Part Two: The Living Ornament and the Red-Suited Shaman

As we descend deeper into the roots of the North, the abstract map of the Deer Mother becomes a physical reality in our living rooms. We’ve all seen the red-and-white ornaments hanging from evergreen boughs, but for our ancestors, these weren't just decorations—they were a matter of spiritual and physical survival.

1. The Living Ornament: The First Christmas Tree

Long before glass bulbs, the first "ornaments" were the fruiting bodies of the Amanita muscaria (Fly Agaric). These bright red mushrooms with white flecks grow primarily under evergreens like pine and spruce, forming a symbiotic relationship with the tree's roots—a literal extension of the Wood Wide Web.

     • The Drying Ritual: Fresh Amanita can be toxic. To safely utilize its visionary properties, shamans would harvest the mushrooms and place them on the branches of the surrounding pine trees to dry in the wind.

     • The Visual Map: To a traveler in the snowy waste, seeing a green tree "decorated" with bright red mushrooms was a signpost of the Great Mother’s medicine.

     • The Ancestral Tree: This is the true origin of the Christmas Tree. We are essentially mimicking an ancient shamanic laboratory every time we hang a red bulb on a pine branch.

​2. The Smoke Hole Ascent: Delivering the Spirit-Medicine

​In the deep winters of the Far North, the landscape becomes a wall of white. For our ancestors living in circular dwellings, the heavy snowfall would often block the main entrance entirely.

    • The Chimney Entrance: To enter or exit the home, the shaman would have to climb down through the central smoke hole in the roof.

    • The Red Suit and the Sack: To honor the Amanita muscaria, the shaman wore red clothing trimmed with white fur. They would carry a large sack filled with the dried mushrooms they had harvested from the "Christmas trees" earlier in the season.

    • The Gift of Vision: The "gifts" being delivered weren't toys, but the medicine of the Deer Mother. By descending through the chimney, the shaman was literally bringing the light of the Spirit World down into the dark, wintry womb of the human home.

3. The Golden Filter: Biological Alchemy and the Law of Ghosti

The final piece of this ancient map involves the reindeer themselves. In the wild, reindeer are known to actively seek out and consume Amanita muscaria. They don't just eat them for calories; they seek the "flight" just as the shamans did.

     • The Sacred Selection: Reindeer have a unique biological resilience to the more toxic elements of the mushroom (like ibotenic acid). Their bodies act as a living laboratory, filtering out the "heavy" toxins while concentrating the psychoactive muscimol.

     • The Golden Filter: The shaman would observe the deer and then collect their urine—the "Golden Filter." Because the reindeer's kidneys have already processed the harmful compounds, the resulting liquid provided a safer, more refined visionary experience for the human tribe.

     • A Relationship of Ghosti: This is a profound example of Ghosti—the sacred reciprocity between guest and host. The reindeer hosts the power of the mushroom, and in return, the human guest respects and follows the deer.

     • The "Flying" Reindeer: When the shaman and the tribe partook of this filtered medicine, they experienced the sensation of "spirit flight." This is why, in our modern myths, the reindeer are said to fly. They were the original guides who showed us how to leave the physical world behind and soar into the celestial realms of the Deer Mother.

Part 3 being written now. Stay tune.