Early bestiaries describe the stag as a relentless enemy of snakes. The stag was believed to pursue snakes into their holes or rock crevices, flush them out by flooding the hole with the breath or water from his mouth, and devour them. As fantastic as this seems, there is a deer like animal - the pausen - in Afghanistan which hunts and eats snakes. Because the snake is associated with Satan, the stag's supposed war against snakes made it a symbol of Christ and the Christian in their battle against the evil one. The water used to flush out snakes became symbolic of Christ's wisdom and purity; the Gospel; and the water which flowed from his pierced side on Calvary.
In the 42nd Psalm, David makes the deer a symbol of the soul's longing for God. He says, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God" (Ps. 42:2). Because of this passage, the deer has become the symbol of purity, hermitage, and the solitary pursuit of union with God. The deer is often found on baptismal fonts and Eucharistic cups, symbolizing the soul's desire for baptism and the Eucharist. Streams pictured with deer represent either the waters of Paradise or the streams of living water.
As the soul longs for Christ, so Christ also longs for the soul. In the Song of Solomon, the lover is described as "Leaping upon the mountains, Skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, Gazing through the lattice" (Song 2:8-9). Later, the beloved is described as " a young stag upon the mountains" (Song 2:17; 8:14). Indeed, Christ is said to have appeared to several saints in the form of a stag. In some legends, Christ spoke from a small crucifix growing in the midst of a stag's antlers.
In Celtic mythology, the stag leads souls through the dark forests. The stag's actions as leader of his herd in the wild are reminders of Christ's role as protector and guide of the church. The white stag especially is an image of Christ.
The stag's antlers are symbolic of the Tree of Life, the rivers of Paradise, and the streams of living water. The tribe of Naphtali is described as "a deer let loose" (Gen. 49:21). Deer are attributes of several saints including St. Eustace, St. Procopious, St. Giles, and St. Herbert.
All scripture quotes are from the NKJV.
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Comments© 1997 by Suzetta Tucker
To cite this page:
Tucker, Suzetta. "ChristStory Deer Page." ChristStory
Christian Bestiary. 1997. http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/legend01/stag.htm
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