Cosmic Elk
The Cosmic Elk (also called the Golden-antlered Deer or Celestial Elk) is a central figure in Sami astral mythology — the great elk or reindeer that lives in the sky and is hunted by the thunder god Horagalles (Tiermes/Dierpmis). This cosmic hunt is reflected in the constellations: Orion is the hunter, the Pleiades are the deer/elk, and the Milky Way is the tracks of the mythic elk-hunter's skis. When the thunder god shoots the celestial elk with his fiery arrow, an apocalypse ensues — fire envelops the earth, mountains boil, ice boils, stars fall, the moon goes out, and the sun sinks. The myt