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Wolf is a carnivore related
to the Coyote, Jackal and domestic Dog.
It has powerful jaws
and teeth, yellow eyes and round pupils, thick fir, a bushy tail, and other
characteristics that distinguish it from other canines.
There are two main species of Wolf that are classified in the
Canidae family. The best known and
largest is the Gray wolf or Timber wolf (Canis lupus).
The other is the Red wolf (Canis rufus), which is smaller in size.
Other similar animals known as wolves but not from the same genuses are:
the Maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), the Aardwolf (Proteles
cristatus) and the Tasmanian wolf (Thylacinus cynocephalus).
The Gray wolf is a powerful animal with a broad head,
robust limbs, large feet and deep but narrow chest, and except for some domestic
breeds of dog, he is the largest of living canines. A northern male can grow to be about 2 m (6.5 feet) long,
including its bushy 50-centimetre (20-inch) tail, and weigh about 20 - 80 kg (44
- 175 pounds). The female of the
species is normally smaller than the male, and those from the Southern regions
tend to be smaller than those from the Northern regions.
The fur of the Gray wolf is dense, long and soft, and commonly
colored red-yellow or yellow-gray with black patches on its back and sides and
white on its chest and abdomen. Those
bred in the far north such as Alaska and Canada can also have coats of pure
white. The fir of the smaller Red
wolf is usually quite dark in color.
Wolves are intelligent and social animals and have long
been admired, even venerated by native America Indians. The Gray wolf usually lives in a family pack, made up of
several to two-dozen family members. There
is a clearly defined dominance and hierarchy in the pack, with only the
leader (the alpha male) and his chosen partner (the alpha female) having
the right to mate. These two are
usually the parents of the other pack members.
Second in rank is the beta wolf or wolves, who typically
take on prominent roles with regard to the upbringing of the alpha pair’s
litter, and will often act as surrogate mothers or fathers while the alpha pair
is away. Larger packs may have more than one beta wolf.
The lowest-ranking member of a pack is the omega wolf, who may be the
weakest or simply the most submisive wolf in the pack.
Their territorial range can be up to one or several hundred
square kilometres, which they actively defend against other wolf packs.
A wolf pack normally moves and hunts at night and are
most at home hunting on the prairie to where they travel in packs searching for
food. They will also hunt on
forested lands and on all but the highest of mountains.
Built for speed and
stamina over long distances, they are capable of covering several miles trotting
at an average pace of 10 km/h (6 mph), and have been known to reach speeds
approaching 65 km/h (40 mph) during a chase.
While sprinting a wolf can cover up to 5 meters (16 ft) in a bound.
Small animals and birds are common prey to wolves, but packs will also hunt and attack reindeer, caribou, sheep and other large herbivore mammals. These they catch by stalking followed by a chase, usually selecting the weak, the old or the very young for easier capture. Once the prey has been brought down, the pack then gorges, usually reducing the carcass to hair and a few bones. In this way the Gray wolf performs an important natural function in controlling the large numbers of herbivore by weeding out those less fit for survival. Unfortunately, wolves cannot distinguish between wild animals and domestic livestock, which they also attack. As such they in turn became the hunted, and persecuted by humans almost to the point of distinction. When no live prey can be found, wolves will feed on carrion (the decaying flesh of dead animals) and also eat berries.
The communal howling of a pack serves to assemble its
members and communicate effectively
in thickly forested areas or over great distances. Howling is also used as a declaration of territory and
to advertise its territorial claim to other neighbouring packs, particularly when
a pack has something to protect such as a fresh kill.
As a rule, larger packs will more readily draw attention to themselves
than will smaller packs, and neighbouring packs
may respond to each other. When
hunting howling can be used to indicate danger, particularly when in close proximity
to other packs.
Howling can also be a way of expressing pleasure.
The alpha male and female normally breed in late winter
between January and April each year, and can average a litter of 6 to 7 pups.
These are born in the spring after a gestation period of about 63 days.
The young are reared in a den or
lair, which may be a cave, a hollow tree trunk, a thicket, or a hole dug in the
ground for the purpose. Initially
the young pups are fed with meat regurgitated by their parents after a
hunt, while the other members of a pack take care of the pups well being and
protection. The youngest members remain with the pack until they reach
sexual maturity, normally about two years, after which they leave to search for
a mate and establish their own pack in new territories.
The Gray wolf once had a greater natural distribution than
any other mammal except for human beings, and once could be found all over North
America from Alaska and Canada down south to central Mexico.
They were also found in abundance on the continents of Europe, Russia and
Asia, and all the way down to the Mediterranean Sea, including the Arabian
Peninsula and parts of India and China.
Today however, while they can still be found across northern Europe and
Asia, only a small proportion of their original population now exists.
In North America their
numbers have also been greatly diminished, and are now found primarily in
Canada and Alaska, with much smaller numbers in Minnesota and Mexico.
The decreasing numbers of wolves are the result of encroachments on their territory by humans, who have long regarded wolves as dangerous to livestock, pets and people. However, few if any healthy wolves have ever attacked humans, their natural wild instinct is to avoid human contact. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) now lists the Gray wolf as threatened in Minnesota, and in all other areas across the United States (except Alaska), under the Endangered Species Act. In 1987 they started a program to reintroduce the Gray wolf back into the wilderness areas of the Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado, and the Yellowstone National Park in Idaho.
Red wolf (Canis rufus) next to the Gray wolf (Canis
lupus) is the smaller of the two main species of wolves classified in the
Canidae family. The Red wolf is
native to the southeastern United States and is now virtually extinct in the
wild, however as with the Gray wolf, active breeding programs are helping to
return these animals to their native habitat.
Red wolf is the smallest of all wolves and measures
approximately 100 to 130 cm (39 to 51 in) in length, not including their bushy
tails, which are about 40 cm (about 16 in) long. They weigh between 20 and 40 kg (44 and 88 lb).
The Red wolf has a muscular body that is covered with reddish-brown fur,
with gray or black highlights on the ears, face and tail.
They have a narrower skull and shorter fur than the Gray wolf, as well as
longer legs and ears. Like other
wolves, the red wolf is an efficient hunter, preying on animals ranging from
raccoons to white-tailed deer. The
Red wolf also eats plants and sometimes will scavenge dead animals. It is most
active at night.
Unlike the Gray wolf they usually live in pairs or small
family groups, rather than in packs. They
normally mate for life and breed once a year.
After a gestational period of 60 to 63 days, the females produce litters
of four to seven pups. Pups are raised in a den, which the parents either dig
themselves or take over from some other animal. By
about five months of age the pups are mature enough to travel with the adults
and reach full maturity after two years. Few
Red wolves survive for more than four years in the wild, but members of their
species have lived for 14 years or longer in captivity.
Red wolf was excessively hunted, trapped and poisoned by
European settlers in North America, who viewed them as a threat to livestock and
humans. They also suffered from the
destruction of their natural habitat
as a result of encroachments on their territory by humans.
As the number of Red wolves declined, it became difficult for them to
find mates within their own species. As
a consequence they interbred widely with Coyotes (Canis latrans).
Today the Red wolf-coyote hybrids are still found, but true Red wolves,
other than those introduced by captive breeding programs, have been considered
extinct in the wild since 1980.
In 1973 the
United
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) started a captive-breeding
program for the Red wolf, in which biologists captured a small number of Red
wolves from the wild and brought them to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in
Tacoma, Washington. These captive
animals produced their first litters in 1977.
Over the years the number of captive Red wolves has increased and
scientists have now reintroduced them to the wilderness areas of Alligator River
National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park.
The oldest known wolf species, now extinct, was the Dire
wolf (Canis dirus), a wolf that existed during the Pleistocene Epoch (1,600,000
to 10,000 years ago). The Dire wolf
differed from the modern wolf in several ways:
it was larger, had a more massive skull, a smaller brain and relatively
light limbs. It is probable that
the Dire wolf was less intelligent than are modern wolves.
The species was considerably widespread and skeletal remains have been
found in Florida, the Mississippi Valley and the Valley of Mexico.
Examples of remains can be found in the George C. Page Museum of La Brea
Discoveries in California, which displays skeletons of animals from the Ice Age
found preserved and trapped in asphalt deposits in the La Brea Tar Pits.
Perhaps the most famous of all myths about wolves is that
of the monster wolf called Fenrir in Norse mythology. Fenrir was the son of the trickster fire god Loki, who according myths
gave birth to Fenrir himself after eating the heart of the giantess Witch
Angerbotha. His
sister was the goddess Hel and his brother the evil serpent Jormungand.
After his birth, the other gods feared of his strength and knew
that only evil could be expected of him, they
also received prophecies of disaster concerning him and his brother Jormungand
at Ragnarök (the end of the world of gods and men “Doomsday”).
Such was their fear of Fenrir, even as a pup, no one would go near him,
the only god courageous enough to approach him was Tyr, a son of Odin.
Despite their prophecies, the gods could not kill
Fenrir because it would have defiled their sanctuary, so they sought some way to
restrain him as each day he grew larger, stronger and more fearsome.
On their first attempt they used the strongest iron chain as could then
be found called Leyding, but Fenrir broke it with just a single kick.
On the second attempt they used another specially forged chain called
Dromi, which was twice as strong as the first, and while Fenrir strained a
little at it this one, it too soon broke. Now
the gods became even more afraid of his power and strength.
On seeing this, Odin sent Skirnir, Frey's messenger
down into the world of the Dwarfs and had them fashion a magical restraint
called Gleipnir. This was made up
of six magical ingredients: the
sound of a cat’s footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, a
bear’s sinews, a fish’s breath and spittle from a bird.
When it was done, Gleipnir was smooth and as soft as a silk ribbon band.
Skirnir brought the new restraint back to the home of the gods, were they
took it on to the island of Lyngvi by the lake Amsvartnir.
There they called Fenrir the wolf and showed him the silky band,
challenging him to test his strength against it.
Fenrir however was suspicious because of the thinness
of the band. The gods agreed to
free him if he could not break out of the band himself, but Fenrir was still
reluctant to have it put on him. He
asked that someone put their hand into his mouth as proof that the gods were
acting in good faith, but none of the gods would take such a risk, knowing full
well their intended deceit. Only
Tyr, son of Odin was brave enough to step forward and put his right hand into
Fenrir’s mouth. Fenrir was then
bound with Gleipnir, and tried with all his might but could not snap the silken
band. All the other gods laughed
with glee to see Fenrir’s distress, all except for Tyr as Fenrir closed his
mouth and bit off his hand at the wrist.
As Fenrir struggled against the silken band, the gods
took another piece of the same band, called Gelgia, which was connected to
Gleipnir and threaded it through a great stone slab called Gioll.
This they fastened deep into the earth and anchored it with a huge rock
peg called Thviti. Fenrir in his anger continued to struggle violently,
stretching his jaws and snapping frighteningly at anyone who came near him.
To stop this the gods thrust a tall sword into his mouth with its hilt
touching his lower gums and the point touching his upper gums, leaving his mouth
propped open. In this condition
Fenrir was left alone, howling horribly with saliva running from his mouth until
the time of Ragnarok (the end of the world of gods and men “Doomsday”).
The
story of Fenrir appears in both the ‘Poetic (or Elder) Edda’ of the 09th-12th
century, and the ‘Prose Edda’ of Snorri
Sturluson from the 13th
century. In the ‘Prose Edda’,
at the time of Ragnarok, Fenrir the monster wolf broke free of his restraints
and joined all the other giants and monsters in an all-out war with the gods.
During the ensuing war Fenrir killed Odin the chief of the gods by
swallowing him. Odin’s son Vidar
then come forward and stepping on the wolf’s lower jaw, grasped his upper jaw
in his hands and tore his mouth apart, finally killing the beast and avenging
his father.
In Roman mythology Romulus was the founder and first
King of Rome. He and his twin
brother Remus were the sons of Mars, the God of war and of Rhea Silvia (also
called Ilia) who was one of the Vestal virgins.
Rhea Silvia was the daughter of Numitor, King of Alba Longa who had been
deposed by his younger brother Amulius. It
was Amulius who made Rhea Silvia a virgin Priestess, so that she would have no
children to make claims against his throne.
After the birth of her two boys and to remove any threat against himself,
he had the twins put into a basket and thrown into the Tiber River.
The twins were not drowned however, and were rescued and nursed by a
She-wolf on the slope of the Palatine Hill.
Later they were discovered by the shepherd Faustulus and reared by his
wife Acca Larentia. When the twins
grew to manhood, the brothers deposed Amulius and placed their grandfather
Numitor on the throne.
Although She-Wolf of the Capitol (circa
500 bc) is actually an Etruscan sculpture, it is associated with Roman art.
The bronze statue, which stands 85 cm (33 in) high, is the symbol of the
city of Rome. The mythological
Romulus and Remus were supposed to have been kept alive by a wolf in order to
fulfil their destiny as founders of the city.
The figures of the infants were created during the Renaissance, but the
wolf is Etruscan.
The brothers then decided to build a city. However as twins will, they quarreled over its location, after much heated debate they finally decided on Palatine Hill. Romulus then had a wall built around it for protection. Remus was still contemptuous and to show its inadequacy scornfully climbed over it. Romulus sized this opportunity to have Remus killed and thus became sole ruler and first King of the city he called Rome.
According to the rest of the story, to ensure the future of
Rome, Romulus and his band of followers needed wives who would bear children to
ensure the future of the new city. So
they invited their neighbours the Sabine peoples, to a festival and kidnapped
their daughters. A war broke out
between the two communities, and peace was only restored when the Sabine women
declared their preference for their Roman husbands. The Sabine peoples then joined the Romans in a single
community.
This led to an important religious festival held annually
on the 15th February called the Lupercalia. The ceremony took place at the Lupercal, a small cave on the
slopes of Rome’s Palatine Hill, where Romulus and Remus had been suckled by
the She-wolf. During the ceremony
two groups of young men sacrifice goats and a dog (Wolf being held sacred) and
cut their skins into strips. Clothed
only in these strips, the young men then ran a race along a specified course,
tapping female bystanders with strips of their skin garments as they passed,
indicating their choice partner for later revelry.
This rowdy festival was so popular that it was not abandoned until ad
494, well into the Christian era, when Pope Gelasius I replaced it with the
Christian Feast of the Purification of the Virgin.
Another legendry myth about wolves comes from the Central
Asian nations such as that of the Turkic peoples and Mongols, to whom the Wolf
is a revered animal. The shamanic
Turkic peoples even believed they were descendants of wolves.
The legend of Asena is an old Turkic myth that tells of how the Turkic
people were created. In Northern
China a small Turkic village was raided and captured by Chinese soldiers, but
they left one small baby behind. An
old She-wolf with a sky-blue mane named Asena found the baby and nursed him to
maturity. Later the She-wolf gave
birth to a litter of half-wolf, half-human cubs, and therefore the Turkic people
were born. Also in Turkic mythology
it is believed that a Gray wolf showed the Turks the way out of their legendary
homeland Ergenekon, which allowed them to spread and conquer their
neighbours.
A Werewolf according to ancient superstition was a man
who is transformed, or who transforms himself into a Wolf, both in nature and
appearance. Legend has it that a
werewolf transforms himself under the influence of a full moon, and then roams
about at night devouring animals, infants and corpses before returning to human
form by day. Some people change
into a Wolf at will, while in others the condition is hereditary or acquired by
having been bitten by some other Werewolf, thus causing him to change shape
involuntarily. If he is wounded in
Wolf form, the wounds will show in his human form and this may lead to his
detection.
Stories of such Wolf transformations are given in the
works of many classical writers and the superstition was common throughout
Europe in late medieval times, perhaps even more so in the renaissance period of
the Witch-hunt endemic caused by the “Catholic Inquisition”.
During that period fear of
this imaginary Wolfman-beast reached near hysterical proportions, particularly
in France and Germany, and reached a peak in the late 1600's.
As a result of these superstitions many hundreds
of people were killed, burnt at the stake or given other cruel acts of
punishment for their alleged powers and associations with Witchcraft.
Out
of the 16th century obsession with Witches comes some of the most
detailed documented accounts of Werewolf activity, most obtained under severe
duress and extreme excruciating torture. One
such account occurred in 1573, when a French village was terrorized by some sort
of fiend who had killed and partially eaten several children. Later a group of villagers rescued another child from an
attack by a huge wolf, which they swore had the face of a local recluse called
Gilles Garnier. Garnier was duly
arrested and persuaded “by the usual means” to confess to being a Werewolf.
The authorities seemed to be more concern and incensed that he had
engaged in some of his gruesome feasts on meatless Fridays, and ordered that he
be burned alive.
Even
more regrettable was the punishment meted out to Peter Stubb in Germany during
1589. His “confession” portrays
him as a diabolical Werewolf, who changed his shape by means of a magical
“girdle or belt” made from Wolf skin, supposedly given to him by the devil.
Wearing such he would metamorphosed himself into a Wolf and set forth to
do the Devil’s work, wreaking havoc and malice not just on men, women and
children, but also on animals and livestock.
According to his “confession” over a period of 25 years before he was
caught, his principal targets were women and children who he raped, killed and
ate. He also allegedly committed
many ordinary mortal sinful deeds, such as fornication and incest with his
sister and daughter, and to cap it all, killing and eating his own son.
After his capture, no Wolfskin belt was ever found, which to the
Witch-hunters proved its diabolical origin, for surely the Devil would never
allow such a prize to be found and had taken it back.
Stubb died a fearful death, from the most terrible of tortures and
mutilations.
A
less severe and ugly case involving Werewolfism, was that of Jean Grenier in
1603, who was clearly a mentally retarded young man accused of being a Werewolf
in southwest France. Apparently he
brought the accusation on himself by boasting to have killed and eaten many
girls. At that time several
children in the area had mysteriously disappeared and were presumed dead, so his
claims were believed and he was brought to trial.
During the trial he claimed to have shifted his shape by means of a magic
ointment and a Wolfskin cloak given to him by a “Man in Black”, who he
called “Maítre de la Forêt”. The
judges however, sensibly decided that Grenier was suffering from the mental
illness of lycanthropy,
adding that it was probably caused by demonic possession.
Grenier was fortunate, he wasn’t tortured as was the norm, but was
imprisoned for life in a monastery.
The
term
lycanthropy refers to the delusion that one has become a Wolf.
It is told in the
creation legend of the Pawnee that a great council was held to which all the
animal Stars were invited, but for a reason no one remembers the brightest Star
in the southern sky, the “Wolf Star” was not invited. Wolf Star watched and seethed from a distance, still, silent
and angry, while everyone else decided how to make the earth.
In the time after the great council the Wolf Star directed his resentment
over this bad treatment at “The Storm that Comes Out of the West”, who had
been charged by the others with going around the earth seeing to it that things
went well. Storm carried a
whirlwind bag with him as he travelled, inside of which were the first people.
When he stopped to rest in the evening he would let the people out and
they would set up camp and hunt buffalo.
One time, Wolf Star
sent a Gray wolf down to follow Storm around, and when Storm fell asleep he
stole his whirlwind bag thinking there might be something good to eat inside.
Having stolen the bag Gray wolf ran far away with it, but when he opened
it all the people came out. Setting
up camp, the people looked around and saw there was no buffalo to hunt.
When they realized it was a Gray Wolf and not Storm that had let them out
of the bag, they became very angry and ran the Gray wolf down killing him.
Later when Storm
located the first people again and saw what they had done, he was very sad.
He told them that by killing the Gray wolf they had brought death into
the world. That had not been the plan, but now it would continue to be
this way. Storm told them to skin
the wolf and make a sacred bundle with the pelt, enclosing in it things that
would always bring back memory of what had happened.
Thereafter he told them they would forever be known as the Wolf people,
the Skidi Pawnee.
Wolf Star watched all this while still shining bright from
the southern sky, but now the Pawnee call this star “Fools the Wolves”,
because it rises just before the Morning star and tricks the wolves into howling
before first light. In this way the
Wolf Star continues to remind people how when it came time to build the earth,
he was ignored and forgotten.
If Wolf has called on you, you will find the following traits enhanced in your life: A sense of loyalty and a sense of ritual, but never lacking in personal freedom...a higher intelligence and increased awareness, but never forgetting the joys of life and how to remain playful...and heightened strength and energy, but ever-mindful that a peaceful solution is always best. In all this, and more, Wolf will be your guide.
Wolf inspires true balance, as they are both free spirited and family-oriented at the same time. Extremely loyal and faithful to their pack, they are rich in the spirit of acting in harmony, peace and respect, and honouring the system of rank by which they live, but they are also fiercely independent creatures and will spend time on their own. Those with Wolf as their totem will be taught how to manage a strong family connection without losing their own personal identity.
The more a person works with the spirit of Wolf, the more they may find themselves taking on the personality of their totem, so much so that they themselves will begin to display the characteristics of either the Alpha Wolf or a Pack Wolf. The Alpha Wolf personality is leader of the pack and will help the more timid person take on a more active and outgoing role in life. The Pack Wolf personality is lower in the hierarchy and knows its place within the group. This medicine is helpful to a more aggressive and egotistical person, as it teaches him how to share the limelight, be more conscious of and helpful to others, and be more willing to compromise and work for the benefit of the whole.
Wolves are extremely intelligent and very social, and their senses are keen. Wolf teaches you how to listen, how to be acutely aware of your surroundings, and how to rely on your intuitions. In fact those with Wolf medicine will find their intuition sharpened and precise, and will begin to use it more rapidly and readily. Wolf is synonymous with the word “Guardian”, and guardianship is one thing’s he teaches and bestows. With intuition heightened and with the knowledge Wolf brings to light through his sharp intellect and acute senses, a person under the tutelage of Wolf Spirit will find himself protective of family and friends, while their own Guardian Spirit protects them.
A Wolf will take risks, but never foolishly. They are noted as being the Pathfinders of the animal world. Exploring is second nature to them. Those who study and work with Wolf may find themselves seeking new adventures and studying new religions, as Wolf medicine takes spirituality to task and is very connected to ritualistic paths.
Wolf will also teach you how to speak up, and always with truth and sincerity. In the same way that their howls are used to signal to one another, or to call on or locate other members of their pack, those with Wolf medicine will find themselves wanting to share knowledge with their own kind…be it vocally or through some other form of communication, such as writing. Wolves will also use their howls as a form of greeting each other, and sometimes will just howl for the sheer pleasure of it. In this, they teach you to look at life with camaraderie and joy.
The way that Wolves can at times be playful and interactive
is seen in the way they react to Ravens, with who they cohabitate and even
assist one another with survival. This is done in two ways; one, they
warn each other of approaching dangers, and two, they lead each other to food. Because
Ravens are known to make a ruckus when danger is nearby, the Wolf has learned to
take heed of Raven’s different types of calls, and to watch in which
direction he flies; thus giving him advanced warning of the same danger.
The same can be said of how Raven interacts with Wolf, for upon hearing
Wolf howl, Raven too is alerted to whatever danger may be in the area.
When it comes to helping each other find food, it is believed that Wolves watch the Raven’s flight patterns, where a certain pattern will indicate that possible prey is nearby. Once the Wolves bring down a prey and as they are gorging, the Ravens alight nearby and wait their turn at whatever scraps are left. It seems that Ravens are the spotters and the Wolves the hunters, and afterward comes the feast that both enjoy and share. Raven however will not touch a carcass unless Wolf has eaten first, leading some to believe that Raven (who is also noted for being very intelligent) uses Wolf’s intuition to test what meat is good and what meat may be bad. For all these reasons Raven has been nicknamed “Wolf-bird”. Those with Wolf totem should also look into working with Raven Spirit too.
Wolves are peace loving and normally not a danger to anyone. But they are also strong and very territorial, and because of this it is best to use a “knock before you enter” approach to those with Wolf Spirit.
On these things and many others, Wolf is a great
teacher.
To be added.
Let there be peace in the world - Where have all the flowers gone?
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Sabbats in History and Mythology / Samhain (October 31st) / Yule (December 21st) / Imbolc (February 2nd) / Ostara (March 21st) / Beltane (April 30th) / Litha (June 21st) / Lughnasadh (August 1st) / Mabon (September 21st)
Rituals contributed by Crone: Samhain / Yule / Imbolc / Ostara / Beltane / Litha / Lammas / Mabon
Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing
Animals in Witchcraft (The Witches Familiar) / Antelope / Bats / Crow / Fox / Frog and Toads / Goat / Honeybee / Kangaroo / Lion / Owl / Phoenix / Rabbits and Hares / Raven / Robin Redbreast / Sheep / Spider / Squirrel / Swans / Wild Boar / Wolf / Serpent / Pig / Stag / Horse / Mouse / Cat
In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder. Also see: The Willow Tree (Folk Music)
Mystical Sacred Sites - Stonehenge / Glastonbury Tor / Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni / Avebury / Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant / Ireland - Newgrange /
Rocks and Stones:
Stones - History, Myths and Lore
Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin: / Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble
Wisdom:
Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods
Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:
Murder by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark
Old Masters of Academia:
Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras
Abramelin the Mage / Agrippa / Aidan A. Kelly / Albertus Magnus “Albert the Great” / Aleister Crowley “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders "the King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Amber K / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Biddy Early / Bridget Cleary / Carl Llewellyn Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christina Oakley Harrington / Damh the Bard (Dave Smith) / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Dorothy Morrison / Doreen Valiente / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake and the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry / Fiona Horne / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gerald B. Gardner / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Herman Slater "Horrible Herman" / Israel Regardie / James "Cunning" Murrell / Janet Farrar & Gavin Bone / Jessie Wicker Bell “Lady Sheba” / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave (the White Fox) / John Michael Greer / John Score / Johannes Junius the Burgomaster of Bamberg / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Laurie Cabot "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Marie Laveau the " Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Matthew Hopkins “The Witch-Finder General” / Max Ehrmann and the Desiderata / Monique Wilson the “Queen of the Witches” / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellers / Mrs. Grieve "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon and Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Paracelsus / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Philip Emmons Isaac Bonewits / Philip Heselton / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and "The White Goddess" /
Rudolf Steiner / Rosaleen Norton “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Ross Nichols and The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids / Sabrina - The Ink Witch / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather / Thomas Ady / Vera Chapman / Victor Henry Anderson / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest
Many of the above biographies are brief and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with aditional information, please cantact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)
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