The Fox in the Grove: Part 2

I live in Maine. It's fox country here, but I've rarely seen one. The archetype of the fox is tricksy, and the animal generally isn't seen unless she wants you to see her. I've seen their work in my parents' chicken house, and I've occasionally seen a dead fox in the road but I'd never clearly seen a living one.

This is compounded by the fact that I am typically a person who drives right past animals without seeing them. I can't count the number of times family and friends point out the window at things that have entirely flashed by before I noticed.

The first fox was on his own, beside the road as I drove home from work in the twilight. At first I thought he was a yellow cat, but as I got close I saw him clearly, his long slender legs, his black front paws, the bush of his tail. It was like we slowed down as we stared at each other, the fox and me.

Photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service (Public Domain Image)

I saw two more the next night within 10 minutes of each other. We were driving at night and we caught them in the headlights. The time slowing effect from my first sighting was amplified with the second two. There was no question of their being cats. Their bodies were canine from their pointed faces to the white tips on their tails. They could have been two feet from me. Their eyes were inquisitive, they wanted to see and be seen.

Photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service (Public Domain Image)

I am not a person who sees omens. I am not a person who regularly sees the acts of gods in the minutiae of life. But I'd been told to open my eyes, and I had done so, and I was seeing an animal I've never seen wild before.

So what does the fox tell me about Nemetona? What does a fox mean? Fox lore is ubiquitous in folktales and legend.

The first association foxes have is with the Trickster archetype. Characters like Reynard the Fox and Br'er Fox emphasize the fox's craftiness. They're known as thieves and assassins (probably due to their hunting behavior). Disney took the trickster fox association and merged it with the Robin Hood mythos to create their 1973 masterpiece.

Disney's Robin Hood. © Walt Disney Studios, 1973

The trickster fox brings in all sorts of associations with trickster deities like Loki and Coyote, Mercury and Hermes. The Interpretatio Romana describes Mercury as the chief of the Gaulish Celtic deities. Does a fox association make Nemetona his consort or equal?

Foxes are also associated with sex, Japanese kitsune are sometimes seducers of travellers. The words foxy and vixen refer to dangerous but sexy women. Is Nemetona trying to express and aspect of herself as a sex goddess, or a dangerous lover?

Foxes are also associated with magic: In some parts of medieval Europe witches were described as having foxes instead of cats as their familiars. In parts of Scandanavia, the Aurora Borealis is described as "foxfire". A magical aspect to Nemetona would make a lot of sense, in relation to her role as guardian of the grove and the magic worked inside.

Another association that came quickly to mind was the foxglove. Foxgloves include most members of the Digitalis family, a remarkably useful medicinal plant, from which one of the earliest heart medications was derived. Digitalins are still in use today. As a heart attack survivor, heart medications are something I'm incredibly and eternally grateful for.

Foxgloves are also associated with the faeries and with the Roman goddess Juno. Scandanavian legends say the foxes use the foxgloves as warning bells to signal to each other when hunters are coming. Foxglove is a lifesaving drug, but also a poison that can kill you if not used correctly. Is Nemetona a psychopomp, who can guard the living and take the dead to the underworld?

"Digitalis Purpurea". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons 

The last association I thought of, and the most obvious, is that the fox has a beautiful fiery red fur, prized for centuries. Perhaps all my other ideas are just overthinking it and Nemetona is just describing herself? The Gauls' standards of beauty favored blonde and red hair. Perhaps she has beautiful red hair like the red fox? (And like that other notable trickster, Loki?)

I am not sure, and I have a lot of contemplation and meditating to do on the nature of the fox as relates to my patroness, but she has given me much to think about. I also have another natural spirit to honor in my rites, and a piece of sacred iconography to add to my limited picture of Nemetona.

Photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service (Public Domain Image)

Spirit of Fox, Sly One, Wild One,

Trickster and Lover and Rebel,

Red spirit of the forest, I call to you.

Carry my prayers to Nemetona.

Swift messenger, nimble hunter,

Guide me through the hidden paths.