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"!