The Symbolism of the Wolf
Introduction
The ordinary symbolism of the wolf can be ignored
as it derives from the rise of pastoralists
and their limited view of what a wolf meant to them.
But mystic symbolism is never based on these narrow
human-centric views.
Instead a mystic understands that every animal
has a place and role in Nature,
and that those as successful as the wolf,
should be studied to find out why.
And in mystic symbolism the wolf is almost worshipped.
The Worship of the Wolf
Such was the admiration for the wolf,
that many ‘Europeans’ of old used ‘wulf’
as a prefix or suffix in their names. Examples include
Cynewulf ("Royal Wolf"), Cēnwulf ("Bold Wolf"), Earnwulf ("Eagle Wolf"),
Æðelwulf ("Noble Wolf"), Wolfgang ("Wolf Gait") and Wolfdregil ("Wolf Runner")
Picts and Native American Indians, too, saw the wolf as a totem animal
and one from which much could be learned.
Indeed Hunter gatherer communities did not see the wolf
as an enemy or competitor,
or as something less than themselves.
To say one ‘hunted like a wolf’ was the highest compliment.
Paul Verlaine - In the interminable
In the interminable Boredom of the plain
Snow uncertain Gleams like sand.
The sky is of copper Without any light.
One believes that you see The moon live and die.
Like grey clouds The oaks In the forest nearby
Float amongst the mist.
The sky is of copper Without any light.
One believes that you see The moon live and die.
A crow without breath, And you, the lean wolves,
By these sharp breezes What happens to you?
In the interminable Boredom of the plain
Snow uncertain Gleams like sand
Dogs and wolves
Wolves are the Domestic dogs’ ancestor.
The wolf is Canis lupus and are the non-domestic/feral subspecies,
our dogs are Canis lupus familiaris.
Wolves, jackals, dogs, coyotes and foxes can all interbreed.
Even today, breeding has taken place between spaniels and wolves,
huskies and wolves, foxes and dogs, and coyotes and wolves.
Female wolves will breed with domestic male dogs.
And in a weird and somewhat bizarre
human controlled experiment by a woman breeder in America,
Alaskan malamutes, Mastiffs, Pyrenees, Akita and Irish wolfhounds
were all cross bred and the result is a massive dog,
not dissimilar to the extinct Dire Wolf [aenocyon dirus].
But bigger.
As such the only difference between the Wolf
- Canis lupus and our dogs - Canis lupus familiaris,
is that dogs have chosen us and we have chosen them.
Dogs wish to collaborate with us. Wolves with each other,
which might be worth bearing in mind
when some dotty breeder offers you a wolf/dog cross.
Sometimes it will act like a dog, but sometimes it won’t ...
The symbolic traits
So what was it about the wolf that caused it
to be raised to god like status in many ancient societies?
Loyal but independent
Soul Retrieval - Dr Alberto Villoldo
He [the wolf] informed me that he was going to teach me
how to be deeply loyal to my family, as he was to the pack,
yet be able to roam widely. ...
The wolf taught me loyalty and independence.
It taught me to be part of the family pack
without feeling constrained by it.
Another way of looking at this is that a wolf is not selfish.
It thinks about the others in its ‘pack’,
but does not let them restrict its need
to be an individual with independent views.
And once, these traits were seen as being key to our survival too.
Protective
Wolves - both male and female
defend their pack against enemy attack.
A wolf thus has to be strong as an individual
and strong for the entire pack.
In the eyes of the Native American Indian, for example,
no animal did this as well as the wolf.
What has become interesting in our modern age,
is that human beings no longer have ‘packs’ that are fixed.
They can be football supporters of a club one minute
and an employee of a company
that employs rivals of this club the next.
And indeed this may be one of the reasons
people end up anxious, confused and lonely.
They no longer have any idea where they ‘belong’
- who to give their loyalties to.
In an age when just about every pack they might consider
can turn against them - from family to country, to company,
no stable group exists
that a person feels they can give their loyalty to,
a problem which has yet to be addressed.
Intelligent and adaptive
Wolves are intelligent and flexible.
They can adapt and plan and reason.
They can be patient and will persevere.
And as a consequence wolves and all the other canids
are real survivors
and they have done so by being in balance
with the environment they find themselves in,
by co-operation and not conflict and not by fighting it.
And once, these traits were seen as being key to our survival too.
Rather indicating we are all now ‘lone wolves’.
Observant
Wolves, being silent, are alert to the smallest changes in their world.
They have excellent eyesight
and superb hearing and an amazing sense of smell.
And in general it is impossible to be intelligent,
adaptive, protective and a good provider for your pack
unless you are observant.
Which makes most human beings today
and their current way of living,
look particularly weak, they have all the attributes of ‘prey’.
Nurturing of young and old
Whilst the strongest members of the pack protect them,
older wolves act as mentors to the young.
There is direct transfer of experience and knowledge
of practical skills from the old to the young.
ONLY the best old wolves teach,
the rest are given ‘baby sitting’ type jobs.
In some cases they just tag along in the pack until they die.
In other words young wolves learn only
from the best old wolves, and this keeps the pack strong.
And once, these traits were seen
as being key to our survival too.
Losing the wolf in us
The loss of our ‘inner wolf’
and our turn away from this beautiful creature
and all it can teach us has been a disaster.
Hans Peter Duerr - Dreamtime
According to old Norse law and even much later,
the wolf was deprived of the protection of the law.
The Sachsenspiegel, for instance, provides that
by the king’s orders in the land of Saxony,
wild animals were to be left in peace,
except for bears, wolves and foxes.
which is maybe why we have become rabbits
in the glare of the headlights of other very dangerous predators
- sharks even -
fearful, lonely, procreating with abandon
even though our surrounding are ill able to support us all.
Only out for ourselves and our survival.
Be a wolf again.