Following the Reindeer Woman

I have been so moved by reading Linda Schierse Leonard's Following the Reindeer Woman: Path of Peace & Harmony. Having long been deeply inspired by images of deer and reindeer, her exploration uncovers the depth and layers of this powerful symbol of gentleness and strength in divinely balanced embrace.

She writes:

Our own reflection framed within the peaceful eyes of the reindeer can remind us of our intimate, primal connection with and responsibility to all of nature. The reindeer's ability to survive the starkest winters and find their way through dangerous wildness to create new life may help us reclaim a guiding symbol for our existence, one that can help us rediscover and redeem our own enduring instincts. The reindeer can again become spirit guides for us, images of hope and peace that can inspire us to honour and affirm life and peacefully transform the world and ourselves.

As a woman, I find the balance of strength and gentleness an ongoing task and process of discernment. I know this is a struggle for all sides of the gender spectrum. Fundamentally, this is about our human ability to live in a state of healthy emotional and psychological balance. How can I be strong without shutting down...and how can I be gentle without being splayed? Meditating on the reindeer provides some energetic clues...something about the fierceness of the antlers when threatened. Yet that kind of fierceness is clean, sharp and appropriate - no drama, no unecessary brutality. It is a protective fierceness that says a powerful and justified, "No" to harm, and "Yes" to life.

I feel that an emerging ethics of our time asks of us to embody this same protective fierceness. Unlearning outdated gender roles and stereotypes that do not allow women or men to be whole in our respective passion for protecting life is central to the journey. Again, careful of the abyss that lurks on either side of the paradoxical edge we are trying to embody - avoiding both the stone-cold Medusa, and the victimized gentle flower.

Being vulnerable and therefore open to feeling great pain is unavoidable; yet I believe it is possible for us to shed our tears with dignity...then dry them and carry on. Whole with our hearts open and our shields at the ready to deflect any cruel arrows, we may turn to find the deer standing lovingly, and approvingly, at our side.