The Stag of Seven Tines

Am damh seacht bean (Irish Gaelic)
Om dah-v shocked be-yawn (Phonetic)

“I am the stag of seven tines.”

~ Amergin

The fourth line in Amergin’s spell-poem invokes the imagery of the majestic stag, which is fast, powerful, and sexually potent. An enduring symbol of royalty, stags represent power united with grace, and authority wed with dignity and integrity. The High Kings of Ireland were said to wear antlered crowns at their coronation at the Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny on Tara hill. The ancient Celts used every part of the deer: venison provided food; the brain-tanned hide provided clothing and shelter; the antlers and bones fashioned tools. It is significant that Amergin poetically specifies that he is a stag of seven tines. Seven is a magical number in Celtic cosmology, representing the four cardinal directions united with the three levels of the universe: the sky above, the earth or land humans live upon, and the Underworld or sea below us. Therefore, the stag of “seven tines” is lord and master over the whole cosmos. The cosmic stag is a universal image throughout the Celtic realms. The ‘Lord of Animals’ is Cernunnos, who is also the god of fertility and sexuality. Cernunnos is depicted on the Gundestrup Cauldron as having antlers with seven tines on each. Standing on his right is a splendid sixteen-point stag, the archetypal prey animal, who, along with the wolf, represents the balance of nature. We are also reminded that the magic of the stag transcends the physical world, for the stag is also the Lord of the Wild Hunt, carrying the souls of the dead to the Otherworld.

What is it like to be stag of seven tines?