White stags prevalent in literature as spiritual symbol of purity

For as long as people have walked the earth, legends of a mythical white stag have followed close behind them.

The stag's symbolism even is seen today, from the logos on common beer bottles to C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" -- even the Warcraft series of computer games and the popular "Harry Potter" books by British author J.K. Rowling.

"The stag appears in the third book of 'Harry Potter,' in which Harry thinks he sees his father across a lake in the appearance of a stag who is attempting to aid him," wrote Dr. Debrah Raschke, an English professor who teaches mythology at Southeast Missouri State University, in an email. "Later [Harry] learns he is seeing himself."

But the legendary white hart, or stag, has much deeper origins in the ancient world, according to various sources. It not only appears in many northern Europen traditions, but occurs in Persian, Asian and Native American cultures as well.

Drawing from the book "Celtic Gods and Goddesses" by R. J. Stewart, Raschke said the white stag is connected with ceremonies of death and resurrection. The animal also is closely related to to heaven and light, as described in "A Dictionay of Symbols" by J.E. Cirlot.

In Celtic lore, this rare and beautiful creature was seen as a messenger from the Otherworld -- always elusive, always mysterious, but mostly a positive figure. In some cases, the stag's appearances were interpreted as warnings not to tresspass in certain places; in other instances they symbolized the beginning of a fantastical quest.

This last trait -- the stag appearing to lead its pursuers to a goal or lesson -- is prominent in the Arthurian legends of Celtic Britain, but it also looms large in early Hungarian folklore. Legend has it that brothers Hunor and Magor allowed a white stag to lead them to a new land, in which they founded two distinct peoples -- the Huns (forebears of Attila) and the Magyars.

Ultimately, the white stag has become synonymous with the unicorn and all that mythical creature implies. As a spiritual concept, it is even closely associated with Jesus Christ. Its incarnations have spanned pagan religions and Christianity alike.

"In the Middle Ages, the stag was often associated with solitude and purity," Raschke said.