Pesce d'Aprile

Maggie Taylor, Woman who loves fish

Old French postcard, thanks to Kickcan & Conkers

Catrin Welz-Stein

Xavier Martinez, Valkyrie of the sea, ca. 1915

Nusch Eluard, 1936 

Miki Sato, Pursuit of a passion

Gina Triplett

Nicoletta Ceccoli

Princesse Camcam

David Ho

Christina Bothwell

Jenny Kendler

 Pierre Mornet

Delphine Lebourgeois

Daniel Egneus

Sunday Safari - Couch Surfing

 Tom Vroman, Alexander, 1964, thanks to art.crazed

Susann Stoebe

BM Mikhailov, illustration from Reluctant film stars, 1987

from polny_shkaf's amazing vintage children's book collection

 Morris Hirshfield, Angora cat, 1937, thanks to Arthur van Kruining

 Clement Hurd, Little Dog, Dreaming, 1967, thanks to my vintage book collection

Natsuo Ikegami

Mark Ulriksen

Juliane Carole Wenzl

Darla Jackson, They were plotting...

Sweet Mess, Nest Down 

Amber Alexander, Byron

Silvia Bautista, Zorro

Domenico Gnoli

WIldLifePrints, Squirreled Away

Sunday Safari - Barbagianni

Massimo Caccia

 Alice Melvin

Oiva Toikka, Littala barn owl

Peter Vos

Catherine Ledner

Jan Mankes, 1913, thanks to Huismus 

François-Xavier Lalanne, Oiseau de nuit (grand), 2004

Matt Dangler

Annegert Fuchshuber, Zwei und Mehr

Saverio Polloni

Matt Cipov

Plankton Art Co.

SImona Mulazzani, illustration from Vorrei avere...

Martina Merlini

Dan May, The Witness

Renée Tremi, thanks to Artodyssey

My Deer Ladies

Catrin Arno, Farewell

She was the myth slipped down through dreamtime. The promise of feast we

all knew was coming. The deer who crossed through knots of a curse to find

us. She was no slouch, and neither were we, watching. Joy Harjo

Frida Kahlo, The Little Deer, 1946

Oleg Dou, Fawn 1, thanks to Designboom

For this Autumnal installment of Animalarium's "beastly women" series

I have chosen the figure of Deer Woman, a shape-shifting female 

who is featured in the mythical tales of many Native American cultures.

This being, also known as Deer Lady, is one of the powerful spirits who carry

otherworldy and ancestral knowledge from generation to generation.

Christina Bothwell, Deer Girl

Sörine Anderson, Travelling Through the Dark

The myth of Deer Woman is related to fertility and marriage rituals. 

She is often described as a beautiful girl with deer hooves and doe eyes,

or as a being with a human upper body and the lower body of a deer. 

In some versions of the tale, she is the vengeful spirit of a woman who died after 

being raped. Men who meet her fall under the spell of her beauty and sexual power

will abandon everything to follow her, but she will steal their spirit and lead

most of them to despair, madness or death. This cautionary tale teaches that

sexual attraction is not a good basis for marriage, and each member of the tribe

should choose their mate wisely and responsibly.

Hiroshi Tanabe, thanks to Joe Kral

Coco de Paris

Daniel Egnéus

Fictionist

In the rare tales narrating an encounter between Deer Lady and a woman, 

the event leads to transformation and the awakening of artistic talent.

Kelly Louise Judd, Perched

Kristin Vestgard, For All My Grandmothers

Katherine Rohrbacher, thanks to Artodyssey

 Catrin Arno, Summer

Many thanks to Carolyn Dunn for her beautiful article on Deer Woman.