What does the Deer Spirit Animal Totem Mean? Tranquility

The Deer Spirit Animal Totem teaches us about how to return to tranquility after an unexpected upset.  Deer lives with lions always on the outskirts of her peaceful life. She has no concern for their existence until they cross an invisible boundary that makes Deer lift her head and pay attention.  Once boundaries have been crossed, she enters a state of pure reaction with the single goal of returning to peace.  If the lion encroaches closer, the Deer takes flight until distance is regained.  Once the proper distance is achieved and danger is gone, Deer teaches us to return to tranquility and think no more of the lion’s existence.  Deer does not appear to live in a state of anger or frustration once she has escaped the lion’s threat.  Her family does not organize a plan to rid themselves of lions once and for all.  They deal with what comes as it comes and return to peace when it is over.  

This is the Spirit Animal Teaching for what humans call Forgiveness.

Instead of worrying about pending threats or living in a state of tension about the future, Deer focuses on her immediate personal interests, only taking note of the lion if it encroaches too close. When Lion comes into range, Deer takes action.  Once the lion is out of sight, Deer forgets all about it until the next time he encroaches. In this way, she does not give the lion any more of her time or energy than the big cat deserves. 

It may feel dangerous to drop your vigilance on things or people who have hurt or shocked you in the past and who may very well show up again to cause trouble. But the truth is, letting it go conserves your energy much more than living in the nerve-wracking stress of vigilance.  There is value in out of sight, out of mind when powers at play are beyond our control.

There will always be lions in the woods.  Let them have no more of your time than absolutely necessary.  Skirmishes and conflict only last for brief amounts of time- minutes at most.  The rest is mental anguish- a churning of past and future.  Deer teaches us how to recognize when a real threat is over and how to return to your life’s joy as fast as possible.

Deer has utter trust that her instincts will rise up with perfect timing when needed. Trust that you will know what to do when the time comes.

No matter what recent events may have thrown you off your life path, let nothing and no one keep you from returning to your peace of mind. It is only through relaxed tranquility that you will be able to access your gifts and life purpose. You are here for a reason unique to you alone and the world needs you to live in the power of that reason.  You have a skill that is effortless to you.  Focus on your gifts and skills every day.  Let nothing interfere with you and your relationship to learning.  Return to your passion now.  Think no more about the lions lurking.  Your peace and inner joy is THE ONLY way the world heals.  Know that the world is truly healing, even if all you hear about are the casualties.  The world is much too large to report on all the tiny, infinite moments of peace and harmony that are occurring everywhere, in every corner of the globe.  There is peace.  All is well.  Finding your peace brings peace to those around you and those peaceful people, because of you, bring peace to those around them… and the meadow thrives.  Lions have their place and their importance.  In all circumstances, seek joy.

On the teaching of forgiveness:

Even though it is used as a verb- to forgive- it is not something we can actually do.  How does one perform the act of forgiveness?  When we try, we often find ourselves frustrated and feeling inadequate.   “I should just get over it…” “Why am I still obsessing about this?”  And if we can’t get over it then there must be something wrong with us.  Forgiveness is not an action.  It is an inherent loyalty to seeking peace and tranquility.

Forgiveness, scientifically speaking, is the ability to remove the charge of anger and pain from our thoughts of a person or past situation.  How to remove that charge is a unique private process of discovery which involves a whole body response. The ability to access that body response begins with a deep desire to access the peace and joy of life rather than maintain the agony of having been wronged.   It is a turning towards beauty rather than a turning away from pain.  If there is anything we can do to forgive, it would involve turning towards peace rather than turning away from frustration.  Do you see the difference?

If my movement is motivated by a desire to exclude or eliminate or ‘let something go’  I am actually turning deeper into the frustration.  We can not turn away from something without having something to turn towards.  It is in specifying what we are turning TOWARDS that we naturally release and turn from the conflict at hand.  Deer Medicine says, “focus on what pleases you, not on getting away from what displeases you.”

When we find ourselves unable to forgive it is easy to internalize the frustration and find fault with ourselves.  The idea that there is something wrong with us is actually a passive form of control.  It is compulsively more comfortable to believe we are somehow deliberately resisting correct behavior than it is to consider the possibility that we, in truth, have no power over the situation at all.  When we internalize we escape the unbearable possibility that life is random and has no inherent logic or meaning.

The human mind is wired for reason and significance.  And this capacity is coming from a true spiritual reality that assures us (when we can connect to it) that all is well, that there is inherent reason and significance to Life.  But some experiences are too large to understand in our current limitations.  Our five senses are only a fraction of the greater picture of Reality.   The patter of its logic extends beyond our abilities to comprehend.  So when confronted with the painful question of, “Why has this or that happened?”  “Why is he or she behaving like this or that?” – instead of saying, “Because of no reason- we internalize and ask, “What have I done to cause this?  How am I responsible for my life conditions?”

And these are good questions to ask.  But it is here where we can get stuck in a battle for control and slip into self loathing.  We live in a dimension of confounding duality.  Life events are both IN and OUT of our control?  We can affect situations and we can also have nothing to do with why something happened.  Knowing when we are part of the situation and when we are not is the evolutionary process.

Sometimes things happen and we don’t really know why.  Not knowing why is a tough place to be in.  But the Deer Spirit Animal Totem is an invitation to be comfortable with not needing all the information to ensure constant security at all times.  We can know that we have what we need right now and when we need to know something, those messages will come to us in the right time.

Forgiveness is not found in the animal nations because is not necessary.  They live in a state of being that sees no reason to forgive.  To a Deer, a lion does not need forgiving.  He needs only to be avoided.  If avoidance isn’t possible, Deer Medicine knows that the violence she suffers at the lion’s claws does not define her being and though her body may die the lion’s actions need not stop the flow of her eternal energy.  She becomes a gift to the hunter so that life continues.   

Deer Spirit Medicine is a profound sacred communion with what it takes to recover from life-threatening violence.  She is a healing medicine of ever-present gentleness regardless of the demons who hunt her down.  Her dedication to restoring a tranquil life experience is her offering to you when you need help releasing tension caused by sudden, unexpected trauma.  She does not waver in her soft, persistent caring and she never closes her heart.  Her poise and grace hold an indestructible space for all creatures to find refuge.  She is the dignity of the forest, regal in her powers of resilience.  Her message to you is, “Forget.”  

Deer medicine teaches that the path to peace is found in the ability to assess each moment as new and independent of the previous situation.  Deer does not judge the lion and she doesn’t hate the lion for the endless assault to her species.  She leaves the lion alone and simply does not acknowledge him past what is necessary.  She does not scheme ways to exact revenge or clarify her strength and power.  Her nature has learned that there is no way to stop the larger movements of violence of an unpredictable world.  She can only focus on honing her reflexes for swift alertness.  She invites you to restore yourself to a tranquil life experience by not being pulled into the stresses of conflict beyond their immediate event.  Return to peace by finding something in your immediate environment. It could be a lovely color combination of a plant or object nearby. It could be a sound or song that reminds you of beauty.  The Deer Spirit Animal Totem is a call to release fear and return to Tranquility.