Earth Medicine, page 14
3.6 ELEMENTAL CLAN: Butterfly Clan (Air)
Flowering Time people are born into the Butterfly Clan, a clan ruled by elemental Air. The butterfly is a good representation of Air because it is always on the move, constantly shifting its position from one place to another, often unexpectedly.
People born between 21 May and 20 June are like the butterfly – flitting from one flower to another in search of nectar but staying only for a short time before fluttering off to another source. It is as if they are driven by some insatiable curiosity which leads them on a constant journey of exploration, seeking here and searching there, fascinated by what comes into their view but rarely enough for them to stay with it.
Just as butterflies help the plants to pollinate, so Flowering Time people help others with the new ideas and fresh energy they bring.
3.7 BIRTH AND ANIMAL TOTEM: Deer
The swift-moving deer is the birth and animal totem for those born in the Flowering Time.
Although there are many different species of deer, ranging widely in size and weight, they have one thing in common – their gracefulness. The stags have antlers that start to grow in early summer and are fully grown by the mating season in late autumn. They shed the antlers each year around January and February before the young are born in the spring, and it is when they are without antlers that the stags are at their most vulnerable.
Stags and does live in separate groups until the mating season arrives. Then the stags compete with one another for a mate, though they rarely fight to the death. After mating they live in small herds for a while.
Deer blend well with the environment, and are sensitive to every sound and movement. They emit a number of different sounds, but the most common is a bleat like that of a sheep, through it can be a shrieking sound if the animal is frightened or in danger. Deer feed on vegetation – mostly grass, heather, the shoots of plants, and the bark of trees. Twins, and even triplets, are commonly born to the does.
Like their animal totem, Deer people are sensitive, alert and fast-moving. They are intuitive and can readily sense the feelings of others. Since their own feelings and emotions are fast-moving, they are likely to have experienced the moods that other people might find themselves more deeply immersed in. Deer people therefore can be compassionate and understanding.
Deer people do listen but not always attentively. Their thoughts race so quickly that what they hear often starts off a train of thought within their own mind and stirs up their emotions so they feel they have to express these immediately. As a result they have what to some is an annoying tendency to interrupt a conversation and not allow the person who is talking to finish what they are trying to say.
Deer people like beauty and beautiful things – and beautiful people too. Just watch a young male Deer when a beautiful girl comes within range! But it is not always surface beauty that attracts them. They have the discernment to recognize the beauty that lies beneath the skin.
They have a resourcefulness that makes it possible for them to make something attractive out of simple, basic materials. This need to create beauty expresses itself not only physically but emotionally too, and they are able to draw the best out of the people around them.
Like their animal totem, Deer people like the company of members of their own sex and have a willingness to share what they have in common. Such relationships often outlast those with the opposite sex, where they may find difficulty in settling into a single, permanent relationship.
As the deer bounds from one place to another, so Deer people frequently leap from one idea or situation to another, and through not staying with one thing long enough they often fail to accomplish what they set out to do. They have a wild, uncontrollable side to their nature which makes it difficult sometimes for others to understand them, and, indeed, for them to understand themselves. Part of the purpose of their life is to learn the value of discipline, consistency and persistence.
Deer people have difficulty in evaluating time and the expenditure of energy, with the consequence that their lives are not organized in the most effective way.
3.8 PLANT TOTEM: Mullein
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a plant with thick, velvety leaves, and densely packed flower spikes. It grows up to 180 cm (6 ft) tall and is found on wasteland and wild places and in fields. It is sometimes called the flannel plant or fluffweed. It is also known as Aaron’s rod. This is because its stems have a staff-like appearance and the leaves have tiny hairs which give the appearance of a white coating and flannel-like appearance.
The yellow, five-petalled flowers grow on tall flower spikes close to the stem. They are in bloom from July to August.
Mullein was regarded as a versatile and helpful plant with many soothing qualities. It was used among Amerindians to treat chest ailments and coughs, and also for intestinal disorders. Its leaves were used in a poultice to treat wounds and sores.
As a tea, mullein was said to be beneficial to the kidneys and the bladder. The oil from crushed, fresh mullein flowers was used to remove warts.
Dried mullein leaves were used by some American Indians in a smoking mixture to relieve asthma and lung congestion.
Like their plant totem, Deer people are generally versatile and helpful, with a tendency to rise up above most others in their endeavours or to be noticeable in their activities, although they have a woolly side to their nature.
3.9 MINERAL TOTEM: Agate
Agate is chalcedony, a waxy form of quartz which often lines cavities in rocks and has a banded appearance. These irregularities are caused by differences in decomposition. Its colours vary from white to grey, from blue to green, and brown and black. Agate’s emphasis is on material need and this is why it became associated by Westerners with good luck.
A variety of agate is onyx, which has stripes of black and white or brown and white, or green. Onyx was sometimes called the ‘listening’ stone because it was said to aid meditation and help its user to ‘listen’ to the inner voice of the conscience or High Self.
Deer people should wear agate as a pendant or necklace or ring since it has a stabilizing effect on the subtle energies of the aura if worn next to the skin. It also helps the chakras in the solar plexus, heart and throat areas to work together in harmony. It is a help, too, in stabilizing emotions, and this is important for Deer people who can suffer the effects of their emotions running wild.
Deer people are generally so quick to move from one idea or situation to another that they don’t stay with it long enough to recognize the truth that lies within it. Their mineral totem can be a great help in stabilizing their energies so they can overcome this difficulty.
Agate was regarded as a healing stone among many Amerindian tribes.
3.10 POLARITY TOTEM: Owl
Deer people need the guidance of Owl, their polar opposite, in order to train and widen the intellect so that it can become the tool for extending their awareness beyond what is obvious in the immediate environment.
Deer loves to amass information, but does not co-ordinate it well enough to put it to the most effective use. Owl is a visionary, the wise old bird who can help Deer to control the intellect and to reach out into the regions of intuitive knowledge and thereby to see beyond what is immediate.
3.11 PERSONALITY EXPRESSION
Adult
Congenial, adaptable, bubbly and expressive, Deer people thrive on a variety of change. They have a lively sensitivity but their oscillation between confidence and discouragement, high spirits and depression, can give an impression that they are two distinct personalities.
They can be charming, engaging, and full of fun, but also irritable and sarcastic and dampeners.
Deer people crave variety and are continually searching for exciting diversion. They have the mental and manual dexterity to handle a wide variety of tasks, often with considerable skill, but get easily bored with one particular activity and often lack the commitment and practicability to make a real success of it. They loathe drudgery and monotony and routine.
They are good communicators, and can talk about almost anything to almost anybody. Possibly they talk too much and listen too little to get the most out of a relationship. They absorb information readily, though they rarely stay with it long enough to know it thoroughly, and are prone to making snap judgements before they know all the essential facts.
Deer people require plenty of mental activity or they become easily bored. Indeed, they live in a world of ideas and thrive on mental challenge, frequently taking on more than they can manage with the result that they become prone to nervous exhaustion.
They’ll change their job almost as easily as changing their clothes. Indeed, they are natural moonlighters and likely to be supplementing their income from one job with what they can make from a sideline or two.
Punctuality is not one of their strong points and it is not always because of lack of organization. It sometimes just seems to happen that way.
Positive traits: Adaptable. Versatile. Intellectual. Witty. Logical. Talkative. Lively.
Negative traits: Moody. Changeable. Restless. Cunning. Inconsistent. Superficial. Lazy.
Vocational possibilities: Aviation. Communications. Dancing. Electrical engineering. Electronics. Linguistics. Motor industry. Media. Office work. Politics. Public relations. Sports. Writing.
Child
Deer infants are bundles of energy – quick, alert, lively and into everything. As they develop into children, it becomes evident that they have an active imagination and can become so engrossed in the world of make-believe that they run the risk of carrying it with them into their teens and right into adulthood, confusing illusion with reality. It is not a question of telling lies, nor of imagining things. The Deer will be convinced that the fantasy really happened.
Deer children need to be encouraged to express themselves and to be given a sense of direction as they may lack the patience and concentration to learn a subject thoroughly. Their quick minds are all too often satisfied in just skimming the surface of a subject.
Parent
Deer make devoted, even doting parents, and can be so carried away by their enthusiasm to provide their offspring with the best of everything that they will make almost any sacrifice to provide it. The rub comes later in life when they then expect their children to respond with the same kind of devotion and are likely to suffer bitter disappointment.
3.12 ROMANCE AND SEX
It is easy to interpret Deer’s natural friendliness as blatant flirtatiousness. Deer males are expert at chatting up women. Their fascinating conversation can have a woman believing almost everything they say, and their manner can be captivating enough to charm her into submission. Deer females are engaging conversationalists too. At their best they are quick-witted, amusing and alluring. At their worst – well, there’s just no stopping them.
Both male and female Deer like titillation before sexual involvement and will follow this through with a performance that is almost as athletic as their vocal and mental agility. And they tend to talk even during their love-making. Since versatility is a key to the Deer temperament, fidelity is not usually one of their strong points.
The way to the heart of a Deer person is to share their interests. But for their part, they shy away from sharing in domestic chores, and though they enjoy food, cooking is rarely among their enthusiasms.
Compatibilities: Deer are compatible with Crows and Otters (those born between 22 September and 22 October, and between 20 January and 18 February).
Spiritual sexuality: (+). The basic spiritual sexuality of Deer is masculine, which means that Deer people are usually extroverted and active in their attitudes and desires. They are likely to take the initiative in sexual activity.
3.13 HEALTH
People born in the Flowering Time have such active minds that they tend to stay up late and seldom get enough sleep. As they are prone to live on their nerves, nervous exhaustion is a constant threat to their well-being.
The Flowering Time is related to the arms and the shoulders of the external body and these areas are prone to health problems. The internal organs most vulnerable are the lungs and bronchial passages, so care must be taken that colds and influenza do not develop into bronchitis and pneumonia.
Other health problems are likely to have their root in the liver and to toxics in the system.
3.14 AFFINITY COLOUR: Orange
As orange lies between the yellow and the red rays, and yellow is associated with the mental and red with the physical, orange is regarded as a bridge between the mental and the physical. It brings the power of the mind (yellow) into physical activity (red). The influence of orange, therefore, is to energize thought – to bring creativity into manifestation. Learning to do just that is part of the life-purpose of Deers.
Orange is warm and cheerful, and Deer people are comfortable in a warm and cheerful atmosphere. They respond to an inharmonious atmosphere by curling up within themselves and becoming withdrawn.
3.15 ADVANTAGEOUS TIMES
Best months of the year for Deer people are from 21 May to 20 June, 22
August to 22 October and 20 January to 18 February.
Best day of the week is Wednesday.
Best times of the day are from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
3.16 OUTWARD (CONSCIOUS) AIM AND INNER (SUBCONSCIOUS) DESIRE
The conscious aim of Deer is to link together and to correlate. It is to establish relationships and bring together.
Deer people need to unite their talents and energies rather than separate them. For instance the problem is how to unite the creativity of the mind with the dexterity for manual skills, or how to adapt ideas to the sensory world.
The thought processes of Deer people usually follow the route of logic. But life-experiences will lead them to the need to extend their mental processes beyond the intellect so that they might become masters of the mind rather than servants of it. That is the true intent of their subconscious desire.
3.17 SPIRITUAL ALCHEMY
Deer people are carried on the wind of ideas, from one attractive activity to the next, and with whatever stimulates the mind. They are also driven by an inner Fire that urges them towards changing things. What is needed to balance their energies is to transform their thoughts and ideas into solid and practical reality, and the means to do that are within themselves. They will develop a deeper perspective by staying with a thing long enough to look beneath surface appearances.
The directional influence is of the passive (−) changing to the active (+), and the elemental polarities of Fire is (+) and of Air is also (+). The spiritual sexuality is also masculine. The combination is (− +, + + and +).
3.18 LIFE-CHALLENGES
Deer people are likely to encounter occasional experiences that tend to slow them down. There will seem to be setbacks and circumstances that appear to be binding or restricting. The purpose of such traumas is to slow Deer people down because they are bounding ahead of themselves. They should look upon such limiting situations as blessings in disguise, for they provide opportunities to pause awhile and consider consequences and examine choices. They are a man of ‘catching up’ with oneself, establishing one’s bearings, and facing up to the issues that are of real importance.
Deer people need to develop their powers of concentration and to acquire stability and staying power. They need to avoid restlessness and dissipating their energies in fruitless pursuits, and also to curb their broodiness and ingratitude.
3.19 PRIMARY FUNCTION AND LIFE-PATH
The primary function of Deer people is to co-ordinate that which appears to be contradictory in their lives into a balanced harmony. Their life-path is leading them to a recognition that to find equilibrium they need to bring the intellect and the intuitive faculties, reason and emotion, conscious and subconscious, into balance. Their purpose is to heal the divisions they find within themselves.
Deer people are endowed with a strong sense of curiosity which seems to draw them along a path of new experiences and constant variety. The spiritual purpose of curiosity is the attainment of knowledge, and knowledge, to be of true value, must be applied.
Realization comes to Deer people with the recognition that the knowledge they obtain through experiences must be applied in determining choices. Fulfilment comes to Deer people when that which is of true value is preferred to the irrelevant and transient, and when they stay long enough to gather its fruits.
3.20 THE I CHING TRIGRAM: Tui. The Joyous Lake.
This indicates the joy that comes from something well done. It is the joy of satisfaction, and of pleasure in achievement. It represents, too, the desire for contentment – and contentment is a strong need for Deer people, though an elusive one. It stresses, too, that endurance brings success.
3.21 HOW TO COPE WITH DEER
Don’t underestimate Deer’s intelligence, so reason with them over difficult issues, but bear in mind their emotional vulnerability. Don’t get too intense or emotional.
Be a good listener. Deer like to talk, but they hate being talked down themselves. To the Deer, a good conversationalist is someone who listens to what they have to say.
Deer like variety and hate routine. So look for different ways of presenting them with the ordinary.
Deer are highly strung, so make them feel relaxed and comfortable in your company.
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