“The Deer Mother and the Winter Solstice – A Heritage of Care and Rebirth“

with Kathryn Henderson

Thursday,  October 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM Eastern Time  

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Long before traditions of a red-clad elf, traversing the night sky with flying Reindeer, the Deer Mother brought the gift of the returning Sun on Her antlers. 

          The Image of the Deer Mother transcends time and cultures – from the tundra of the ancient arctic north, through the steppes of eastern Europe to the frozen lands of contemporary Nordic reindeer herders. Depictions of sacred deer date from Paleolithic cave paintings to Mongolian Deer Stones, through Scythian art (800 BCE – 300 CE) and beyond.

          Golden Scythian sculptures portray deer rebirthing new life. Attacked by a predator, her antlers blossom into birds, representing rebirth. This imagery is also found in tattoos on frozen female and male mummies, preserved by ice. Through time the Deer Mother becomes an antlered Goddess, as depicted on a Scythian mirror handle, her antlers composed of the predators that follow the migrating herd.  The mirror, a shamanic tool, represents the sun she carries on her antlers. Contemporary Nordic peoples tell of the Deer Mother bearing the returning Solstice sun on her antlers.

          The myth of the contemporary Reindeer-herding Saami tells a story of the earth created from the loving heart of the Doe with golden hooves, in a planet that quakes when her children engage in violence against one another.  The Deer Mother’s message is one of keeping balance, of reverence for the earth’s life-giving nurturance, death and rebirth.  Hers is a message for all time – one that the world sorely needs today.

 

Kathryn Henderson, Professor Emerita in Sociology andWomen’s Studies, is an Ordained Priestess of the Reformed Congregation of the Goddess
International and a Founding BOD Memberof the Association of the Study of Women and Mythology. An early version of her Deer Mother research appeared in Goddesses in World Culture, ed. Patricia Monaghan, 2011. Her research interests include the contemporary representation and spiritual importance of Deer around the world and the significance of the Octopus in ancient Cretan sarcophagus art and cultural practice.

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Upcoming Scholar Salon (3pm Eastern Time):

October 16, 2025:  “Using the Past to Give Girls a Voice Today at Girl Museum“  with Dr. Ashley Remer

This Salon recording will also be available to members when processed after the event.