The Great Stag

** #1360195 Not An Image **

         I met Cernunnos, the Horned God, in a waking dream.

         It seemed I conjured in my mind a dolmen through which I walked.  The large stones that made up this monolithic structure felt cool to the touch as I ran my fingertips over them; they were cold, unforgiving, yet somehow powerful and as potent as the living earth from which they came.  I nervously walked through, soft grass under bare feet, my white summer dress flowing gently around me stirred by a light wind.

         On the other side, the land opened up before me.  A lush green field edged by a thick forest on my left and right and in the middle of the field stood a lone oak tree; beautiful and proud, spreading its limbs out as if to welcome and invite.  Beneath sat a figure, reclining against the trunk of the tree, legs crossed at the ankles, watching me.

         I moved closer, intrigued by the figure, and when I was close enough, noticed how very large he was.  Though he sat I could tell he was commanding in stature and I felt small by comparison.  His powerful body radiated strength, his dark hair clean and long as was his beard....but, oh...he had horns coming out of his head.  Stag horns, the most magnificent I ever saw, which should have looked out of place yet didn't.  I was struck with the need to feel them, to see if they were as real as my eyes told me they were.

         He held himself still as if to not frighten off the curious doe that now approached him.  I went to sit next to him but he grabbed me around my waist and positioned me atop him, legs either side of his hips, facing him.  My breath hitched and I wondered at all that I felt.  There was protection, strength, love, kindness and understanding.  I felt an overwhelming aura of maleness that did not threaten nor, oddly, induce desire.  I felt no fear.

         We did not speak, simply looked at one another and then my gaze moved back to his stag horns I had been admiring before being seated.  I raised my hands and ran them slowly from the base where they started in his hair feeling the bone beneath my palms, sliding along them to the tips, slightly ridged yet smooth to the touch.  I realised that stags strayed out of the forest, though whether to watch us or simply graze I did not know.  I glanced at the many stags and then back to this strange being who still had not said a word and I knew it was time to leave.

         I moved off and headed back to the stones, though strangely I couldn't see them until I got closer.  The wind whipped my dress about and I felt a great energy heading towards me.  A powerful arm snaked around my waist pulling me into a muscular chest.  He was here, cradling me into his body but this time...ahh...the desire, held in check before, covered me completely.  Running over me in a liquid fire from head to toe, drowning me in his sensuality; I felt his need and my own like a living thing between us, pulsing with each breath.  I had to leave, now, or risk never leaving at all but my hands wouldn't stop touching him, caressing every inch of flesh I could get to.  LEAVE, my mind screamed and I broke the embrace, turned and ran as if for my life towards the dolmen.  With my dress flying from the energy and wind I left behind, I managed to make the sanctuary and pass through once again. 

         My eyes flew open, staring at the wallpaper in my bedroom, the soft light filtering through the curtains where a summer morning waited to be let in.  My eyes are open now, though I had not felt asleep before.  I had been to another place, I was sure of it, yet here I was.  What would have happened had I stayed?

         I went through the dolmen many times after that but I never met Cernunnos again nor any other creature. 

         I did, under other circumstances however, meet Apollo once but that is another story...

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