Mythic Moments

🦌 The White Deer Photo Title: The White Deer
Artist: Raylenea
Medium: 8” x 10” glass frame
Captured: Spring of 2022 My first encounter was with a White Deer—in the most unexpected of places, an urban stream during the New Moon. I had gone to pray and offer blessings as I do each lunar cycle. There, resting by the stream, was the White Deer. He saw me. And yet, he stayed. For twenty minutes, we communed. I spoke softly. His ears flicked. He listened. There was no fear. Later, I researched the symbolism of white deer. The Klamath River tribes revere them in their World Renewal Ceremonies. In Celtic lore, they are messengers from the otherworld. And in medieval Europe, Saint Hubert had a vision of Christ appear between the antlers of a White Stag. I learned something else—Saint Hubert is part of my blood lineage. St. Hubert (A Poem) One Holy Day Saint Hubert went a hunting deep in the forest.
A veil of fog floated over the land and frost clung to branch and bough.
Through the mist the Saint came upon a clearing in the woods,
there stood a Stag white as snow with head held high.
Between the White Stag’s great antlers the saint did see
a vision of Christ that brought poor Hubert down upon his knees. “You have hunted my brethren and killed out of lust
and lost your way and forgot how to trust.
My presence is within all of the Nature you see,
the hart and the hare and the trickling stream,
And the wind that blows yet is never seen.
The trees are my chapel here in the woods,
the flowers are the psalm yearning to be understood.
Have compassion on my congregation of creatures
Your protection they need… do not live out of lust
do not live from greed
Return to your heart the seat of your soul.” The Vision faded, only the White Stag remained.
The wind whispered through the trees,
The birds broke the silence into a chorus of song.
St Hubert made right all things that had been done wrong. 
Amen.

🦬 The White Bison Photo Title: White Bison
 On a road trip through the Rockies with my husband Matt, we stopped for coffee in a tiny town. A local man gave us directions—not only to caffeine, but to a newly born white bison. In Native stories, the White Bison holds sacred significance. One tale tells of a Holy Woman who appeared as a white buffalo. One man approached her with lust—he turned to ash. The other came in reverence—he received the sacred Peace Pipe. The White Bison is a symbol of both hope and warning: to purify our thoughts, return to prayer, and walk with a clean heart.

🌲 The White Redwood Photo Title: White Redwood The first time I saw a White Redwood was decades ago at a sweat lodge. A Medicine Man offered a bouquet of White Redwood leaves as a sacred gift—but never revealed where he found them. Last summer, I saw one for myself. In the wild. Science offers its explanations. But from what I’ve learned, and felt, this is an Angel Tree. A rare being in the forest, not here by accident. Now more than ever, we must protect the Redwoods—with prayers, with care, with awe. There are Angels Amongst Us.