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

-Laura Lynne Watson 2018-06-10 20:21:19

I had a dream about a pack of white wolves. They were all attacking me in the beginning but I got away in time before they killed me. I was pretty banged up, I remember there was blood coming down the side of my face. I don’t remember instigating anything with them prior to the attack but all the while there was one white wolf trying to get the others to stop attacking me. I jumped into this cart that was a car & it jumped in with me as I drove off. Then I was doing this course with my manager, a coworker & this giant kid I use to go to school with (he is 6’8″ I believe). We had to go in pairs & I had my old school mate go first cause he could easily get up the running wall & pull me up when I went up. He patted me on the head when I told him to go first cause he was the most capable & in the dream this seemed strange cause he was always so quite & rarely spoke to anyone(extremely shy). Then at the end of the dream I was seeing from his perspective. He was getting attacked by the white wolves & I was just a voice in his head telling him to run. He ran off & I told him not to attack the one that follows because it was there to help him. He jumped into the car cart & Then I woke up.

    -Tony Crisp 2018-06-13 8:36:09

    Laura – In dreams you cannot be killed, but you can feel the fear of death. So, it is also important to realise that every image, every scary or terrifying thing, is taken place inside you, in your mind, as you sleep. This means that every awful animal, every scary thing, or person, is created out of your own fears and must not be seen as outside you as happens in waking awareness.

    So the giant friend was also a symbol, probably of someone who people would fear, but in fact shares your anxiety about packs/gangs.

    The white wolf is a reminder that there is no harm in your dream animals – except of you run in fear, for fear creates a change.

    Example: Just last night I dreamt I was walking and a tiger came at me. I was scared, but I thought I would try to be strong and not show my fear. It did not work and the tiger ran at me. I climbed a tree and onto a roof of a tin shed. The tiger followed me up and I ran across a series of tin sheds. I finally realized I could not escape and I turned and faced the tiger. I screamed at the tiger and ran straight at it. The tiger got scared and turned and ran away, and then I woke up. These dreams have been on my mind, and I would love some insight into them. Thank you so much.

    So, there is nothing in any dream that can hurt you, unless you run away from something. Running away is leaving yourself open to being a victim of whatever frightens you in dreams. Of course it might be different in waking life.

-Elizabeth 2018-06-08 5:29:02

I have often had wolf dreams throughout the years. They would often come out of nowhere and chase me back into my childhood home, or try to attack me. But one night I had a dream that I was running from a wolf, grey wolf, it tackled me and I fell on my back, forced to look it in the face. I crawled up on my chest very carefully and lay on top of me, kindly looking down at me in a curious way. I’d like to know what you think.

    -Tony Crisp 2018-06-10 9:57:15

    Elizabeth – They were never trying to attack you. Because people are very confused about the difference between their waking life and their dream life. They believe that what they dream is the same as what they meet in waking life. In other words, we take as a truth that what is important outwardly is as important in our dreams. So, you are as upset by a dream as if it had actually happened in waking life. Such mistakes make us feel things that are ridiculous.

    But 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, so 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.

    So because you were raised to avoid or be scared of wild animal’s toy naturally avoided them in your dreams. But over time you were actually tackled, confronted the wolf and it showed you that it wasn’t chasing you to hurt you but it wanted to be a part of you more fully. So all the images, people, animals, places we see in our dreams, are simply your own feelings, fears, hopes and wonder projected onto the screen of your sleeping mind as images. So, it makes sense to take the image of your dream person, thing or animal back into you and own it.

    If you read https://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/brain-levels-and-dreams/#mammalbrain perhaps you will realise that the dream wolf is an expression of your own instinctive self that you have been afraid of allowing yourself to experience. For you as a person is a tiny spark of consciousness, a little bit of self awareness riding an incredibly ancient animal you call your body. Remember that your body has formed from cells and genetic information that has gradually developed over millions of years. It holds that information in it. No plant or creature grows from a dead seed, and each living seed carries within it all the past gathered from all its forebears. So, the seed in your mother’s womb is as old as and even older than human kind, and you carry that wisdom or memories in you. But in this life you developed a new brain, and the memories you gathered this time are what you built your personality from, but beneath that is a very ancient self.

    So you are in a very real sense awakening to the huge past that you hold within you. See https://dreamhawk.com/approaches-to-being/opening-to-life/

-Charmaine 2018-04-20 23:13:55

I had a dream of being chased by a white wolf the same night I was getting back with a ex and allowed myself to be 100 percent vulnerable I have a problem with being vulnerable

    -Tony Crisp 2018-04-23 8:59:27

    Charmaine – If you watch yourself you will notice that whatever you think about you have a feeling reaction to. Obviously it is noticeable in regard to frightening film or dream images. And dreams are only your feeling reactions put into images and drama. If you watch a horror movie you may feel fear or even terror, yet they are simply images on a screen. Dreams too are simply images on the screen of your sleeping mind.

    If the fear continues after the film it is because you keep thinking or feeling things that press the fear button. We all have a keyboard of feelings that when pressed can cause us to feel all manner of things. It is usually outside things that cause the reactions, so we may feel fear, sexy, hope, confidence, terror, wonder, curiosity, lost or courageous; so in a way we are victims of what other people and the world do to us. Dreams are a way of showing us what victims we are, running away when a wild animal chases us in the dream, or a demon says it will claim us – means all your buttons were pressed.

    Perhaps without being really aware of it, you already know your body is a screen. When you see a film or read a book you might be moved to laugh or cry, or shout out in fear. Considering that the book and film is not reality, what is happening? Well, the outside images or words are helping you to experience things upon the sensitive screen of your body and mind. You had buttons pressed that produced fear, anxiety, sexual excitement or any mixture of feelings. Yet 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.

    Something that might help is to sit quietly and imagine you are back in the dream of the wolf, then instead of running away you stand and face the wolf. All the images, people, animals, places we see in our dreams, are simply your own feelings, fears, hopes and wonder projected onto the screen of your sleeping mind as images. So facing the wolf is facing your fears. Of course you may feel anxious the first few times you do it, but if you continue it gradually goes and you are free of such fears and vulnerability. See https://dreamhawk.com/dream-encyclopedia/secrets-power-dreaming/

-Alicia Ochoa 2017-10-29 16:09:59

So I had a dream I was playing with young wolves and also when the mother wolf was giving birth I was protecting it and it’s new born from other like if I was a wolf confused on the message

-Mariana 2017-03-16 17:02:59

Hi 🙂
I dream about wolves a lot, seriously a lot, and they are always protecting me or I am protecting them, they’re never angry or attacking me. Then one night I was checking the cards and the “Spirit Animal/Animal Guide” came out and in the same night I dreamed about a lady that touched my forehead and said “You have the wolf spirit inside you.”, so I’m assuming my Spirit Animal is the wolf. Tonight I dreamed with a wolf again but he was lying on top of me, as if protecting me but in a different way than all the others dreams I’ve had, and I took my hand to the side of his face and petted him and he licked it and we just stayed like that. What do you think? Do you reckon that the wolf is in fact my Spirit Animal? I just want to make sure because I think it is but I might be wrong

Copyright © 1999-2010 Tony Crisp | All rights reserved