ST. HUBERT STAG [limited-edition organic T]

St. Hubert [a.k.a. The Apostle of the Ardennes] is the Catholic patron saint of hunters, dogs, forest workers & metalworkers.

In the late 600’s, Hubert, mourning the death of his wife & skipping church, was out hunting in the Ardennes forest of Wallonia [French-speaking Belgium], still a pagan & wolf-inhabited wilderness then, when he & his hounds came upon a majestic stag with an illuminated cross hovering between its antlers. He heard the voice of God & was told to seek a religious path or end in the fires of hell.

To this day hunters in full regalia with horns, horses, & even guns, bring their hounds to mass to be blessed. In olden times this was of vital importance, a metaphysical protection from the incurable, mysterious & dread disease hydrophobia, aka rabies or “la rage” in French. In folk medicine of the area, a piece of metal called a St.Hubert’s Key, usually in the form of a horse-shoe topped nail, would be heated in a fire & pressed into the mad-dog bite wound. It’s thought that this actually worked if performed quickly, as the cauterizing killed the rabies bacteria in the fresh wound.

“St. Hubert priez pour nous,” [St. Hubert pray for us] is stamped into many old French & Belgian Catholic memento pendants. As a solo hunter, I often pray to St. Hubert before entering the woods for a safe & successful hunt!

◊ Unisex S-through-3X

◊ Thick, environmentally friendly, organic, black Econscious shirts

◊ Printed with water-based discharge ink for a soft hand feel; washing-machine-safe ink.