deer where I was a deer myself. It was quick as I jumped out to the deer but then immediately came back to me. I hadn’t practiced this before so it was harder for me. He said you jump back and forth like this, faster and faster
until at some point it seems you are both deer and you
,
and deer has jumped over to become you and deer.
Spencer then took deep breaths and when I looked at him closely his demeanor and movements had changed as he peered down the trail. He somehow reminded me of a deer.
He had magically become "deer."
He looked down a ridge at many gullies joining the top, pointed to one gully in particular
and said they will be in that one
. The way he explained it was that he beamed his presence or energy out across the landscape, feeling it, and all living things, and because he was joined with deer he could feel their souls in a certain place.
We no longer needed to follow their tracks. We just walked straight to the gully about a mile and a half away, headed down and there was a herd of about 8 deer feeding. We moved in slowly, like a deer would and got to within 30 yards.
He explained there are “tricks” to moving in such a fashion that you don’t disturb them, like moving slowly and keeping your hands at your side. But the best way he said is to just to connect to deer spirit and you will do this all naturally.
They seemed undisturbed although we weren’t really hiding.
We were just taking on the movements and attributes of the deer. It was like they accepted us as one of the herd although they were a little nervous because to the eyes we were obviously human.
Spencer then explained that the way Native Americans, first nation or aboriginal peoples hunt deer is to become one with the deer like we had, then respectfully ask the deer to give its life so the tribe can survive. “If the heart and intentions are pure, deer will give themselves to the native hunter” he said. The native hunter in turn thanks the deer for the gift.
I now understood why at least once a week Spencer disappears into the woods for many hours. He is out there tracking and joining with the animals. He craves the bonding.
This is why we live in Colorado in a more rural area. He says he always has to live on the edge of what he calls
“the big wild”
so he can go out and find his soul. Where we live we can actually look out across our balcony and see deer on a nearby hill. I often see him silently standing and “joining” with them as they run along its trails.
The night after we did this,
I dreamed all night of the deer
, much like when I was a child and rode roller coasters then went home and in my sleep felt I was still on the ride. I visited their sacred places and gained insights and understandings that come on a base or primal level and cannot really be put into words. While I didn’t create the painting of Deer Spirit at that moment, the experience and feelings stuck with me and allowed me to later paint it.
I
n this painting, the deer stand in one of their sacred spots or haunts, and the mysteries of the big wild are found in the blue, misty area behind. The blue represents the mystical secrets deer unlocks for you while the light to the left reflects the spiritual illumination that can be gained from connecting to deer spirit.
This painting projects all of the energies of the experience I had and what I learned. It can be used by you to gain the same thing. You can visualize yourself joining with deer as she and her fawn turn off and go into the blue where you will learn deep forest secrets. Or you can see her walking into the warm yellow light where your soul will be illuminated and healed. Or you can stand on the sacred spot and be enveloped by its energies.
Once you do this you can use the same methods to connect with all forms of life.
The benefits of this are beyond what you can imagine.
It is hard to truly awaken your mind without the the energies of nature. Mother earth, and all of her life is what grounds you and keeps you from losing yourself as you cosmically project your awareness out.
It awakens you to a world you didn’t know was there as you many times drove past a field or woods.
It revives your instincts and genetic memories so you can tap into the wisdom of your ancestors who walked the big wild for eons before you. You will not be the same person once you do this … you will become so much more.
I hope you will try it now. Just stare into the painting and see where your mind goes. And by all means get out and take a walk in the woods.
Your spiritual teachers await you.
Namaste,
Energy Artist Julia
‌