The Story of the Two Wolves

The mural at Twin Wolves

Today I want to talk about the namesake of Twin Wolves Healing Arts, the Cherokee folk legend The Story of the Two Wolves.

One evening, an Elderly Cherokee Brave told his Grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The Grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his Grandfather,

“Which wolf wins?”

The Old Cherokee simply replied,

“The one that you feed.”

For me, this story acts as a reminder that we are influenced by the narratives that we tell ourselves. Are we talking negatively to ourselves? Are we putting ourselves and others down? How are we feeding and nourishing our bodies and our minds? The stories that we tell ourselves directly impact how we are in the world, our happiness, the choices we make and how we treat everything around us. The two wolves remind us to reflect on how we are being in the world, the perspective from which we are operating.

I think it is unnecessary that the wolves be opposites. I decided to call the space “Twin” Wolves and not “Two” Wolves because I thought it was more fitting to think of the wolves as siblings, as two parts of one whole, as yin and yang; two energies flowing around each other in a dance of life. What if these Twin Wolves love each other? What if, rather than one winning and one losing, they find balance between one another? If you look at the Twin Wolves logo, you see two wolves that care for each other and are supporting one another. Similarly, in our mural, you see confident, serene, stable wolves looking out at the world - one is not better than the other, but the two deeply benefit from remaining in healthy relationship.

Twin Wolves Healing Arts is a health center providing services to nourish your body, mind and spirit and the name of the space is a reminder to keep all your energies in balance as well as offering an encouragement to examine how you speak to yourself and to monitor the stories you tell yourself about your life.