WOLVES. Wolf symbolism embraces the dual aspects of good and evil human nature. Although the dark, menacing image of the fearless predator and ravening killer preponderates, wolves also personify a protective spirit and the nurturing mother. In classical times the wolf, perceived in both aspects, symbolized transition. The "hour of the wolf," for example, is the time of emergence from darkness into light or, contrarily, of reversion to the world of darkness and ignorance. The biblical verse "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb" (Is. 11:16) is a metaphor for the assimilation of the lower to the higher and participates in the symbolism of the center. The Roman signa represents the wolf mounted on a cube (earth) and on a sphere (heaven). As an alchemical symbol, the wolf, together with the dog, stands for the dyadic nature of Mercurius, the philosophical mercury, the nous ("intelligence").

Many of the...