Howl – Are wolves really all bad?

by Daniel Mackie March 06, 2012

Work in progress for a new screen print. This is one of the positives for a 3 colour screen print. It is indian ink on transparent film.

“Keep the wolf from the door”

The saying, means to stave of hunger and poverty. The wolf represents bad things, right. Well not always. Recently and in christianity the wolf is a representation of evil deeds (menacing flocks of sheep etc). The wolf in the bible is used as a metaphor for evil men with a lust for power and dishonest gain.

But, in Turkic and Mongolian mythology for example, the wolf is revered. In an old Turkish Myth, The legend of Asena, A She wolf takes care and nurses a baby left by Chinese soldiers after a raid on a small village. the she-wolf then gave birth to half-wolf, half-human cubs, from whom the Turkic people were born.

In roman mythology Romulus and Remus were nursed by a she wolf.

In Japanese mythology, grain farmers once worshiped wolves at shrines and left food offerings near their dens, beseeching them to protect their crops from wild boars and deer.

So not all bad! However the Native American see it both ways depending whether you were a hunter or a farmer. Wolves were generally revered by tribes that survived by hunting, but were thought little of by those that survived through agriculture.

So it seems to cut both ways for the wolf.

visit Daniels Shop, to see other limited edition screen prints The DM Collection

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