I read this story for the first time a few years ago on True Nature, Jenny’s blog, and now I want to share with you all this amazing Native Wisdom’s Story.
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A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation was talking with his grandson.
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."
"One wolf is evil and ugly: He is anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance."
"The other wolf is beautiful and good: He is friendly, joyful, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness, empathy, generosity, true, compassion, gratitude, and deep VISION."
"This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other human as well."
The grandson paused in deep reflection because of what his grandfather had just said. Then he finally cried out; "Oyee! Grandfather, which wolf will win?"
The elder Cherokee replied, "The wolf that you feed."
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."
"One wolf is evil and ugly: He is anger, envy, war, greed, self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance."
"The other wolf is beautiful and good: He is friendly, joyful, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness, empathy, generosity, true, compassion, gratitude, and deep VISION."
"This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other human as well."
The grandson paused in deep reflection because of what his grandfather had just said. Then he finally cried out; "Oyee! Grandfather, which wolf will win?"
The elder Cherokee replied, "The wolf that you feed."
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Image Source: Brooks, Tracy - Mission Wolf/USFWS,
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Click to see Cherokee's Words of Wisdom
Click to see The Wolf Den Homepage pictures, facts, resources
Click to see Cherokee Home Page
Click to see Cherokee Culture and History Links
Click to hear Cherokee Songs in MP3 Format
It is very true, Sonia, and the wolves are so beautiful, and wise-looking.
ReplyDeleteI especially loved the audio links. What a resource the internet is, and great to have people the make us aware of those resources. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteSo very true, Sonia...I love these 'folk tales and folk lore'...Because, it is usually based on the basic things in life that Human Beings struggle with...This is a perfect example, isn't it? Our world seems to be struggling more and more with this serious problem...I hope that Good Wolf Wins the Battle, don't you?
ReplyDeleteThe pictures of these wolves are really beautiful and they look so sweet, don't they?
Sonia, It is very true, but vc deveria fazer a tradução simultânea como no passado. Bonita postagem. Mas por que só para gringos? Beijos.
ReplyDeleteEduardo, acho que fiz uns quatro posts bilíngues, depois desisti porque não vi necessidade. Como falei para você comecei a blogar em inglês primeiro porque no início eu só visitava blogs em inglês para treinar o idioma. Depois quando comecei o meu blog, se eu fosse postar em português minhas amigas e amigos não iriam entender nada. Assim nasceu o Leaves em inglês. E como você pode ver nos post o meu inglês é bem simples e tem até sotaque! (Risos) Poucos brasileiros visitam o Leaves, basta ver os comentários e os links ao lado. Assim, não estou habilitando a tecla SAP para não ter mais trabalho! (Risos)
ReplyDeleteAbraços e obrigada pela visita!
Eduardo, I wrote only few posts bilingual and I give up it because I think it wasn’t necessary. As I told you, I started to blog in English because at the beginning I only visited blogs in English to practice the language. Later when I started my blog, if I had been post in Portuguese I think that my friends would not understand it enough. Thus, my blog Leaves was born in English. And as you can see, in fact my English is really weak and quite simple and it also have accent! (LOL) You can see that few Brazilians visiting Leaves and left comments as well. Thus, I don’t enable the SAP system because I don’t want to have much more work! (LOL). Hugs and thanks for the visit!
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard this story in a very long time. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI love the photo pictures,too.
Great words of wisdom in that story Sonia!! Thanks! Lovely pics too!!
ReplyDeleteHello Sonia,
ReplyDeletevery nice story.
Here in Northern Ontario
are many First Nations communities. They add their own special appreciation of nature and the bond through traditional knowledge and perspective.
The sheer size of the Northern Ontario landscape has contributed both to its diversity and to its resilience. This area still contains healthy populations of wild species, including wolves, bear, moose and lynx.
Few animals possess the mysterious quality and respect of the wolf. The wolf, rarely seen, is an amazing hunter - eating mainly beavers, hares, and other small vermin.
I have listend at night while sitting around the fire pit for the wolves' howl. But getting to hear the howling and sounds of a wolf pack for five days, is a bit little scary too!
Olá, Sónia.
ReplyDeleteBonito trabalho. Parabéns.
Bom fim-de-semana
Such beautiful animals. Loved your story.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Connie
A very beautiful text, Sonia.
ReplyDeleteThe conclusion is so right. Let's pay attention to our wolves, let's never feed the bad one, and let's help the good grow all around the world
Words of wisdom Sonia... it's a matter of choice right, life is made of choices!
ReplyDeleteSonia, thanks for sharing that story. My former boss lived on a Cherokee reservation a long time ago and he is still involved with them and travels around the country to pow-wows. I believe he had that same story framed in his office.
ReplyDeletebeautiful story and lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteThankyou S, thankyou for this and the glorious images.
ReplyDeleteI love that story and it is so true. My great great grandmother was a cherokee. So my grandfather was 1/4.....You can really tell it in my families cheekbones. They are all high and strong on that side and many have the very dark hair like my sister...It makes me so sad when we go to Cherokee NC or any Indian reservation and I see what people did to them. To me this was all theirs and they trully got the worst deal.
ReplyDeleteunforunately - "self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt & resentment" - that seems to be the wolf i'm feeding at the moment. but i hope NOT for much longer.
ReplyDeletethank you for this old but still relevant story. :)