I am a Stag of Seven Tines

Its an old poem and also a bit of a puzzle. Some say it is a calender, some say it is the cycle of reincarnation and rebirth. I think it is something more, something which is both so simply obvious that it is overlooked and so profound as to be a great truth that hardly anyone ever considers in this day and age.. yet our ancestors took it for granted that everyone was aware of this most basic fact.

"I am a stag of seven tines,
I am a flood across the plain,
I am a wind on a deep lake,
I am a tear the Sun lets fall,
I am a hawk above a cliff,
I am a thorn beneath the nail,
I am a wonder among flowers,
I am a wizard: Who but I sets the cool head aflame with smoke?

I am a spear that roars for blood,
I am a salmon in a pool,
I am a lure from paradise,
I am a hill where poets walk,
I am a boar, ruthless and red,
I am a breaker threatening doom,
I am a tide that drags to death,
I am an infant: Who but I peeps from the unhewn dolmen arch?

I am the womb of every holt,
I am the blaze on every hill,
I am the queen of every hive,
I am the shield of every head,
I am the tomb of every hope.

Thinking about this old prose in modern day terms makes the puzzle nearly impossible to decipher. So lets take a journey back through time and first try to grasp the concepts of the universe as our ancient ancestors understood them.

Much of the ancient knowledge is resurfacing and our focus has been turning from the patriarchal concept that the Earth is something to be conquered, subjugated and exploited to the beginning of the comprehension or I should say "re-comprehension" that the earth is a living breathing organism. Our ancestors knew that everything was connected, everything was related, that the spark of divine fire existed in everything that is. Everything that is was or shall be contains within it a part of the creator of all things simply because when something is created the one who creates it puts a part of him/herself into it. It is through that spark of divinity which exists in everything we see and feel and experience that causes us to be a part of the whole. Every part, every creature and thing are all parts of the whole, similar to the cells and molecules of the body. Our ancestors, and these days you hear it mainly from the Native Americans knew that the rocks were both the bones of the earth and our brothers and sisters. The trees and grass and other vegetation that covers the earth were the hair/fur/garments of the earth, for they clothed the earth mother and they were also our siblings. The streams and rivers were the flowing veins and blood of the earth, the oceans were the heart of the earth circulating the living waters, the blood of the earth to every part, carried by the winds. They knew and understood that each animal, plant and stone were all of importance because they were and are all a part of the whole system. When one was gone, destroyed and removed from existence, the whole system suffered a great hurt. With enough hurts the whole system begins to suffer and as the hurts grow in number and frequency  the suffering of the greater organism of which we are but a small part suffers and that the greater the wounding or damage done the longer it will take for complete healing and recovery. They also knew that as in everything there comes a point where the damage gets so great that the organism sickens and dies. Furthermore they understood that everything comes and goes in cycles, the great cycle of life. Birth, growth, decline and death to transformation and life anew. What we consume becomes a part of us and upon death we become a part of something else which continues the whole cycle along.

With all of this in mind, you should now be able to solve the mystery.