Recently I've been quite fascinated with wolves. I had been having some problem behaviour from my dog (anxious aggression and biting), and started using a technique based on wolf pack structure to get a better handle on things. I was reading a bit about the method last night, and was reminded of this verse and the idea of roles of power in social structures. It also connected for me with the wolf being attributed to Mars, and hence the Tower card (as seen on the Via tarot, and the as yet unpublished Similia's Tarot, of which only the Fool and the Tower exist
) So it seems the wolf may also be seen as a symbol of Horus, or the HGA. Probably this will be more relevant when we get up to the later chapters of the book, but I wanted to write this down to look back on when we get up to there and see who what I understand from the current verse changes later.
In the wolf pack, the leaders (alpha pair) are the first to eat, usually the only ones who get to breed, and have their own personal space separated from the pack. The make the decisions, and have absolute power over the rest of the group. If you displease them, they can kill you, or cast you out of the pack. In a sense, they can be seen as the autocratic rulers.
In exchange, they are the first to go into harms way, first to fight to defend the pack, and often the first killed. The ones who serve/lead the many. They are considered to have the best DNA, being the smartest, strongest, fastest, and so assume the role of leader, and also its included responsibilities and burdens. As long as they do their job they stay in that role, but if they slip another pack member might challenge and steal their leadership position. So not really a democracy, but they are in their role at the preference of the group, and only with the group's support. Natural selection I guess is a better term than any other.
It all sounds very violent and war-like, but in actual fact the best alpha pair are apparently the most gentle. They are calm and relaxed, and don't inforce their rule by violence within their pack. Its the calmness that justifies their credentials as leader.
The problems my dog has been having, are because it thinks it is the pack leader, despite being underqualified to fill that role in human society. But the pack structure requires someone to fill that job and look after the group, and since he doesn't see me doing it, my pup nominated himself. There is something ambitious in that also, which reminds me of the Tower itself, the urge to grow and build upwards. And the lightening moment that comes when you've over-extended your abilities.
The whole thing reminded me of the Thelemic idea of everyone having a set of natural preferences (Will) and it being our responsibility to find the place in society that lets us fulfil that role, for some of us that is a role about temporal power. For others, the role of leader is foreign and being forced into that role is contrary to our Will and best interest. I'm not entirely sure how I view this, or the benefit really, but it was interesting to think of the idea of the individual being the guiding principle, and how that manifests in a society (that like ours) is based on social structures and the pack (Nuit?).