Rion's Reflections
These Words from the Heart
are a
Collection
of Life Thoughts and Healing Words
by
Brenda "Rion" Sewell
Rion's Reflections
These Words from the Heart
are a
Collection
of Life Thoughts and Healing Words
by
Brenda "Rion" Sewell
The Wolf Within This page is dedicated to a wonderful group of people
a collection of souls who have no other wiles
other than to help one another as friends.A Lupus Support Group
with the Loving Hearts of Sisters and Brothers,
the Courage of the Wolf ,
and the Strength of the Pack
May the Spirit of the Wolf keep you safe from harm,
May Peace reign in your life throughout the coming year,
May Joy surround you and keep you happy,
May Happiness keep your heart light and free,
May Love fulfill your life and make your spirit fly.Love and light to you all,
~ Rion ~
Brenda "Rion" Sewell Sometimes life is not fair and is hard to bear.
With the support of those who have come before,
dealing with the trials can be made easier by knowing
that you don't walk the path alone.
~Rion~
Totems represent the strengths in all of us.
We le lu is the Native American, Cherokee word for hummingbird.
Hummingbird is my wisdom.
Wolf is my strength of family.
Lion is my strength of willpower.
Rion is a nickname I have used for awhile now ..
a play on the word "Lion".
Contents :Grasping Life
The Wolf and the Child
The Wolf Within
Kindred Spirits
Pack Love
The Future Pack
The Protectors
Wolf Facts
Survival
Deep within my mind resides a spirit
Chani
The Wolf Within
that longs to walk free amongst the world.
Hidden deep within the confines of a mind
that is imprisoned by society's rules.I long to free my spirit to roam unfettered,
to leave the narrow walkways of my world.
For I know it is a constant battle for her
to keep this life of boredom far away.My spirit longs to walk the pathways of the forest
to dance among the hills and valleys there;
to rest beside the streams and lie upon the moss
that is growing soft along the banks of clay.My spirit wears a coat of satin silver
with eyes reflecting the color of the sun.
She longs to join the wolf pack of her sisters
plumed tail carried proudly as she runs.© July 1999 Brenda "Rion" Sewell
Grasping Life
No brightness .. no darkness
just misty shades of gray
hiding the truths
that we seek within ourselves.Brightness gone .. shadows long
in mist that covers all,
hiding the lies
residing within ourselves.Seeking truths .. finding none
grasping life at the edge
of truth and love
avoiding the storm of death.Walking straight... standing tall
looking into the eyes
of the spirit
drawing the power within.Singing soft .. singing strong
singing over the bones
bringing them life
our thoughts running free once more.© August 1999 Brenda "Rion" Sewell
Survival
The wind in her face, chilling her soul,
she stands as a solitary guard in the night.
Air crisp with cold sharpens the scent
that travels on the wind to her nose.Taking the wind deep within her lungs,
she feels its energy course through her veins
giving her spirit the lift that she needs
to continue the hunt to the end.Illusive, the scent seems just out of reach
always ahead of her, leading her on
deeper into the darkness ahead
luring her into the lair of the night.Overhead the stars look down on the sight
of a silvery wolf amongst the trees
trotting tirelessly on, searching to find
the food her wee cubs need to survive.Closer and warmer the scent fills her mind
as she quietly stalks her prey.
A rush, a bite and a flurry of leaves
covered with droplets of life giving blood.Her cubs would eat tonight.
© October 1999 Brenda "Rion" Sewell
(Top of Page)
The Wolf and the ChildThe snowfall and wind had combined to sculpt an inviting landscape. The pure white snow was accented by the blue winter sky and the bright sun. Cardinals called their clear call and flashed red in winter- sleeping berry bushes; squirrels hopped about searching for long-buried treasures making fluffs in the dry snow. The child emerged from the cabin rubbing sleep from his eyes and shielding them from the unexpected brightness. What a glorious day!“Mom, can I play outside???? please????" were the first words the child uttered that morning.
"Sure, after you've done your duties for the day," was her mother's sympathetic reply. As you can well imagine, the duties were performed in record time and the child went out to play. Since the child had slept late, and the duties did take a while, lunch was gulped down before he was allowed out to play. But, the mother was wise - she knew how difficult it would be to get her child back in, even to eat, on such an exquisite day.
Snow barriers and intricate paths were woven around the cabin (Some squirrels were pleased with shallower snow to dig in.) Snow-angels dotted the snow-scape and tiny butt-prints were left where the child just sat and rested while admiring the beauty of the surroundings. And then the child saw the bunny. Now, the child had chased bunnies before - never successfully - but, after all, there is a first time. And besides, how fast can bunnies run in this snow?
The child found out! Straight ahead the bunny leapt, causing geysers of fluffy snow. Bounding through the trees and around bushes the bunny bounced with the laughing child close behind - fresh from a recent rest. And then another bunny leapt sideways in surprise, leading off in another direction. Tired of chasing impossible bunnies, the child rested, the lowering sun warming flushed cheeks. New areas without paths or snow-angels just had to be explored and marked with the child's trademarks - and so the task was undertaken as the sun rapidly began to disappear below the horizon.
"Huh?" wondered the child, suddenly realizing that it had gotten dark, and the way back to the warm cabin was unknown. Calls produced no help as the sound was smothered by the soft snow. A sliver of moon barely lent a light glow to the scenery as the child, now sitting in the snow and softly crying, detected glowing eyes at the edge of the clearing the child had claimed as his own.
A Wolf.
The child, having been taught well, sat still, hoping the wolf would lose interest. Hours passed. The cold began to penetrate the little one's body, eyelids became heavy and closed.
The still-watching wolf began to move in ...
The following morning, the child's frantic parents had gathered neighbors to aid in a search for the child they had sought in vain to find the previous night. As the father approached a clearing, he held the neighbor back with a signal with his hand. What he had seen raised the hair on the back of his neck. He saw the tracks of a child and - horrors of horrors - a wolf resting in the clearing in the midst of those precious tracks.
They both watched without breathing and the father decided to try to sneak closer to see if he could see tracks leaving the clearing - little tracks belonging to a little one. As he got closer to the reclining wolf, he broke into a dead run for as he got closer, he realized the wolf was surrounding his child with its body. Prepared to take on death itself to save his child, he ran right up to the pair of bodies in the snow.
"Daddy!!" exclaimed the child as it bounded into familiar arms, leaving behind the frozen body of the wolf that had given up its heat to save the little one in the night.
I do not know the source of this story. If anyone who sees this does, please let me know. Thank you.
(Thank you Blue Wolf for allowing me to share this story from your site.)
(Top of Page)
Kindred Spirits Fur tattered and matted, she approaches the den
wounded and dejected, she hopes to find solace.
Greeted and nuzzled, the wolf is accepted
and guided to rest on a bed of soft moss.Surrounded and protected, she begins to heal
as she lies beside her sisters in the pack.
Ancient trees hide the glen where they gather
and keep them safe from an enemy’s attack.Advice is shared amongst these kindred souls
and love is given freely to anyone with wants.
Support for the wounded is shared by all,
as they help quell the demon that haunts.Strength and the power of love and devotion
fills the glen with a protective reserve.
Welcoming all who enter the pack’s domain
with an abundance of love they sorely deserve.© July 1999 Brenda "Rion" Sewell
(Top of Page)
The Future Pack
Softly padding through forest glade,
with eyes of gold and silver fur,
the wolf searches for the perfect den
to house the pups she carries within.Black tipped hairs are stirred by the wind
that cools the air and brings the scent
of future prey amidst the trees
soft, her voice carries on the breeze.A long low howl that carries far
a message to her mate to come
raises the hairs upon the skin
of all who hear her call her kin.Crawling beneath heavy pine boughs,
she settles in amongst the leaves
that hide the dark hole in the earth,
calm, she waits the eminent birth.Deep in the night, tiny wonders
of such grace and strength are soon born.
Powerful jaws now softly kiss
wee pups born in carefree bliss.© May 1999 Brenda "Rion" Sewell
Long ago in the early times, the People of the Nations were movers .. nomadic .. following the herds of deer from valley to grasslands. Towering mountains guarded them from the prying eyes of their enemies. Thick forests hid their tents and surrounded them with an abundance of food. Soft supple leaves of the dandelion plants were pinched from the plant.. leaving the root to replenish itself to enable others to share in the bounty the forest had to offer. Tender roots pulled from the dark rich earth and brushed clear of debris were placed in baskets woven of dried grasses. "The Protectors"
L. David Eveningthunder
An old legend honors the wolf as the protector of women.
~~~~Children could be heard playing amongst the trees .. running .. laughing .. chasing .. falling .. rolling down the sloping hill of long green grass. Piling up in a puzzle of legs and arms and laughing faces at the bottom of the hill, they would push and run back to the top to dizzily roll down the hill again. Some of the young women were sent into the forest to forage for berries and fresh greens. They agreed they would linger behind a bit .. so they could talk about growing bodies and handsome young braves.
Then the riders came, riders with hate in their eyes and slashes of red and yellow paint on their faces. The Chief of the People had set guards on the mountain paths to warn the People of their enemies. These men rode hard into the camp, warning the People of closing danger. Packing quickly, the tribe was on its way before the sun had finished drying the diamond droplets of dew from the forest leaves. The tribe moved out across the green valley in a quickly moving train of small horses, dogs, and laughing children. There were women with packs, and teepees and cooking pots tied to travois were pulled by painted ponies. Quickly, they moved to a safer place to live.
Moving so quickly, three young women were left behind in the tribe’s hasty search for safety. The young women had walked slowly, gathering berries and eating some of the juiciest ones, laughing as their fingers and tongues turned blue with the juice. They sat and talked .. giggling .. laughing .. sighing over the muscles of the tallest of the braves until they realized they were alone in the forest. Hearing jingles of war bells tied in the long tails of the enemy’s horses, they hid until the warriors were out of sight.
Hurrying through the forest searching for their people, the young women came upon an injured wolf. Touching his wounds with care, packing them with moss and grasses, the women healed the wolf. In return the women were adopted by the pack of wolves. As the women searched for the People, the sun rose and set many times. The wolves kept the women safe, driving off other wolves, and protecting them from harm.
When the women’s fathers returned to look for their missing daughters, they were horrified to see their precious daughters surrounded by a circling pack of silver and black wolves. Misunderstanding the wolves' intent, the warrior fathers rushed into the valley and killed the wolves. Crying tears of heartache, the young women told their fathers of the mistake. Explaining the wolves had only been protecting them, the daughters cried and their fathers shook their heads in sorrow.
As they gathered up their daughters on the back of their painted ponies, the warriors declared the wolf would be held in a place of honor and would be known from that day forward as the Protector of the People. This honor bound vow would become tradition. The warriors of today riding strong and true, though not on painted ponies, honor this tradition passed down from one generation to the next and hold the wolf in great esteem.
Wolves are very social animals,
using body language such as muzzle touching as a greeting.Wolf Facts
Wolves are large, powerful, graceful wild canines which were once common throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, but now live mostly in remote wilderness. There are two species of wolves in North America:
The smaller red wolf (Canis rufus), once found throughout the southeastern United States, has had their numbers dwindle to small populations in Texas and Louisiana. The US Fish and Wildlife Service captured a number of the pure bred animals, starting a captive breeding program to increase their numbers. The wolves were then reintroduced in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast, and in Great Smokey Mountains National Park in southern Tennessee.
The larger gray wolf (Canis lupus) actually ranges in color from almost pure black to almost completely white, and often is golden brown, but the individual guard hairs are banded light-dark-light-dark. This is called agouti banding, and is found in a number of wild species.
There are a number of subspecies of gray wolf living in various terrain, from the frozen tundra of the Arctic wolves to the dense forests where wolves live in Minnesota, and even in the mountainous Southwest, where the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) once lived.
Most adult male wolves weigh between 80 to 110 pounds, with females usually weighing 10 to 20 pounds less. They may stand up to 32 inches high at the shoulder, and are often 6 to 6 1/2 feet from nose to tail. They usually weigh 15 to 20 pounds more in the winter than in the summer due to a heavier fur coat, among other things.
Wolves are social animals, living together in family groups called packs. In order to live together peacefully, they have an elaborate system of rank order. Low-ranking wolves must defer or submit to higher-ranking ones. This keeps order within the pack.
Each pack has an alpha pair .. this is the most dominant pair and is usually the only pair allowed to breed and raise a litter of pups in the pack. When the pair has a litter, and the litter is a few weeks old, the alpha pair will leave the den area to hunt .. leaving a lower ranked "aunt or uncle" to guard the pups.
Family units are strong in a wolf pack as well as teamwork .. the wolves know instinctively they could not survive without each other.
To learn more about wolves .. Write to:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Division of Endangered Species)
P.O. Box 1306
Albuquerque, NM 87103(Top of Page)
All literary works and original artwork by Rion on this page,
unless otherwise noted, are the sole property of Brenda Sewell.
I do not mind sharing but please ask me first.© 1998 - 2004 Brenda "Rion" Sewell brendarion at cfl.rr.com
Thank you so much Monty
for your permission to use the wonderful wolf photos ..
they are hauntingly beautiful and tug at my soul.
For more information or for permission to use the wolf photographs please write:
Monty Sloan / Wolf Park
On July 21, 1999,
I received this award coupled with these kind words from Blue Wolf.
"I believe your site deserves this little award
because it shows you have the gifts
of love and warmth and want to share your knowledge with the world."
Thank you Blue Wolf .. this is indeed an honor for me ..
and to receive it on my birthday makes it that much more special.
For more works by Rion ..
