Woolf Moon
The Wolf Moon is here to help us navigate the way forward. In the midst of the cold, dark winter, we can contemplate new directions, and under the light of the January Full Moon we are invited to access our instinctual wisdom as we consider our future paths.
The Call of the Wolf Moon
It is thought that January’s full Moon came to be known as the Wolf Moon because wolves were more often heard howling at this time of year. It was traditionally believed that wolves howled out of hunger during winter, but we now know that wolves howl for many other reasons. Howling and other wolf vocalisations are generally used to define territory, locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, and coordinate hunting.
Finding Your Howl
During the January Wolf Moon, we are called to find our own howl — our voice. As the Moon shines a bright light on you, this is a time to dig into the treasure chest of your personal gifts. Wolf Medicine is all about instinct and leadership, and during this Full Moon we are asked to uncover our own personal leadership:
What comes naturally to you?
What makes you angry?
What is yours to protect?
Instinct as Leadership
Finding your personal voice is one of the most fundamental parts of finding your way towards personal fulfilment and happiness — of leading yourself home.
The Wolf Moon is here to assist you in fuelling your self-esteem, so you can untame your inner wild and unleash it into the world. This is not a time for thinking, nor even for feeling. This is a time to let instinct lead you straight through the wilderness, so you can find your way to the place that is right for you.
Another important part of finding your voice is learning to use it and share it. Yet it all begins with your unique howl — your authentic voice. You may have been silenced, ridiculed, or even shamed before, but this is the time to rekindle your relationship with your voice and your personal message to the world.
Once that relationship becomes as strong and as clear as the howl of a wolf on a dark January night, the magic can happen: your pack can find you. And they will. This is the time for the lonely wolf to find her tribe. To belong. So speak up, dear one. Share what is on your heart. Your people cannot find you unless you do.
Wolf as Pathfinder
Wolves are often misunderstood as wild and cold-blooded animals, burdened by fearful stories, despite their deeply social, intelligent and social nature.
Native American traditions have long regarded the wolf as a teacher and pathfinder. In her book Women Who Run With the Wolves, Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés uses the wolf, La Loba, as an analogue for wild woman nature. Wolf is instinct — the quiet voice that whispers answers in your ear. The inner knowing that, if you trust her, will lead you through life.
In times of uncertainty, wolf medicine teaches us to use our heart instead of our head to find the best way forward. To navigate by instinct rather than intellect.
This, however, requires silence — and the dark January night in the heart of winter offers the perfect conditions. On the night of the Full Moon, and in the days surrounding it, we are supported in processing what has been and releasing the past without blame.
This is a time best spent being rather than doing. A time for listening for the answers to your questions:
Where do you want to go from here?
With whom?
Doing what?
Wolf will howl at you and demand sincerity in your answers. She asks you to face both your deepest fears and your biggest dreams. She wants you to become the wildest, wisest, most extraordinary creature you can be — to choose the path of freedom and find your pack along the way.
Trust the Wolf Moon to assist you in learning to listen to the voice within — a voice that, in silence, is as clear as the sound of a wolf howling in the night.
Full Moon blessings,
Sidsel Solmer Eriksen, Founding Editor
MORE on finding your inner wild
Wolf Medicine
Wolf represents your wild instinct, and if you trust her, she will lead you through life.
Native American traditions have long regarded the wolf as a teacher and pathfinder. If Wolf finds you, this may indicate that you are a teacher or wisdom keeper of some kind. To strengthen your Wolf power, cultivate wisdom and share it with others through lived experience — by walking the path yourself. Or, put another way: practise what you preach..
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