The Green Wolf

Be aware that this Tumblr frequently includes pictures of art made with animal remains, as well as rampant feminist opinions, corgis and bats, and lush landscapes.

Artist, author, (neo)shaman, and wannabe polymath living in the Pacific Northwe(s)t.

I discovered neopaganism in the mid-1990s, and shortly thereafter began my work with animal totems and neoshamanism. Over the years I've wandered through various paths, ranging from Wicca-flavored neopaganism to Chaos magic, but for the past few years I've been creating Therioshamanism, a post-industrial neo-shamanic path. I've also been creating various neopagan ritual tools and other sacred art from hides, bones, beads and other such things since about the same time. And I've written several nonfiction books on totemism, animal magic, and related topics. Currently working on "New Paths to Plant and Fungus Totems".

A few places to find me, as I'm all over the internet:

http://www.thegreenwolf.com
http://thegreenwolf.etsy.com
http://therioshamanism.com
http://paganbookreviews.net
https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenWolfLupa

Ask me anything

8th August 2012

Therioshamanism: Coming Out of the Crazy Closet (by your friendly neighborhood Lupa) →

This is a post I’ve written and re-written a number of times. It’s probably one of the most difficult posts I’ve composed, simply because I feel so vulnerable about it. But I’m finally at a place where I feel comfortable sharing this here.

I have a mental illness, specifically Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). It’s something I’ve struggled with for most of my life; I can remember its roots in being a particularly sensitive and easily-worried child still in elementary school (and it just got progressively worse from there). But I wasn’t formally diagnosed until a couple of years ago, when I was seeing my therapist for sessions during graduate school. I told her of my suspicions, as I’d read the DSM-IV cover to cover for my diagnosis class, and so we sat down with the book and looked at the criteria for a variety of conditions. GAD was the one that fit the best, and all of the criteria were very familiar to me.

So why am I telling you this here, on my blog that’s supposed to be about shamanism?

Read the rest here.

Tagged: mental health mental illness advocacy social justice shamanism paganism Therioshamanism anxiety