In the heart of the Mongolian grasslands wolves and sheep herders once lived in harmony with each other. Though wolves were regarded as an "enemy" and often killed and ate the sheep these nomadic herders depended on for their livelihood, wolves also modeled strategies of survival that herders adopted enabling them to live for generations in the harsh landscape. Like the Taoist symbol of Yin and Yang, the story of Mongolian wolves is a spiritual one about living in harmony with our greatest fear, learning from our greatest enemy, and ultimately developing enough consciousness to recognize the divine-enemy-teacher residing within each of us.
Read MoreThe She-Wolf Inside Us
There is an ancient folktale from the desert Southwest about “a woman who was a wolf who was a woman” also known as “Loba Girl” or Wolf Woman who climbs the canyons, and sifts through the arroyos or dry riverbeds, gathering wolf bones over which she sings, until they spring back to life and run off laughing with the voice of a woman. Inspired by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ retelling of this story in her book Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, this folktale invites us to call back to life those buried and discarded parts of ourselves, so that we can find our true voice again.
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