Wolf Energy
In Native American traditions, Wolf is said to be "teacher" medicine. Humans have followed Wolf for millennia, studying Wolf's ways of the hunt, learning from their social structure. Wolf is allied with Sirus, the Dog Star, and it is said in many cultures, that our ancestors and teachers came from there. This is agreed upon by Australian Aborigines, and the Dogon tribe of Africa, as well as certain Native American tribes.
Wolf has much to teach us, if only we will listen. Wolf is allied to the moon and lunar energies, teaching us to respect our emotions and unconscious urges. Respect for the wildness of our animal natures, and willingness to face the dark within ourselves is an imperative for Wolf people. Trust in the unspoiled nature of your Child/Wolf self. Because the Moon rules psychic perception, Wolf people should work on learning to trust their intuition and psychic urges, to listen for the still small voice within.
The communal nature of Wolf's culture and hunting helps us to learn to cooperate to achieve a goal. Wolf people make good "team players" and are fiercely loyal to those they consider part of their pack. They often have strong leadership qualities, however they must often learn to balance their tendency for "social dominancing." As a predator, Wolf culls the sick and weak of the herd. Wolves are often quick to scent when a situation is "sick," and will work to change it. It is important that they learn to lead the situation gently, and without tearing others apart, or the pack may turn on them.
Wolf's capacity for communication suggests that Wolf people should learn to utilize the strength of their voice and to be aware of their body language. When dealing with Wolf people, listening for the nuances of vocal tone and watching their motions will help in gaining an understanding of them. Wolves often make excellent bards and storytellers.
Ritual is very important to Wolf. Both the little rituals of day-to-day conduct, and the bigger rituals of lunar howling. Whatever their spiritual beliefs, Wolf people will feel more in tune when they honor and re-link (the actual meaning of the word "religion") with the life force.
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Wolves are the epitome of stamina, known to run 35 miles a day in pursuit of prey. They are highly misunderstood animals, who have gained the reputation of being cold blooded. In reality wolves are friendly and social creatures. Aggression is something they avoid, preferring rather to growl or create a posture to show dominance.
Even though living in close knit packs provide wolves with a strong sense of family, they are still able to maintain their individuality. Wolves represent the spirit of freedom, but they realize that having individual freedom requires having responsibilities.
Because wolf is a teacher and pathfinder, he comes when we need guidance in our lives. Those who have a Wolf Totem will move on to teach others about sacredness and spirituality. Wolf can also teach how to balance the responsibility of family needs and not to lose one's personal identity.
Wolf teaches us to develop strength and confidence in our decisions. He shows we will learn to trust our insights once we learn how to value our inner voice. This wisdom keeps us from inappropriate action. If wolf appears in your life examine where you need to develop more confidence and if you need more balance between friends, family, and yourself.
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As I have mentioned previously, my totem is the Wolf. Wolf has come to me often over the years starting when I was somewhere around 8-9-10yrs old. No older than 10 because the last documented wolf in OK was killed in 1962. My grandparents had a dairy farm where I spent much of my younger years. It was not uncommon to see the bodies of coyotes & wolfs hanging on fence posts on the road to their farm. Hung there by the bounty hunters. It was a horrendous sight that I grew up seeing. I never became immune to the awful sight, the horror of it all. One day I got dropped off at the farm & was quickly admonished by my Nanny to stay away from the culvert (under the drive into the home place) because the hunters had corned a wolf under there & were coming back for it. Now when you tell me, or most any kid for that matter, not to do something because there is something really interesting there....well suffice to say I did not stay away. The ends of the culvert had been "fenced off" with wire mesh so I just laid on the ground in front of one end & stared in. There was the wolf, gleaming eyes, never growled, just moved a little forward & laid flat out on its belly. We just looked at each other for a very long time. It was a silent communication just between our two souls. That is the day that the Wolf Spirit entered/joined with my Spirit. I vaguely remember the wolfers coming & taking that beautiful animal. I know I was there when it happened because I remember it being caged & looking so resigned to its fate. I know that wolf did not die that day for he lives in me where his Spirit, joined all those years ago with mine, is safe & alive. He has guided me over the years--even the times when I forgot to listen. He comes to me in dreams, in visions, in fleeting sightings. I have seen him standing in my driveway as if watching over me & mine. I see him glide through my house, just checking in, just passing by. A pack comes to my dreams when I have big decisions to make or a situation is particularly stressful for me. They guide me home, figuratively & sometimes quite literally.
I carry my totem with me always--in my heart, my soul, a tatto on my thigh. I wear wolf jewelry quite often. I always have a statue, a picture or a painting in my house. Often one in every room. I visit wolf sanctuaries & sit & commune with the souls there. One of my favorites is Wolf Haven International in Tenino, WA (www.wolfhaven.org) where I have camped & howled with the wolves into the night--it was such an awesome experience. I have been going there since it opened (1982) & have seen the graves of wolves I communed with in the early years. If you live in WA or OR it is worth the drive to Tenino-they do awesome, informative, educational tours, & the wolves are fantastic. When you see the ravens, remember there were no ravens there until the wolves came, they are symbiotic. I have held wolf cubs in my arms, felt their hearts beating next to mine, smelled their scent & carry it with me always, stroked their fur & feel it under my fingers everyday.
I have given wolf totems to each of my tribe members to wear or carry with them. I have assembled my pack over the years & continue to do so. Not everyone I meet becomes a tribe/pack member. Some it takes awhile, for some it is an immediate acceptance, some never become a member & move on. No matter the distance between us we are joined. We honor the same full moon, we hear each other's howls & recognize the need that is spoken. We laugh & play, grieve & cry, hunt & celebrate when we gather together once more. We are solitary, we are a pack/a tribe---we are Family!!!
Blessed be...
4 comments:
I wear my totem all the time and it makes me feel close to you and the wolves.
I love them too.They are strong,but yet gentle with such kind eyes.
I was so furious and hate sarah palin because she OK the shooting of wolves in Alaska by helicopter! the poor wolves dont stand a chance!
Have a nice weekend my sweet sister and dont forget YA-Ya-Ya
Do you know which North American tribes had special regard for the Dogstar? Wen you say our teachers came from the star, what do they mean? This is all very interesting.
Sulustu: Here is a intersting answer I found on www.timestar.org.
The founding of numerous Native American tribes was linked to the Dog. The Quinalt Tribe in Washington State say that a long time ago one of the women in the tribe had four puppies so she was abandoned by the tribe on the beach. When the puppies grew up, they were the best hunters and fisherman and fathered the Quinalt clans. That's why the Quinalt have four clans. Wallace Black Elk reported that many native people came from Sirius in the distant past and often joked about antennae for the UFOs. His EuroAmerican apprentices explained that what he really meant by UFO was the star people, like the tree people, and the stone people. Being a UFO experiencer, I recognized the humor and symptoms of a real experience. Several years later, I asked Black Elk what he meant by his jokes about the UFOs in a private conversation. Did he think we really came from the stars the way the Old People said, or were they just using their imaginations?
He meant that we really did come from the stars. About 500,000 years ago people came from Sirius and then about 350,000 years ago people came from the Pleiades. Black Elk's 500,000 years is in Sitchin's 432,000 ballpark. When Black Elk was a young boy a UFO hovered over a sweat lodge at his cousin Benjamin's on the Pine Ridge Reservation. While Black Elk was in the sweat lodge with the door down, a rock came hurtling into the lodge and landed at his feet. Nobody could figure out how the stone came through the door because it had never moved. When they heard Benjamin's family screaming outside the lodge, they ended off the ritual to find out what was going on outside. A brilliantly lit craft had hovered directly over the sweat lodge, and Benjamin's family had sent someone to get the sheriff. Black Elk carried the stone that landed at his feet in his personal possession for the rest of his life. He still carried it when we spoke about the incident.
A contact with the Dogon tribe in Africa during the 12th or 13th Centuries was a classic example of Sirian contact. Astronomical knowledge of the Sirian star system formed the center of Dogon culture, whose name is a homonym of Dog.. For centuries, the Dogon were aware of astronomical data about Sirius A, B, and C that our astronomers did not discover until 1928 and could not verify until 1978. A third planet the Dogon called Sirius C is suspected to exist in the system because of perturbations in the orbits of A and B, but astronomers still have not been able to verify the third planet. The Sirians left four calendars with the Dogon: lunar, solar, Venusian, and civil. The Dogon say that the visitor was a fish named Nommo symbolized by a vesica pisces. Ea occasionally used a fish to designate his identity and Sumerian vignettes show Ea decked out in a scaled cape with human head and legs extending from the symbolizing attire. Sirius was frequently associated with the water and fish, specifically dolphins.
Thoth's specific symbolic use of Sirius, the Dog Star, and the very consistent Native American accounts of the Dog often associated with clan systems, suggest that he and his followers used that designation. The Cherokee, the most literate of Native American tribes, were mound builders who traced their origin to Sirius and the Pleiades, but primarily Sirius.
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My personal reading has found that the Plains Indians held the wolf in high regard--Wolf medicine is highly regarded in the Lakota. The Cherokee has a Wolf Clan ( I am of Cherokee/Choctaw decent as well as Irish on both sides of my family). I am still in the process of learning through the legends/stories of many tribes. I know there are wolf depictions in the masks of the NW tribes also.
Thanks for stopping by. I will post more on this as I learn more.
Blessed be...
Hmmmm, this is all very interesting. In all my wanderings, I don't remember anything about a dogstar, though I did read a book once by Zechariah Sitchin. I'm interested to read more as you post.
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