by Martha Lucier, Founder & Circle Member
We were recently visited by a wolf at the Edge, discovering tracks next to the unity wheel, around our main house, sauna and the new Dreamer’s Hill cabin at the top of the hill. Following the tracks peaked our curiosity about why the wolf was coming around and why it was alone, as wolves normally travel in packs.
In our visions and dreams, various members of our community have met Wolf as a powerful guardian of our circle community, who walks with us as part of our ‘pack’ on the Spiral Path of Learning. The Spiral Path is a moving continuum of ever-deepening wisdom, exploration, and evolution. As we nourish the needs of our body, mind, heart, and spirit we create safety, strength and sustainability within. What we create within ourselves, flows out to the collective around us, like a spiral. Wolf offers loving and playful companionship and support along the Spiral Path, encouraging us to grow more and more into our potential. The spirit of Wolf communicates with us through the language of the heart, guiding us to act from the wisdom that we are already whole. This remembering is turning the Spiral Path on its axis, empowering us all to stand in the value of our own bright pillars of light.
Wolves have a strong physical presence in our region. There are approximately 150-170 wolves in Algonquin Park and they are listed as ‘threatened’, which means the species is likely to become endangered if steps are not taken to address factors threatening it such as trapping, road-related mortality, and habitat loss. To be visited by one of these special creatures that are very scarce feels significant and has caught our attention.
The presence of wolf reminds me of a dream I had 10 years ago:
I am in Algonquin Park with a circle of people. I see gaps between the people in our circle shape. I am doing my best to let the circle know it is important to close the gaps. Everyone is distracted and they do not hear me. I repeat my concern several times, as I look out beyond the trees and landscape.
Suddenly, I see a black wolf coming towards the circle. I stomp the staff in my hand to get the attention of everyone, and with my strongest voice say, “Close the gaps in the circle, NOW!” As the gaps in the circle close a black wolf encircles us, unable to enter the circle.
Soon after this dream, something inside of me began to stir. I was teaching a two year Advanced Shamanism Training at the time, deeply moved to co-create circle community. As a guardian of our circle, Wolf in the dream was a messenger, revealing the gaps in the structure. Just as the Algonquin Wolf is ‘threatened’, the dream was indicating a threat to the circle community we had been tending. For a structure to be safe, strong, and sustainable, there must be no gaps. Illuminating our shadows, our community disassembled the old structure, transmuting limited and unsustainable beliefs. We discovered shared principles and values to fill the gaps, for a safer, stronger and more sustainable structure.
Have you ever heard a wolf call in the wild? It’s call can send chills up and down the spine, a unique sensation unlike any other. It is like a primal call to the very soul of a person; a call from Mother Earth and Life itself. The call of the Wolf is a voice of our circle’s soul song, that rallies our soul family ‘pack’ together.
Like a wolf’s howl, we are ready to announce that we are changing our name from Canadian Centre for Shamanic Studies to Way of the Circle Centre. The change of our centre’s name reflects the evolution of our community and collective soul song or purpose, and is a heart-led response to address the needs we perceive. Our new name shares the frequency of who we are now, and holds the potential of who we are ever-becoming.
With rising fear, anxiety, trauma, grief and mental illness, the principles of the Way of the Circle – Dream, Explore, Connect, Co-create, and Evolve – fill the gaps, laying a stable foundation for immense transformation.
What guides our evolution is a ‘language of the heart’; what connects people with their own hearts, each other’s hearts, and the Heart of the Earth and Universe. Deepening in heart centered living, we embody our innate potential to respond to the greatest needs we perceive.
Our name reflects a Way of Living for those called to value their innate gifts and true held power. The Way of the Circle Centre engages the imagination of those who dream of co-creating a life of love, peace and unity, while offering a template of how to make that dream our reality. Through our heart’s guidance, we remember our connection to the greater Circle of Life, inviting us to rediscover the immensity that lies within us all.
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Home Practice
Imagine what it would be like to follow the tracks of Wolf. Tuning into all the senses, what would it be like to travel as the Wolf on the Spiral Path, discovering what is transforming within you and how you are being called to respond to the needs of our time?
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Remember Your Song
by Jane Large, sung by Thunder Wings of Many Colours
“Just like how there are no two snowflakes alike, we each carry a soul song that reflects our authentic voice and purpose. Like the wolf pack, when we come together as a circle, we help each other remember our song, responding to the primal call from Mother Earth and Life itself. Our circle too has a soul song; a signature and purpose that is fulfilled when we sing our soul songs together.” ~ Martha Lucier
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I appreciate the decision to remove the word “shamanism” from your organization’s name. As you may already be aware, the usage of the word is problematic in many ways.
Thank you for acknowledging our centre’s change of name, replacing the word ‘Shamanism’ with a language that is more universal, reflecting all people’s. With gratitude, Martha