Wolves of Memory stealthily seek the Herd of Consciousness within this, the Forest of my Soul. Each and every creation of my Being has its manifest expression as an Animal of the Herd. Oh! Mother, Sister, Daughter, what your dreams have wrought as Life embodied, you, Giver-of-Form. Dreams, desires, triumphs, and tragedies have birthed enduring form within these bones. Invasive acts of violence thrust their dark seed into the womb of my becoming, to wobble upon shaky knees. Love’s precious splendor burgeons into bounding being. All these, Creatures of my Soul.
Red Wolf, of whom there are three, beckons the Hunt. He searches the Valleys of Plenitude and Hills of Contemplation for his quarry, his prey. Amongst the Herds proud and mighty he hunts, there to cull the weak, lame, disabled and disabling thoughts, memories, and feelings that lurk in the darkened recesses of my Life’s experience. Fear, hostility, denial, pain, and remorse are abundant food for this Warrior of Spirit’s design. Unto Consciousness he renders service. Cleansed of the emotionally scarred members is the herd; assured now are survival, vitality, swiftness, viability, and endurance of the Whole. Having but one calling, to remove that which is debilitating to the herd, he will feast upon that which is willingly relinquished. If nothing is willfully offered, then must he rip asunder from the belly of the drove that which is in fear of surrender, for Red Wolf must-and Red Wolf will-cull the herd of its weakness.
Thence to his mate does he carry his treasure. White Wolf, She-Wolf, receives her soul-bounty from the gifts her companion brings. Nurturing in compassionate embrace the life essence released, now shall she return her tender to Spirit. As Priestess gowned in frost sparkled cloak midst indigo hue, she proffers her sacred charge to our Great Mother’s womb. Relieving the she-wolf of her charge, Great Mother Bear, Keeper-of-Game Animals, envelopes her wounded child in merciful embrace. Into the Den of Her Becoming she retreats. Grandfather, Holy Fire of Creation, upon the wings of Eagle, enters the sanctum of life’s renewal, therein to purify those pains and desolations of my Soul relinquished. In joyful attribute of appreciation, into the grounded presence of my Being, I call the return of my Soul-parts, revivified in their renewal, transformed. The Herd of Consciousness, having undergone the journey of acknowledgment, release, purification, and repair, is restored to wholeness and wellness of being.
Ah! My Herd! Through this body and mind, now, run free and strong, swift and sure, enabled of life.
Blessings to you, you Wolves of Memory!
All authentic Shamanic Ceremonials are the dramatic re-enactment of the Mythos inherent within cosmological phenomena. Herein, Giver-of-Form is the star Rigel. Red Wolf is, depending on the time of year, one of the three primary red bodies of our night sky: Aldebaran, Antares, or Mars. White Wolf is the star Sirius. The Great Mother Bear is Arcturus, her den the seven stars of the Corona Borealis. Grandfather Fire expresses the “Big Bang” of origin, and Eagle is the North Star. The Herd of Consciousness is, of course, the stage of Self within which the drama is enacted. Poetically expressed, this is the story of the Purification Lodge of the Great Mother Bear, and what transpires within its sacred domain.
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