The Wolf Moon

A howl is a visceral call for nourishment and community.

The first full moon of each year is known as the Wolf Moon, when hungry wolves can be heard howling in the night to rally their packs for cold winter hunting. Wolves must heed their instincts to hunt, howl, and reproduce if they are to survive. A howl is a visceral call for nourishment and community.

In this ever-more interconnected world, where our main means of connection are digital, cerebral and intellectualized, it’s easy to forget that like wolves, we humans are animals. And as such, we must voice our primal needs, too.

From a young age our body guides us. We instinctively wail when we’re hungry, rest when we need to recharge, and express our myriad primal needs without self-consciousness. Surrounded by wild beauty, we experience wonder and awe and are imbued with the same drive for novelty, physical connection, and growth as our wild neighbors. Like wolves and other wild kin, our bodies are the source of profound pleasures. We experience each new moment — new tastes, new textures — through the wonder of the senses.

But somewhere in the journey from childhood to adulthood, our perspective shifts toward the pervasive belief that our animal instincts are to be corrected or corralled. We learn that the animal part of us, our body, can’t be trusted. We may come to believe that our bodies’ healthy hunger, desire, aggression and even our circadian rhythms need to be kept in check and subdued.

I am in Western Massachusetts as I write this, and it is bitterly cold outside. I see my breath when I exhale under the moon. This year, the Wolf Moon lit up the sky on January 13th and will continue to shine over the weekend. A perfect reminder to tune in, listen to our bodies and heed our hunger. To call out to loved ones and howl.

For me, tuning in, reaching out and howling might mean seeking nourishment through rest, through the sensual nature of cooking warm stews, through intimacy with the surrounding forest, and the tender touch of my beloved. It might mean checking on my community and being there as best I can in difficult times¹. It might mean howling through the creative release of arts like writing and boxing. Disciplines that wring me out, bring me closer to the bone, to my truth, to my inner wild.

For many, the word ‘wild’ has come to mean ‘out of control’ but to me it expresses harmony. Being wild means listening to the deep-rooted, ancient wisdom of my body. It means learning and unlearning so I can come home to my true nature and remember that I am an animal. Just one tiny part of a massive, wondrous and wild interdependent ecosystem.

Ultimately, like wolves, there are fundamental things that will truly sate us: love, companionship, friendship, deep nourishment, pleasure, creative expression and acceptance. And in my experience, belonging to Earth, our home. Material goods and processed foods will never satisfy our appetites. A wolf doesn’t go hunting for comfort in superficial form.

Diagram: S. Lehmann, 2010

An embodied, instinctual animal is an animal who heeds circadian rhythms, embraces pleasure, maintains necessary boundaries, and is able to express anger and grief instead of bottling them up inside.

An embodied, instinctual animal is an animal who listens to what they are truly hungry for.

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How are you howling? Who and what are you calling upon? Where are you finding nourishment? How are you rallying community?

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AN INVITATION:
The Writing For The Wild lecture series in partnership with Project Coyote begins on Sunday. You still have time to join us.

1. If you have the means to help people, wildlife, and beloved lands in the LA area, here is a mutual aid spreadsheet. An incredible resource.

Sari Botton

also has a great list on Oldster. And I recommend reading Hollywood is Part of America by W. Kamau Bell.