My Wolves
One Sunday afternoon, about 15 years ago, I visited a shop whose products were aimed at various alternative religious beliefs - mainly Wicca, Pagan and Native American. I saw many lovely pieces of artwork there, but the one that made the biggest impression was of a young brave. It was winter and he was alone. Snow covered the ground and the rocks and his small fire, though bright, was obviously doing little to provide warmth. He leaped through the smoke above the blaze and it was a wolf that emerged on the other side.
Driving home, I was thinking about this image when my skin began to prickle. I could feel my bones beginning to shift, my skin thickening and beginning to grow fur, my fingers shrinking into pads to fit the paws my hands were turning into. Even my vision was changing. Though I wasn’t afraid, I did wonder how I was going to keep control of the car if this went much further…
...and then it stopped. Everything went back to normal and I drove home with no further incident - just another Sunday driver out enjoying the sun and mild weather.
Wolf Print
Artist: Nicholas Wilson
Wolves are fascinating creatures. They are tremendous survivors, devoted mates (most wolves mate for life), intelligent, playful and affectionate as well as cunning and occasionally ferocious in defense of self or family. However, they fight only as a last resort, usually depending on posture and eye contact for dominance. Contrary to popular belief they are rather shy and not inclined to be particularly aggressive.
In the western world, wolves are popularly represented as evil - creatures of Satan. This stems from western European lore and mythology and goes back as far as the ancient Greeks, Romulus and Remus not withstanding.
Wolf Pin
In the Native American mythos, wolves are perceived differently. While their cunning and strength is acknowledged, wolves are also credited with the ability to teach and to find pathways. They are symbolic of loyalty and community as well as intelligence and independence. Japanese folklore also treats the wolf kindly, seeing it as protective and benign.
Beaded Wolf and Paw print
All over the world, wolves have been hunted almost to extinction. In the US, conservation and breeding programs have had some success in growing wolf populations but other parts of the world have not been so fortunate. The Honshu and Ezo wolves of Japan have been believed to be extinct since the early part of the 20th century and Great Britain’s wolves have been gone for over 400 years.
Cedar Box
A thoughtful Christmas present from my boss
The more I read and learned about wolves, the more I realized that I had been mis-informed. These animals were nothing like what I had picked up from my culture. Certainly they were carnivores and predators, but many animals that we don’t consider “bad” are. Wolves were not evil and certainly not Satanic (to no one’s surprise, I’ve also developed a fondness for bats :). They do not run around, jaws snapping and fangs dripping blood, seeking to run down and destroy what is innocent and good.
Bookends
The Red Wolf , native to the American southeast, is making something of a comeback. In the 1970s, the remnant of the population were captured for a breeding program to try and forestall extinction. Only a few of the wolves met the required standards, but the effort was successful - to a certain extent. While some have been released into the wild, their numbers are still very low and I’m not sure there’s enough of a gene pool left to insure healthy survival.
Wolf stand with Labradorite sphere
The Gray Wolf is in relatively good shape - at least in the US. Hunted to near extinction by the 1930s, it is finally beginning to approach stable population numbers. It’s status has been changed from “endangered” to “threatened” and some feel that it’s beginning to be a problem again. There are minor variations of the Gray all over the world and this animal had, at one time, the widest distribution of any mammal except for humans. The Mexican Gray, like the Red, went through a capture and breeding process and is beginning to re-establish itself in the southwest.
There is one other wolf - the Ethiopian or Abyssinian wolf which, until recently, was thought to be a type of jackal. DNA research proved it to be a wolf and, sadly, it is also critically endangered.
That Sunday afternoon was my introduction to Wolf. I knew little about wolves at the time, hadn’t studied them - had never even seen one. I wasn’t tired, ill or psychologically impaired and I have never been given to that type of imaginative flight. I don’t know how or why it happened.
I do know that the following years were more productive for me than any point before in my life. I grew and changed and learned. Perhaps all it was, was my tired psyche cluing me in that things were going to change around here! LOL! That’s it - it was all a coincidence.
Wolves’ Council
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Have you heard the story of the Newfoundland wolf?
http://www.nfmuseum.com/notes8.htm
Many thanks for the pointer to the article, Steph. I was fascinated - and saddened - to read the account. What a magnificent fellow this guy must have been!
