Wolf
Although the wolf can depict a feeling that ‘things’ are out to get us, the wolf in our dream often depicts just our fear. Fear is one of our instinctive reactions to situations, so is shown by an animal. We may find ourselves a prisoner of such feelings, as Anna in the example below. The wolf, as is suggested by such fairy stories as Red Riding Hood, also represents the female fear of powerful male sexuality; repressed sexuality or anger; emotions and drives that frighten you. See Animals
Also whenever we dream its images are not like real life. Because a dream is nothing like outer life where things could hurt you, but is an image like on a cinema screen that even if a gun is pointed at you and fired it can do no damage – except if you run in fear. So all the things that scare you are simply your own fears projected onto the screen of your sleeping mind. In the early days of moving pictures, a film was shown of a train coming fast toward the audience; the viewers all fled in terror, fearing the train would crush them. That is exactly the same response if you are terrified of any thing you dream of. See Masters of Nightmares
But the wolf also appears in our dreams as a master of life in the wild. It is a group animal and has tremendous loyalty and protectiveness to its family and group. As such it can depict your intuitive understanding of life on earth, the seasons of life and death, and the deep wisdom of group relations. In some dreams the wolf is a protective companion on your life journey – what in the past has been called a spirit guide or totem animal. This sort of wisdom tells us that aggressive urges are natural to us, but sometimes they can turn back on ourselves and injure our well being. You might then even dream of killing the wolf or animal in you. But love can resurrect that vital animal life and consciousness within you and the world. The following dream and commentary illustrates this.
Quote: We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be… the mythologized epitome of a savage ruthless killer… which in reality is no more than a reflected image of ourselves. Harley Blake.
To see the wonderful nature of wolves watch https://www.facebook.com/AppreciateENG/videos/1763709230595548/?t=63
Example: I dreamt two great wolf like dogs were on a headland. They had to be killed for some reason. I shot them. They seemed to take a long time to die and I felt compassion for them. Now horses seemed to be lying with them. The death struggles became the horses – mares – struggles to give birth. I saw the vagina parted to show a head. Birth would follow. Nathan.
Nathan explored his dream and had the following intuitive response to it as if someone was explaining it to him:
“When you were trying to murder the animal forces in yourself they would not die, they only thresh about, trying to survive. Try bringing life to them. The bringing of love is represented by your desire not to have them suffer. Great love turns the destructiveness of the lower forces into creativeness. The gun was the destructiveness of the fears and angers in you turned against yourself. The love redeemed this power, directing it in a new way. Love enables new life to emerge. The new life promises strength where there was only fear. When you love yourself, you lift parts of your being into new life.”
EXAMPLE: “I was in a caravan in the middle of a field and in this field was a large black wolf. Every time I tried to run from the caravan to the edge of the field, the wolf chased me back, so I was a prisoner in the caravan. It all sounds so simple now, but at the time I was truly terrified.” Anna S.
This next example from Oliver, a boy of six, illustrates how such fears can be met with a little courage. It is a dream which recurred several times, so his description is of a series of dreams.
EXAMPLE: “I am in my bed in my own room and I hear what I know to be a wolf wearing the sort of clogs worn in Lancashire. When the wolf gets to a certain point, there is a bang, and I wake terrified. My Mother’s reassurances do not help. Each night he gets a bit nearer before my panicky awakening. The night came when I know he will reach me. Sure enough he arrives, and the bedroom door – in my dream – is flung wide open with a tremendous bang. There is no one there. I never dreamt it again.”
When something gets nearer to us in a dream, it means that it is moving nearer to consciousness. So Oliver’s wolf – or at least, what it represents, namely his response to his childhood fears – is becoming ever more conscious. This means he is facing his fear and thereby dealing with it. If he had run away or fought to keep the door closed, then it would have gone on haunting him.
The wolf can also be a protective and life-giving symbol as in the following dream. In the dream Cathy is demonstrating a loving and unified relationship with her natural or instinctive feelings.
Example: I dreamt about a white wolf. I know you won’t believe this but I actually feel like I touched its fur in my dreams. I was protecting it and it was protecting me, and it was so real I woke up looking on the floor next to my bed to see if it was there. Cathy
IDIOMS: Wolf at the door; wolf in sheep’s clothing; cry wolf; throw to the wolves; a wolf – meaning a man who lusts after women and pursues them like a predator.
Useful questions are:
Am I still dealing with anxiety with my dream wolf – if so how can I change this?
Do I relate to the wolf as an ally or an enemy?
Is my dream wolf showing a negative relationship with my fears and aggression?
Are you accepting the wolf as a protector and giver of wisdom?
See Programmed – Levels of the Brain – Being the Person or Thing
Comments
I had a dream where I could see a protective spirit of good. It was a great white wolf protecting me from the evil all around me. I said that I could see no evil. But the wolf told me to open my eyes and take another look. There were evil and menacing wolves all around me, but kept back from my protector. The menacing wolves were in fear of my protector. I was very moved.
I had a dream i and a companion were traveling through the woods towards a river. we stopped at the bank and saw wolf-solid light grey- staring at us from the opposite bank. we entered the river, and began to wade up it, the water only coming up about to the top of my chest. the wolf went around, got into the river and swam to us. there wasn’t any sense of fear just like a curious or cation.
it let me take it by the muzzle and bend its head back, almost as if i meant to gently break its neck and it was allowing it. then it was thrown upon a leafless bush that stuck up from the water.
Hi everyone, I’ve had recurring dreams on a pack of wolves (sometimes months or even years apart), always in the woods, always in the snow. The dream starts off everytime where I find myself trapped (but standing alone) with a pack of snarling wolves around me; they bar their teeth and size me up, but the only catch is: they can’t TOUCH me for some reason. I’m slightly frightened but I know I’m protected in the dream. Then the dream fades or I wake up.
Last night was the first time ever that the wolves weren’t at all aggressive, rather protective and kind/wise. The alpha male came to sniff me to “approve” me as a friend, then sat back with the air of ‘you are now part of the pack’. I’m 6’3″, the wolf sitting reached me up to my hip with an abnormal big build. I touched the side of its face, and then saw its safe so i scratched his ear and he gladly allowed me. The meaning of wolves in my dreams have for years puzzled me.
In life I love wolves, I’ve come across huskies but wolves have always amazed me. Though I don’t really have any media of them around or close to me. What could this be?
I had a dream last night….kinda really dark i was mugged but i chased down my attacker in the shape of a wolf when i got to him i ripped out his thought then i fell to the ground human again with my wolf lying on my chest dying…. how do i interpret that it was the worst feeling of sorrow i ever felt i woke up in tears
I had a dream about a white wolf, two buffalo, and two bears. I was walking in a newer part of the neighborhood with another girl. Suddenly I noticed a couple buffalo and bears on the lawns of the houses nearest to us. The animals seemed to take notice and started to make their way toward us. As the girl and I began to run away from them a white wolf jumped in front of them and led them to us, almost as if the buffalo and bears were a part of his pack. Now seeing the wolf, I told the girl that we should not keep our backs to the animals and we should walk slowly backwards instead. As we turned around to face the animals I noticed we were heading in the direction of a house under construction. I remember thinking it was odd that none of the construction workers noticed that we were about to be attacked by wild animals. In the last few moments of the dream as we were slowly backing away, a bear and buffalo charged the girl next to me and the wolf charged toward me. I lifted my foot to try and defend myself, but I woke up before the wolf could bite me..
please explain because this dream reminds me of my encounter with a pack of wolves in my yard in my old home in alaska.
hi i am wondering if u can help me. i had a dream that i was on our farm sitting on my porch with my family (mother, 2 sisters) watching the northern lights in the sky. i felt some kind of danger and ran blindly with my family into the dark night untill we were behind some evergreen trees. the northern lights lit up the dark and came down to me. a pack of 5 wolves appeared from the northern lights and were standing there in mid air. the wolf in the middle of the 5 had changed into a woman. she told me we were denstined to be together. a shining white horse appeared after she said that. my mother and 2 sisters hopped on the horse and disapeared into the night. then she took my hand and i was runnig with them as a wolf through the night sky looking down on the farm i live on.
I had a dream in which i saw a wolf and i called it over and after that it wouldnt stop following me and after a while it would try to attack me and i would try to hide from it inside what seemed like a small house but it tried to break the door to get in amd then i woke up… What would this mean?
Vanessa – Dreams take place in a totally different place than your waking world, a world in which nothing can hurt you. So please see http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/questions/#Wolf
Tony
I had a dream where a dog from my past was there beside me and these 2 grey wolves came up to us. Instead of the dog protecting me from the wolves it was me protecting the dog. As we went inside the wolves found their way in after us and then it turned around where the dog protected me but in a different way. It was as though the wolves were reading my mind and as the dog barked at them they laid down in from of me. I then woke up. I have not thought about this dog in over 20 years. It was a male beagle. I am trying to find the meaning if there is one behind this dream. Thank you.
I was in a cabin in the woods at the top of a mountain. It was night, I was on a porch looking out into the woods and saw 3 large dark grey wolfs (there are 3 men in my house, our 2 sons 17 and 19 and my husband) they almost looked liked dogs because of their smooth fur. They were coming toward me slowly, I felt this was a sign but I didn’t understand the meaning.
I felt the number of dog/wolves and their dark grey coloring, the night and the location of quiet moonlight in a lightly wooded gentle mountain side all had a meaning and I’m still at a loss as to what? I was not afraid, more curious and hopeful that I would remember the dream.
My dream starts out with my teenage son, sleeping in a screened-in porch area. I went to check on him, and I saw a black wolf with glowing yellow eyes staring through the screen at him & about to attack. He looked right at me & snarled. I was terrified and I pulled my son into the house and the wolf ran off. I went to wake my husband to let him know what happened. My eldest daughter tried to hush me because he was sleeping, but I told her I needed to wake him. He came with me to the window and we saw that the wolf was now in the back yard hunting something… we saw him attack a rabbit which he threw into the air. The wolf came back toward our house where my husband had opened the window to get a better view. The wolf jumped through the window and came into the house… my husband had looked away for just a second which allowed this to happen. I told my husband the wolf was now in the house and he took off after it… then the wolf came back into the room we were in. I told my son to hide in the closet. I picked up a chair to defend myself from the wolf which had come back into the room we were in, and to put something between myself and the wolf. I then woke up. This dream took place in the house I grew up in, not where I am currently living. Incidentally that house is long gone. I often dream of events occurring in the house where I grew up, rather than where I am currently living… not sure if that is significant. Thank you for any help in interpreting this dream.
Mel – This is an interesting example of a mother’s desire to protect and guard against injury to her children. The wolf, like any dream character is a projection of your own feelings – and in this case fears.
Your fears also felt that your husband is not entirely aware of such fears as you have about your son’s safety. But you were willing to stand between the thing you feared and your son. You are a brave woman and mother. But it would be a good thing to educate your dream self a little. So please read http://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/questions/#Wolf
But of course you have real fears, and it is best to allow these to surface in your waking life if you can – allow yourself to feel the emotions. See http://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/lifes-little-secrets/
Tony
I have had many dreams of wolves all simply full of love and compassion .. The most recent was in a beautiful alpine meadow .. A beautiful grey wolf with soft appearing fur came up to me from behind, my heart opened to his being and it rubbed its neck against mine and nuzzled me … I felt it vividly and can still feel its softness .. As he did this I melted in absolute love and joy and wanted to stay in his presence forever …. Blissful feelings just kept emanating through me .. Time stood still … I am so grateful for this beautiful being .. I love wolves .. And understand them and wish them love and protection for the gift they bring this earth of keeping the planet in balance
This is weird cause I came to this sight to say the same as this Cathy except my eyes changed to the color white and I had to look at tehm in the mirror
The wolf can also be a protective and life-giving symbol as in the following dream. In the dream Cathy is demonstrating a loving and unified relationship with her natural or instinctive feelings.
Example: I dreamt about a white wolf. I know you won’t believe this but I actually feel like I touched its fur in my dreams. I was protecting it and it was protecting me, and it was so real I woke up looking on the floor next to my bed to see if it was there. Cathy
I had two dreams in one night with a white wolf coming to me, in this dream it was a man that was the wolf. Both times I was not afraid of the wolf.
In my second dream there was a really bad storm and I was taking shelter the wolf came to me and asked me if I was ok? at that point my mother appeard and wanted to kill the wolf and I told her no, he loves me and I love him and I was embracing him protecting him from harm. I don’t know what this could mean for me.
I was on a rolling hillside at dusk..as I approached the crest of the hill, I found a pack of grey wolves frolicking, and some resting…they noticed me as I approached them..I spoke some language I am consciously unfamiliar with and waved my arms upward in a circular motion saying these chants to them…they all sat or layed down…I then was on a path in the darkness when two huge grey wolves approached me, and then I lay down as they sniffed me, one grabbed my right arm tightly, but just enough to hold onto it without breaking the skin….I was then in another place inside a home..and a woman said to me..”You have been with the wolves again…the entire house smells like them….” Then I woke up.