The Truth About Wolves

I rescued a wolf once. A wolf skin, but the wolf was there. It was auctioned off at a horse sale. It was a female. White fur. No one else bid. Why did I? Because no one else did. Because females are smaller. Not so impressive on the wall. Why did they kill her? Because they could.

In Native American culture, wolves are revered as powerful spirit guides. They are seen as teachers, protectors, and symbols of loyalty and freedom. The white wolf is often associated with wisdom, purity, and the otherworld. When a white wolf appears, it brings a message from the ancestors, a sign of impending change.

I took her home. The white wolf. Gently laid her across the altar on the lap of the Buddha. Surrounded her with candles and smoking sage and let her rest. For seven days I kept the candles and sage going. The dogs came around and lay next to her. The cats were curious.

The number seven holds significant meaning. It is associated with spiritual awakening, inner wisdom, and the completion of a cycle. Keeping the candles and sage burning for seven days honored her spirit and created a sacred space for her to find peace. The dogs and cats sensed the importance of this ritual and paid their respects.

After the seventh day, I laid her outside on the porch. In the sun. With the wind blowing through her fur. In three days they came. All night they howled outside my fence. The wolves.

They didn’t come for my sheep. They came for her. The white wolf. I felt her spirit leave. She went home. With her wolves. Her family.

The number three carries deep symbolism. It represents the trinity of mind, body, and spirit. The three stages of life—birth, growth, and death. It is a number of completion, a sign that her journey in this realm had come to an end. And a new one had begun.

Despite their sacred meaning and their importance to the ecosystem, wolves have long been feared and misunderstood. They are portrayed as vicious predators, symbols of darkness and danger. This fear has led to their persecution and near extinction.

Hunted for their fur, their meat, and the thrill of the kill, wolves have been hounded with relentless cruelty. What we fail to understand is that by destroying them, we destroy a part of ourselves, a part of the delicate balance of nature.

Wolves have strong family bonds. They communicate over vast distances through howling. It is said that when a wolf dies, its pack will howl to guide its spirit back to the ancestral lands.

Laying her out in the sun and wind allowed her essence to be carried back to her kin. The wolves that came to howl outside my fence were not there to hunt but to mourn and celebrate the return of one of their own.

In that moment, I understood the truth of these creatures. I felt her spirit leave, finding its way back to the wild. She went home, with her wolves. Her family.

We will never understand the wisdom they have to offer—as long as we continue to fear and hunt them. In their eyes, in their howls, lies a truth we have long forgotten.

We are all connected, all part of the same great circle of life.

Holding this truth we must walk through this world with reverence. With compassion and an open heart.

With the wolves.

This story is true.