** Wolves **
The leaders of the pack
Under the moonlight
He runs amongst the shadows,
A free spirit roaming wild;
There I sat by the lake,
Wondering about the eyes I saw,
And then there he was standing beside me
In amazement I stared,
And within a blink, was gone like the wind
Helki Weber, November 20, 1999©
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Welcome to my wolf page. I love
every animal that walks this earth, but there is something
mystical, something magical about the beautiful Wolf. They are
strong, loyal and captivating creatures. But sadly not everyone
sees this. Too many people are portraying this animal as
something evil, something horrible. Where as the truth is far
from that.... They are animals that should be cherished,
protected and marveled at!
~^~ The Wolf ~^~
The wolf or Canis Lupus,
a close relative of the domestic dog, once ranged across Europe,
Asia and North America, in the forested areas. It has largely
been exterminated in the temperate areas and survives only in the
colder northern parts of the northern hemisphere. The timber wolf,
as it is often called, looks rather like the domestic alsatian in
size and shape. To the south, in North America, it is replaced by
the coyote ot prairie wolf (C. latrans) which is smaller and
hunts small mammals and birds as well as scavenging when it can.
It in habits the open prairies, although recently agriculture has
driven it into more mountainous areas. In Asia, the wild dog (Cuon
alpinus), known as the dhole in India, replaces the timber wolf.
This reddish-brown animal hunts in packs and will attack large
mammals, such as wild boar and spotted deer, and it has known to
kill and eat sloth bears and black bears.
Wolves have been long
regarded by Native Americans as teachers or pathfinders.
Wolves are fiercely loyal to their mates, and have a strong sense
of family while maintaining individualism. In the stars, Wolf is
represented by the Dog, Sirius, thought by many abroginal tribes
to be the home of the "Ancients." It seems to be
through this connection that Wolves have come to be associated
with ancient teachings. Wolves are probably the most
misunderstood of the wild animals. Tales of cold
bloodedness abound, in spite of the their friendly, social and
intelligent traits.
They are truly free
spirits even though their packs are highly organized. They seem
to go out of their way to avoid a fight. One is rarely necessary
when a shift in posture, a growl, or a glance gets the point
across quite readily.
Traditionally, someone
with Wolf Medicine has a strong sense of self, and communicates
well through subtle changes in voice inflection and body
movements. They often find new solutions to problems while providing stability and support that one normally associates with
a family structure.
In Roman mythology
there is the she wolf, she raises the abandoned Romulus and Remus
who are the twin founders of Rome. This human infant raised by
wolf mother is echoed in many other tales, particurly stories of
indian children who have been raised by wolves.
Cental and West Asian
people who belong to Turkic speaking tribes believe that the
cultures founders were mothered by a wolf. In Turkey there
is an extreme nationalist group that call themselves the Grey
Wolves. Genghis Khan also
believed himself to have been mothered by a wolf. The fact that
these war like nomadic peoples revered the wolf so much much
shows the reverence they had for the wolves endurence, group
cohesion and skill in hunting.
~^~ The Wolf
as Myth and Symbol ~^~
In the European mind,
wolves long stood as a symbol of baneful, uncontrollable nature.
As far back as the time of Aesop in 500 BCE (Before the Christian
Era), wolves in literature are portrayed as wicked villains and
long-fanged, terrible beasts. Before the Middle Ages, wolves were
nearly always the greedy thief, criminal trickster, or cruel
remorseless murderer. The wolf does not fare well in the European
imagination.
In Historia
animalium, Aristotle began the scientific
inquiry about the wolf. He notes gestation lengths, how and when
pups are born, and the fact that certain species of wolves are
smaller than others.
Nearing the beginning
of the 12th century ACE (After the Christian Era), Aristotle's
fledgling scientific examinations were replaced by the full-blown
mythology presented in early works precursing the bestiary such
as the Physiologus.
The Physiologus,
although presented in a definitive volume, is likely the work of
many authors, representing a coalescence of ancient oral
literature. The Physiologus
is not a collection of scientific facts about animals, but rather
is a collection of fables, myths, and folklore. Over time, the Physiologus
expanded into the more popular bestiary. Bestiaries often tried
to incorporate moral imperatives of the growing Christian
religion. This attempt to weave Christian beliefs into daily life
transformed the bestiary from merely a collection of enjoyable
stories into moral allegories . Although bestiaries were in
existence even before the 4th century ACE, the first mention of Canis
lupus appears after the 7th century ACE .
Once the wolf appeared in the bestiary, a literary record of
feelings toward and thoughts about the wolf begins. In his book Of
Wolves and Men, Barry Lopez discusses ways
the wolf was portrayed in bestiaries. The bestiaries were full of
what we know today to be incorrect information about wolves.
False biological assumptions, fantastical tales of the wolves'
evil nature and religious imperatives regarding the Wolf and the
Devil filled the pages. Perhaps the way we, today, are most
familiar with the wolf is through those few of these tales that
have managed a continued existence into the present day. In
particular, we can look toward fables and fairy tales passed to
us from earlier generations of Europeans. Among the most famous
are Grimm’s Fairy Tales
(1800s) and Aesop's Fables
(500 BCE). The Brothers Grimm brought us tales such as "Little
Red Riding Hood." Aesop's Fables brought us entertaining
moral allegories such as "The Fox and the Grapes and Never
Cry Wolf."
Aesop's Fables do more
than just offer a moral suggestion. Often the characters in the
stories act as symbols. Since the fables are so short, the
desired message must be delivered quickly and effectively. Using
symbolic representations in the form of stereotypical characters
facilitates that goal. The situations involved in both fairy
tales and fables use character and creature symbols to convey
situations more easily. The wolf is one of these chosen symbols.
By looking closely at the way the wolf is portrayed in fables and
fairy tales, we can see what the wolf symbolizes. The stereotypes
and symbols evolved out of cultural feelings and beliefs,
ultimately reinforcing themselves through the perpetuation of the
fables and fairy tales. For example, the relevant points in The
Nurse and the Wolf lie in the way the wolf
is perceived. In this case, the wolf is conniving his way toward
what he hopes is an easy dinner. The wolf is also a child-eater.
The wolf patiently waits outside the window, hoping for such a
"dainty morsel." Finally, as the Nurse hastens to close
the window, the wolf is shown as a creature to be feared.
Many of Aesop's other
fables portray the wolf in a similar way. The Wolf
in Sheep's Clothing is the tale of a Wolf
who is living just outside a pasture where sheep are kept and
guarded. As the shepherd and his dogs are always present, the
Wolf has great difficulty catching a meal of mutton. One day he
discovers the skin of a sheep that was flayed and thrown aside.
He puts the pelt on over his own, and starts out to walk among
the sheep. The lamb of the sheep whose fleece he is wearing soon
begins to follow him close by. Upon noticing this, the Wolf works
his way to the end of the field where he quickly makes a meal of
the little lamb. He continues this for some time and is always
able to find an easy dinner as appearances are deceptive. Once
again, it is interesting to inspect the assumptions about the
wolf that are inherent in this tale. Like the first fable, the
wolf is portrayed in a decidedly negative light. The wolf is
shown as a tricky, conniving, greedy thief who will go to great
lengths to tear into the flesh of a poor little lamb
~^~ The wolf
controls the population of other animals. ~^~
Wolves
generally kill the weak, the old, and the young. If the wolf did
not do this, the deer and the caribou and the moose and other
large animals would damage the forest by over populating and
eating the plants and trees.
Sometimes wolves will kill an animal in prime condition.
Sometimes the wolf will kill more than it needs to eat. Both of
these actions are very rare and are usually easy to explain.
Wolves build dens to have pups. Once the wolves abandon the den,
which means leave it for good, it is often used by porcupines and
other smaller animals for shelter.
The fur shed by the wolf is used by birds to build nests.
The raven is a type of bird that eats the remains after the
wolves have stopped eating. The coyote, the fox, and many other
animals also eat after the wolves are done.
The wolf has been seen chasing a rabbit and then giving up the
chase. The rabbit is so tired after this chase that it is easy
for the owl to get for food. Nothing goes to waste.
~^~ Wolf
Behaviour ~^~
Body Language
Spanish
scientists studying wolves in a large European reserve found that
the position of the ears, the angle of the tail and the amount of
teeth displayed were all very important in the life of the pack
wolf. The leader of the pack was the only wolf allowed to have
his tail raised above the level of the back, and any other wolf
that dared to wag its tail in an upright position was treated as
a challenger for leadership.
Thus,
wolves, like chimps, use their body to tell their companions
about their feelings, and also to advertise their position in the
life of their society.
Please
visit ~Wolff~ at the Wolff Den for some beautiful online
stories
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Me