Wolf: Teacher

The wolf, once a greatly feared and hated animal, has lately become much more appreciated (and stands a better chance at survival in those countries in which it hasn't been hunted to extinction.) On a practical level this may be because when a country is in the process of "taming" the wilderness (especially in establishing farms) the wolf, symbol of wildness (and consumer of domestic farm animals) is seen as an enemy. Now, though farmers in the U.S. continue to complain bitterly about the reintroduction of the wolf into their environment, people are perhaps realizing that preserving the wilderness and its inhabitants is a positive thing.

On a deeper level our feelings about Wolf mirror our own mixed feelings about ourselves as humans. We are "civilized," and yet we are also animals with our own wild spirit. Wolf reminds us of this, often to our unease.

The spirit of Wolf contains other paradoxes. In both Celtic and Native American traditions it stands for the path of discovering the deepest levels of self, of inner knowing and intuition, as symbolized by the image of the wolf baying at the moon.

This is a solitary path. To truly come to understand oneself one must be alone, undistracted by the opinions of others. One must learn to listen to the voice within, which in silence speaks as clearly as the sound of a wolf howling in the night.

And the wolf, like the cat and the owl, is a symbol of night, a time which can be frightening and lonely, and also a time when, through dreams, one's most precious discoveries about oneself may arrive.

Yet the wolf is also the most social of animals. Wolves are known to mate for life, and the pack is a strong social structure in which all adult wolves participate in the training and teaching of the young.

Thus, we humans, as social animals, can learn much from the ways of Wolf. We can come to understand that there doesn't need to be a hard separation between the solitary and social paths. We can realize that we, in exploring the hidden paths of consciousness, may discover new truths to share with the rest of our clan, the human race.

Wolf is one of the Wild Earth Animal Essences. Wolf images are available in pocket totems and power stones, pendants, rings, and bracelets.