The sense of
wonder that the wild world provides us makes up for many things that are
missing in the modern, technically oriented world. Below is a bit excerpted from a one-off blog that both discusses the relationship of wolves and ravens in nature and in the symbolic representations of those animals by humans in mythology and religion.
Read the whole post, it is
worth the time.
Some zoologists speculate that the raven's
relationship with wolves may be because of their psychological make-up. Dr. L.
David Mech wrote in "The Wolf: The Ecology and Behaviour of an Endangered
Species": "It appears that the wolf and the raven have reached an
adjustment in their relationships such that each creature is rewarded in some
way by the presence of the other and that each is fully aware of the other's
capabilities. Both species are extremely social, so they must possess the
psychological mechanisms necessary for forming social attachments. Perhaps in
some way individuals of each species have included members of the other in
their social group and have formed bonds with them."
Wolves and ravens have long been connected
in folklore and fact. The Nordic God Odin is often represented sitting on his
throne, flanked by his two wolves Geri and Freki and two ravens Huggin and
Munin. Tales of hunting interaction involving wolves, ravens and humans figure
prominently in the storytelling of Tlingit and Inuit, Native American tribes of
the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, with the ravens appearing as form-changing
wise guys and tricksters, taking advantage of both humans and wolves.
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