A long time ago in a galax-- er.. Oops wrong story
1973 was an interesting year. Watergate was on everyone’s mind, the cultural
revolution of the 60’s was showing its effects in everyday life, Vietnam was
ending, and there was a massive Native American uprising at Wounded Knee. Oh,
yeah- and one of the greatest albums of all time, Dark Side of the Moon, came
out that year.
I was born right when the Stand at Wounded Knee was happening (I wasn't at the
Knee but it might explain the connection I have always had to Native thinking).
I never did conform to normal ways of thinking whether politically (used to
carry a Soviet Flag over my books when armed forces came to high school to
recruit), religiously, or academically. In fact I was rather bored with the way
school was taught. Einstein described the true Pisces as being both scientist
and mystic. That would be me. Most of the time I just like to think shit up.
Thus, I popped into this world as Raffaele P. Baldassarro on March 5, 1973.
As a toddler barely able to speak I was intrigued by the world outside although
to others I always appeared to be focused inward. I wasn't lost in myself. I was
observing everyone and everything. But through a very interesting childhood
filled with pain, mistakes, and even rare days of pure joy I emerged into the
adult world without a clear sense of identity or direction. All my life I
attempted to shift and change who I was and how I interacted with the world;
Sometimes to hide, other times to fit in.
I was often persecuted for thinking differently from everyone else. I just
couldn’t go with the flow as I watched these mindless sheep all around me bend
to conformity and peer pressure.
Growing up and going public school was difficult to say the least. While others
had already moved on to playing sports at recess I was off fantasizing,
inventing, and creating.
I was the nerd, the butt of pranks and practical jokes. Those were the good
days. On the bad days I was getting into fights defending myself and just trying
to survive some days.
My sense of self was never tied to my name or my own heritage. I was always
studying other lands like England or Russia, and the outer realms of space. In
fact, when people ask what nationality I am I reply "Terran" which simple means
"of the Earth".
The most defining moment of my life happened in July of 1989. I spent a month in
the former Soviet Union as a Youth Ambassador. There were 30 of us from the
Metro-Detroit area, one from Salt Lake City, Utah, and 3 adults. In each city we
had a summit meeting with kids from that city.
Now you must understand that everywhere we went we all lined up and took group
photos in front of all sorts of buildings we visited. Try to imagine 30 cameras
clicking. One incident will always be with me. I tell you, you can't put into
words how it feels to stand in Red Square, in front of Lenin's tomb, on the
forth of July. We were taking the usual group shots and a crowd started to form
around us as we started lining up the cameras. Before we knew it we were singing
the national anthem and waving American flags. The crowd got bigger; we got
nervous. Armed guards made their way to the front of the crowd and we're like,
"oh shit". Next thing we knew they were picking up our cameras, taking pictures,
and posing with us. One guard picked up a camera and started to take our picture
then handed it to someone in the crowd and posed with us.
That was so long a go, but seriously, not a SINGLE day has gone by that I have
not thought of that trip or briefly relived a memory.
One day while a freshman in college I happened to start reading about magick.
No, not Penn & Teller. REAL magick. The Old Religion. Witchcraft.
While others are content to "have" a religion, I choose to "practice"
Spirituality. I'm very shamanic in what I do and believe, borrowing common
truths from Native American and Celtic thinking, add in some Buddhist principles
and mix it up a bit.
As I delved farther in I realized this was a religion closer to how I perceived
the world. How I had ALWAYS perceived it. As this new religion- no, wrong word.
As this new belief system started to take root I could feel the warmth inside as
my true self emerged from the seed planted within my mind. For several years I
continued on a new Spiritual and professional path. I set out to merge Mind,
Body, and Spirit. I began a career in psychology and spent many wonderful years
helping others deal with life's trials.
Then one day I was set upon the next leg of my journey as I received a new
identity, a new sense of self. My Spirit guides saw fit to give me a new name-
Wolf LittleBear. It fit. Wolf's Medicine is that of knowledge. He is the
pathfinder. The teacher; Bear's power is introspection. The ability to seek
answers within.
Many more years passed by and this name became more than just a Spiritual name.
It became my very essence; my identity in relation to the world around me. From
that point on every new person I met was introduced not to Raffaele, but to Wolf
LittleBear. This was now my public as well as private identity. During this time
I attended Macomb County Community College and Wayne State University, earning a
degree in psychology and spent the last 10 years working at various mental
hospitals and group homes throughout southeastern Michigan but I am finally
living my dream as an author.
Life's journey often forces us to change direction and to take a path new and
mysterious. Thus in 2007 my career in psychology came to a crashing end and the
bad choices I made in my past came back all at once to slap me in the face.
I was once again grappling with a loss of self-worth and identity. I had always
dreamed of being a writer, jotting down bits here and there, with even more
ideas in my head through the years. So I kicked myself into gear and started
publishing. It made sense at the time to continue to use my public persona of
Wolf LittleBear as my pen name for these new works I was about to bestow upon
the world. And so through the rest of '07 and throughout 2008 I went about the
business of building a career and a public image as a writer, releasing several
items in the process and making friends along the way both in and outside the
entertainment industry.
Conversations with a close friend in January of 2009 have given rise to the next
chapter in this life. The issues of the past are dealt with- personally,
psychologically, and otherwise. So with that mindset 2009 is going to be a year
of reinvention. A year to break out in an even bigger way and announce to the
world I am here to stay and history will remember me! The observation was made
that while the name Wolf was such a strong and powerful name which suited who I
was and what my talents were, the name LittleBear served to hinder the
seriousness of the career I was trying to build. A new marketing strategy was
called for and the first order of business was to reinvent my public image. A
stronger, more mature name was called for. After some thinking I decided that
the best way was to acknowledge who I was, who I am, and who I want to be
remembered as. So in a blending of past, present, and future I merged both my
given birth name and my Spiritual name into R. Wolf Baldassarro.
The Bear's Medicine is that of introspection and reflection. The time for soul
searching is over and the Bear is once again asleep within the deep recesses of
my soul and psyche.
Wolf has always been there and always will. He is the teacher of wisdom and the
pathfinder, pointing the way to enlightenment and growth. He has taught me to be
loyal and caring but like the living Wolf in the wild, many only perceive his
aggressive nature. Wolves mate for life, and so you can expect me to stay strong
and protective by the side of those dear to me in this uncertain and difficult
period in history. My senses are sharp now and my intellect cunning and sure. I
will find all that I seek on this path. I am alert and possess a strong inner
wisdom.
Deep Forest Productions began as an imprint and publishing label in 1998 when I
wrote under my Spiritual name of Wolf LittleBear. The sole focus at that time
was an online newspaper, The Grove Gazette. The Gazette was a weekly news
service primarily for Earth-based faiths but covered religious, social, and
science news stories for all religions fairly and equally. I self-produced the
Grove Gazette myself every week but sadly the demands of life were mounting and
The Grove Gazette ended its run in 2001.
In April of 2007 Deep Forest Productions restructured into its current format
when I began publishing books, poetry, and other projects. To date has released
a short poetry collection, titled Musings from a Candlelit Chamber, and 3
non-fiction books- A Wolf in the Shadows, The Power of Music Therapy, and PRISM
A Ghost Hunter’s Field Guide. I also have 15 art gallery prints of poetic works,
and I have been published in the literary review magazine Mused.
I do not limit myself to any specific genre of writing. I do poetry, fiction,
and non-fiction on whatever topic tickles my fancy or provides my muse with
creative inspiration. If anything you could say my genre is Life. The stories I
write, and especially the poetry and shorter reflections range from depressing,
to optimistic, to humorous and frightening. For that is life. Anyone who is
happy 24/7 and has not a care in the world has not experienced life.
When not writing I am also a paranormal investigator and I have recently begun
writing a regular monthly column all about the world of the paranormal for Pagan
Pages magazine!
I am a writer for a new age, a voice of creativity, humor, and one not afraid to
speak out on serious and controversial topics. R. Wolf Baldassarro- "Author,
poet, and slut to the written word"!
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