& HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This site has been created to educate the People and honor the magnificent Wolf in all his glory. It is estimated that roughly 150,000 wolves now roam the earth's surface in at least forty nations -- a far cry from the millions which once inhabited virtually every corner of the northern hemisphere.

We are Wolf's Heart Lodge. You can visit our wolf clan (Aniwaya) through the weblink attached in the column to your left. Come back here often to see what new information and pictures have been added!

"May Wolf ever walk beside you and grant you rest in his shadow, May his paws ever guide your path and your howls be heard by all..."

Wolf is the pathfinder of new ideas who returns to the clan to teach and share medicine. Wolf takes one mate for life and is loyal like Dog. If you were to keep company with Wolves, you would find an enormous sense of family within the pack, as well as a strong individualistic urge. These qualities make Wolf very much like the human race. As humans, we also have the ability to be a part of society and yet still embody our individual dreams and ideas.

In the Great Star nation, Wolf is represented by the Dog Star, Sirius, which legend tells us was the original home of our teachers in ancient times. Sirius was thought to be the home of the Gods by the ancient Egyptians, and is still considered so by the Dogan tribe in Africa. It stands to reason that Native American people would formulate this same connection and adopt Wolf people as the clan teachers.

The senses of Wolf are very keen and the moon is its power ally. The moon is the symbol for Psychic energy, or the unconscious that holds the secrets of knowledge and wisdom. Baying at the moon may be an indication of Wolf's desire to connect with new ideas which are just below the surface of consciousness. Wolf medicine empowers the teacher within us all to come forth and aid the children of Earth in understanding the Great Mystery and life.

If Wolf has entered your life, you may be able to share your personal medicine with others. Your intuitive side may also have an answer or teaching for your personal use at this time. As you feel Wolf coming alive inside you, you may wish to share your knowledge by writing or lecturing on information that will help others better understand their uniqueness or path in life. It is through the sharing of great truths that the consciousness of humanity will attain new heights. Wolf could also be telling you to seek out lonely places that will allow you to see your teacher within. In the aloneness of a power place, devoid of other humans, you may find the true you. Look for teachings no matter where you are. Wolf would not come to you unless you requested the appearance of the tribe's greatest teacher.

taken from "The Discovery of Power Through The Ways of Animals" by Jamie Sams & David Carson.

Walk in Beauty,
Marsha Anisoquili (Many Ponies) Raymond

Early American Indians and settlers existed together in harmony with the wolf. Respected as a wise and cunning hunter, many of the wolf's ways were adopted by these pioneers. It wasn't until the white man became a "shepherd" (later to be known as rancher) raising livestock for food instead of hunting wild game, that the wolf became a threat to him and therefore his enemy.

Today, the wolf represents the symbol of our wilderness, a world which man has long since forgotten. We are just now making the attempt to protect and preserve the wolf as an endangered species. The future survival of the wolf depends on whether this mystical creature can be seen clearly for what it truly is - an exceptionally interesting and vital part of our wildlife heritage and an outstanding representative of that disappearing wilderness. Preservation of what remains is critical for the survival of Mother Earth - and indeed our own.

A pack is a family of wolves led by an adult pair known as Alpha male and Alpha female. The pack has anywhere from 6-12 members, sometimes more. The Alpha female has a lot of control over the pack and is the one who customarily picks where the pack will live and hunt for the season. Female wolves are faster than their male peers and are often better hunters. The Alpha pair are not always "in charge" since another high ranking wolf may lead a hunt or care for the pups from time to time. However, the Alpha pair is normally responsible for making the big decisions. The hierarchy of the pack - ranking from Alpha and Beta all the way down to the lowest (Omega) is somewhat flexible and often changes due to the maturation of the younger wolves, the aging of the elders and other factors. When such ranking changes involve actual fighting, the combat is not usually to the death - the loser normally capitulates by adopting a submissive posture and lives to challenge another day.

The wolf fulfilled two roles for the Indian: he was a powerful and mysterious animal, and so perceived by most tribes, and he was a medicine animal, identified with a particular individual, tribe or clan. At a tribal level, the attraction to the wolf was strong, because the wolf lived in a way that made the tribe strong. He provided food for all, including the old and sick members of the pack. He saw to the education of his children. He defended his territory against other wolves.

At a personal level, those for whom the wolf was a medicine animal or personal totem understood the qualities that made the wolf stand out as an individual. For example, his stamina, ability to track well and go without food for long periods.

The definition and defense of home range was as important to the Indian as it was to the wolf. The boundaries of most Indian territories, like those of wolves, changed with the movement of game herds, the size of the tribe and the time of year. The tribe, like the pack, broke up at certain times of the year and joined together later to hunt more efficiently. Both the wolf and the Indian hunted the same type of game and moved their families to follow specific herds. Deer sought security from Indian hunters by moving into the border area between warring tribes, where hunters were least likely to show up, just as they did between wolf territories, where wolves spent the least time hunting.

It's not surprising that the Indian saw the wolf as a significant animal. Both were hunters upon which the survival of their families depended. The Indian was very aware of the many ways in which his own life resembled those of the wolf. The wolf hunted for himself and for his family. The wolf defended his pack against enemy attack, as the Indian defended his tribe. He had to be strong as an individual and for the good of the pack. It was an efficient system of survival and in the eyes of the Indian, no animal did this as well as the wolf. The Indian worked to be as well integrated in his own environment as was the wolf in his.

The hunter did not see the wolf as an enemy or competitor, or as something less than himself. His perception of the wolf was a realistic assessment of the wolf's ability to survive and thrive, to be in balance with the world they shared. He respected the wolf's patience and perseverance, which were his most effective hunting weapons. To say he hunted like a wolf was the highest compliment, just as to say a warrior fought like the wolf was high praise.

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 aboriginal tribes to be the home of the "Ancients." It seems to be through this connection that Wolf has 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.

The Creator delights in you, and encourages with gentle joy, every movement of the Spirit within you." - Edwina Gately

With the wild nature as ally and teacher, we see not through two eyes only, but through the many eyes of intuition. With intuition we are like the starry night, we gaze at the world through a thousand eyes. It does not mean to lose one's primary socializations. It means quite the opposite. The wild nature has a vast integrity to it. It means to establish territory, to find one's pack, to be in one's body with certainty and pride, to speak and act in one's behalf, to be aware, to draw on the innate feminine powers of intuition, to find what one belongs to, to rise with dignity, to proceed as a powerful being who is friendly but never tame.

The Wild Woman is the one who thunders in the face of injustice. She is the one we leave home to look for and the one we come home to. She is the one who keeps a woman going when she thinks she's done for. She is intuition, far-seer, deep listener, and she is loyal heart. She thrives on fresh site and self-integrity.

She must strut the old pathways, assert her instinctual knowledge, proudly bear the battle scars of her time, write her secrets on walls, refused to be ashamed, lead the way through and out, be cunning and use her feminine wits. Where can you find her? She walks in the deserts, cities, woods, oceans, and in the mountain of solitude. She lives in women everywhere; in castles with queens, in the boardrooms, in the penthouse, and on the night bus to Brownsville.

She lives in a faraway place that breaks through to our world. She lives in the past and is summoned by us. She is in the present. She is in the future and walks backward in time to find us now. Wild woman whispers the words and the ways to us, and we follow. She has been running and stopping and waiting to see if we are catching up. She has many things to show us. Whether you are possessed of a simple heart or the ambitious, whether you are trying to make it to the top or just make it through tomorrow, the wild nature belongs to you.

Don't be a fool. Go back and stand under that one red flower and walk straight ahead for that last hard mile. Go up and knock on the old weathered door. Climb up to the cave. Crawl through the window of a dream. Sift the desert and see what you find. It is the only work we have to do.

Without us, Wild Woman dies. Without Wild Woman, we die. Para Vida, for true life, both must live.

Text summarized from Women Who Run With Wolves © Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.

The true wolf exists in reality, somewhere in between these two extremes. Although a top-level predator within its domain, the wolf is timid and extremely shy, avoiding human contact at almost any cost. Almost always, it prefers wild game over domestic stock and to stay as far away from civilization as possible. The wolf is neither a holy messenger of the spirit world nor is it the left hand of Satan, evil incarnate.

The wolf is simply a remarkably unique, intelligent, powerful carnivore. In these ways it is much like us.

Chorus howling works much like bird song in that it threatens potential intruders, telling them to stay off their lands or be challenged. Wolves howl as a group whenever they hear the howl of a strange pack. Packs tend to reply more often when they have something to defend, such as a fresh kill or a den full of pups. Group howling is often a sign the wolves are alarmed or upset by an intruder.

Howling that is social in nature seems to promote and maintain pack cohesion. When a pack awakens from sleep they stretch, urinate, and defecate, nose each other, and get excited, frequently breaking into a group howl.

The howl is accompanied by growling, whining, ritualistic display and domination, including pinning. Very often the wolves chase each other around in what is unmistakably friendly play. Whether the group howl precedes or follows intense socializing, it is a manifestation of the wolves' excitement or, according to wolf biologist David Mech, simply a way for each wolf to remind the others that it is present at the social get-together. Note that, as with humans, each wolf's voice is unique. No two wolves anywhere sound exactly alike.