...Special Edition

The Wolf Myths
by Julia Griffin

Julia Griffin

The first time I met Juno, a black female wolf with a golden mask, I knew that she could see into my soul. I was surprised because I could hear her thoughts, just as clearly as I can hear words and speech from humans. As time passed, Juno and Lobo, a male wolf, began to tell me the stories that became The Wolf Myths. They came in both words and pictures.

It was easiest for me to transcribe the myths when I was actually with the wolves. I could feel if the words I had chosen were right or not. I loved to lie with the wolves on the earth in the spring and summer dusk, and as I spent more time with them, my ability to communicate rapidly increased. I almost preferred their company to humans. They lived in perfect harmony with nature; they did not take more than they needed; they shared with one another; and there was a reckless beauty in their ruthlessness.

I was changed by my time spent with the wolves. I recovered a sense of joy and health. It was one of the happiest times of my life, but all things on Earth have an ending. The life of a wolf is short. Juno and Lobo are dead, but their stories still live. I often dream that I am running with the wolves or lying with them beneath the trees in the half-light, and I wonder at their stories and the way in which I received them.

The Wolf Myths are a series of ten simple stories that begin with a creation myth and tell of the relationship between wolf and man through time. The first story tells of Wolf and Man traveling from the stars to the earth. This story like much of mythology tells of an almost perfect Earth with one season, spring. As the Earth changes, the cycle of seasons begins. The two myths that follow tell of that time.


THE POWER OF THE WIND

Toward the end of the first cold time, after Wolf had taught Man to hunt, he came upon a foreleg of a deer. The sun sparkled on it, as it lay white and glistening on the snow. Man picked up the bone. It was empty and hollow. Wolf had chewed the marrow from the bone.

Man thought of Deer, and he could see her warm, dark eyes and golden coat. He felt sorrow as he thought of her sacrifice so that he could live through the winter. Tears ran from eyes and down his cheeks. As he raised his hand to wipe away the tears, the wind began to gust, blowing sharply against Man and frightening him, for he was easily lost in the melting snow. The wind also caught in the bone and made a strange sound.

Man held the bone out so the wind could blow through it, and a pure clear sound came from the bone. Man looked at the whited foreleg of the deer, wondering at it and its noise. He took the bone with him as he traveled through the falling darkness of the night toward his shelter, as the snow blew cold and white around him.

When Man got to his cave, he sat by the fire, blowing on the fire to hasten its warmth. As he blew on the fire, he saw his breath, a white mist in the cold, stirring the ashes of the fire, bringing forth warmth and heat.

He thought of the haunting sound that had come from the bone when the wind blew through it. He placed the bone to his lips and blew, but the sound was flat and empty. Man took a sharp bone and rock and bore holes into the bone. He raised it to his mouth again and blew into it. He covered one hole, then two, and varied his breath until he was pleased with sounds.

Man thought of the place of melting ice and snow where he had found the bone. He held of the place in his mind as he blew into it, and the haunting noise he had heard when the wind first blew through the bone was repeated. It echoed through the cave and out into the frozen world. He thought about the warm time, when the world had been hot and green, when the trees were green. He raised the bone to his mouth again, and the sounds of the warm wind, the grasses, the running water of summer came from it. As long as Man held these thoughts in his mind, the sounds were happy and light.

He played through the seasons of summer and winter until he had no more to play. His hand loosened its grip on the bone, his eyes opened and about were gathered the creatures of the forest - the birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer and his friend, Wolf. They had come through the darkness and cold to hear the new sounds made on the bone that Man would call "flute".

Man learned the harmonies of all creatures. He was able to call them through different rhythms and breaths. Through the wind, he could call the weather, the plants and the animals and invoke sadness or joy. This was the power of the wind that came to Man through the sacrifices made by Wolf and Deer that he might live and prosper.

WOLF & WOMAN DISCOVER MEDICINE

When the first winter ended, glorious summer came at last. The earth grew rich and green. New rivers formed from the melted snow. Flowers covered the earth for the first time, and the song of birds and the trees filled the air.

All of Earth had changed, and it was a time of discovery. Her creatures grew fat and content in the long summer. They rested in the sun's warmth. As Wolf rested, he rejoiced most, not only for himself but also for Man and Woman. He knew they had been cold and sometimes hungry during the long winter. He wished that he could help.

One day when Wolf was trotting by Woman's side he noticed a plant bathed in golden light. Wolf stood still as he looked at the golden plant. He felt stronger in its presence and so he called to Woman. They looked in both directions and saw that many of the plants glowed with color - some green, some golden, others dark blue or red.

They ate the plant with golden light and found that it was like meat in winter. It strengthened them, and they were surprised.

Woman laughed and Wolf ran in circles around her. They hurried to pick the plants with the colors around them. Later they found that some of the plants cause sleep or give great strength or quickness. They learned that different parts of the plants had various powers that were altered by the moon.

Woman gathered and dried the plants. She and Man shared them with Wolf and this enabled them to live through the winter. This is how medicine began so long ago.