By Teo Alfero
Realm One: The Wolf Heart Awakens
Many people talk about the wild heart, or “rewilding” the heart. I prefer to talk about rewolfing the heart. When was your wolf heart awake and alive?
We all have personal histories and experiences that influence the choices we have made and will make. But we humans often distort or repress our past experiences, which renders the truth of who we are and where we are in our lives elusive. This comes at great cost, because it keeps us from living a full, passionate life. Realm One is about clearing the lenses and uncovering the lessons contained in our life experiences, particularly those that have made a significant, lasting impact. In this chapter I offer mine. Experiencing a living wolf may not be possible for most people, but I believe that connecting with the real-life stories of wolves and humans can help us reawaken our wolf heart and reconnect with our life purpose.
Realm Two: The Ambassador Wolf
Many uninformed wolf detractors try to dismiss the importance of wolves by hiding behind this question: What do wolves do for humanity? The Ambassador Wolf embodies what can be learned from wolves in captivity and from the primal human-wolf connection in action, which you will see in the guiding principles behind the Wolf Therapy program. In this chapter I’ll also share stories that will give you a glimpse of the power wolves carry as ambassadors for the natural world and as guides for humans.
Realm Three: The Ancestral Wolf
The First Nations in North America have a saying: “Wolves taught us how to be people.” Referencing discoveries in anthropology and biology, we explore this question: How did wolves make us human? And we present the latest scientific evidence, including the theory of coevolution of humans and wolves.
Realm Four: The Wild Wolf
Validated by the findings of today’s foremost wolf behaviorists and biologists, I offer observations that answer this question: What can humans learn from wolves in the wild?
Realm Five: The Human Wolf
There are many behavioral similarities between wolves and humans, both positive and negative. In this chapter I respond to How is the wolf a mirror for humans? and what happens when we ignore our wolf connection.
Realm Six: The Cosmic Wolf
In the summer of 2016, I had a dream vision that changed the course of my life. During that experience I received a wealth of detailed information from a higher, collective consciousness that presented itself to me as Wolf. In this chapter I present Wolf ’s message for humanity the way I received and understood it.
Realm Seven: The Mythological Wolf
I am not the only one, or the first, to have received a Wolf message. Cultures around the world have been telling ancestral creation stories, inspired by Wolf guidance, for millennia. But modern humans have fallen into a state of isolation, forgetfulness, and disconnection. We believe ourselves separate from each other and the natural world around us; our more recent mythology, fairy tales, and folk stories—including Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, and others—reflect that. But the Mythological Wolf reclaims stories that reveal the nature of humanity’s original relationship with wolves and the natural world, stories from a time when our wolf connection was intact.
Realm Eight: The Ritualistic Wolf
What did traditional wolf societies do with the Wolf message they received? They created practical applications and embodiments of myth in rituals, ceremonies, and rites of initiation, which I explore in this chapter.
Realm Nine: Your Own Wolf Practices
How can you integrate these nine realms into your everyday experience? Wolf’s message of sustainability, evolution, and altruism is urgent—and carries significance for every human being walking this planet. We’ll explore what you can do to maintain a connection with this vibration called Wolf and how to integrate the nine realms into everyday life.
According to the messages I received in my twilight encounters with Wolf consciousness, humans and wolves share a unique, ancestral bond that predates myth and legend, history and evolution. That bond has influenced all we’ve done and all that we are since the be- ginning of time. The way I understood it, the wolf is the only animal who truly cares what happens to humans, and its message reached out to all of us, from the most vulnerable people, those in need of healing and inclusion, to the privileged. We are united in the reality that we have all been prey to the darker sides of human nature.
