Wolf Medicine

Messages from our wild animal friends, in this world and beyond.

I am so captivated when a wild animal shows itself to me.

In a dream.

A meditation.

Or in “reality.”

A teacher once told me:

“Never discount the importance of a wild animal showing up in your life.”

There is a message and always something to be learned.

Once, while visiting my son in North Carolina, I went for a walk alone down a road that ran alongside his apartment complex. Only a narrow strip of trees and shrubs separated the street from the apartments.

Suddenly, I felt goosebumps rise on the back of my neck. I turned my head to see what looked like a wolf staring back at me, no more than twenty feet away. Her eyes fixed steadfastly on mine.

I gasped in fear.

And in Awe.

This was no dog.

I came out of my frozen state, wanting to run but also wanting to stay and be in this animal’s presence.

Just then, I saw her leap across the busy road, and from behind, she looked more like a coyote. Not her head, though. She looked like a wolf.

About a week later, I serendipitously saw a National Geographic special on the coywolf - a hybrid between a wolf and a coyote.

If my memory serves me well, they originated in Canada and found their way across the border into cities in the Northeastern US and as far west as Chicago. Perhaps beyond. I do not know.

While living in downtown Manhattan, one of these coywolves was spotted in front of the Whole Foods store in my neighborhood. The story was that he made his way through the Holland Tunnel. This crafty half-wolf/half-coyote eluded the police all the way uptown and into Central Park by crawling under parked cars along the way. :)

Score one for the coywolf!

Years later, in a dream, I was lying under a tree I had made friends with in Ireland named Jack. He lives in a forest called The Devil’s Glen.

Jack

As I napped under this Spruce tree, a wolf came and laid her head on my heart.

No fear.

Only Love.

The healing I felt was so beautiful I wept in my dream. And when I woke, I felt a bond so deep with this Wolf that I wanted only to return to my dream.

In the city, I would see dogs on the street who resembled wolves, and my heart would skip a beat.

Once I was on a subway platform in the sweltering summer, and I was on the verge of a heat stroke. Flop sweats and feeling faint. The train pulled up, and I got into the air-conditioned car, but my heart was still racing.

Just then, a man got on the train with a service dog who looked like a wolf! The “dog” held my gaze while my breathing and heart rate normalized. When his owner walked off the train, he glanced back at me one last time.

After that incident, a few weeks later, I was sitting on a very crowded train, and in my mind’s eye, I saw the wolf/dog resting his head on my leg and telling me that he was there to protect me. From that day on, until I left the city, he was my guard wolf on the train.

You might be thinking that I have a very vivid imagination.

Or I’m losing my mind.

It’s so much more.

To me, it feels like a leaving of the 3D world, if only for just a few moments.

This is how an animal becomes your totem. Your spirit guide.

Perhaps you need some of its medicine at this time in your life.

Sometimes the animal spirit has been with you forever.

This is how it is for me with the turtle.

But the wolf has only been sharing his medicine with me for a few years now.

Or at least since I’ve taken heed.

Who knows how long he’s been trying to get my attention?

There is so much beauty, so much wisdom, in the animal kingdom.

In real life.

And in the Spirit world.

My life is richer for opening to their help. I can’t imagine it without them.

I read somewhere that Wolf medicine is for the healer - one who is often fiercely independent. Who is able to help others heal while healing themselves.

I once carved a wolf out of wood while studying animal totems in the Catskill Mountains.

He sits alongside me in meditation and on my kitchen windowsill during the day.

It’s a crude carving, but precious to me.

It was made with my own hands and carries the energy of the Wolf.

When the full moon approaches, I feel those goosebumps rise again on the back of my neck, but the fear is gone, and in its place, there is only gratitude for the wisdom of Wolf medicine.

I have a moon app on my phone that howls when the time arrives, and I jump every single month in surprise!

Now that I live in the country, there are many nights that I hear the howling of coyotes. Sometimes it sounds like they’ve surrounded my little house on the hill.

There are coywolves here, too. My friend who lives down the road has seen one on the land where she lives.

Maybe one day a coywolf will visit me in my nemeton in the woods.

Wouldn’t that be something?

I fret about the survival of wolves in the “real” world.

I dream of them making their way back across the Canadian border. This article gives me hope.

“A population of wolves lives in Quebec, just 200 miles north of New Hampshire. In fact, a female wolf was killed in Canada two years ago within 20 miles of the New Hampshire border.”

If you dream of wolves or any other wild animals, or you come upon one unexpectedly, remember that the medicine or message this animal might have for you is for you alone and might be completely different than what someone else says, or especially a book or quick internet search might tell you.

Feel into your own intuition. Write about it. Ask for guidance when you close your eyes at night.

That being said, curiosity will likely get the best of you, as it does me, and there’s no harm in reading what others have to say.

The medicine and messages I’ve received from Wolf are in many ways different than what I’ve read in books. I always trust my own intuition first.

Making a shamanic journey to the Lower World (or, as the Celts call it, the Otherworld) is a wonderful way to meet up with your animal spirit guide or guides.

When I travel to the Lower World, it is always the wolf who is waiting to greet me.

And, as I’m typing this, I realize that it’s the same tree (Irish Jack Spruce) that I was lying under in the dream, that is always my entryway into the Lower World.

The veil is very thin right now between the worlds. It’s a wonderful time for dreaming, meditation, and journeying.

Several years ago, when my dreams became rich with animal visits, I noticed that it was usually in the winter months. January became my favorite month because all of the busyness of December was over, and it was (usually!) cold and snowy and the perfect time for going within.

While those around me wanted to escape to a warm climate for a vacation, I became happy to hibernate. It’s no accident that I ended up in bear country. :)

So, enjoy the stillness while you can.

Get quiet.

Rest.

Dream.

Listen to your inner voice.

Who knows what animal or animal spirit might pay you a visit?

Much Love,
Barbara

P.S. Stay tuned for Turtle Tales