Welcome Letter

Welcome to our den high atop Star Mountain, The Home of the Wild Wolf Women of the Web. Please read this letter completely, because it provides important information to aid you in the transition from Starlight Springs to WWWW. It also contains some important links and information regarding your membership.

OUR PURPOSE

The Wild Wolf Women of the Web mailing list is a place where we support each other in nourishing the growth and development of the inner wild woman. We help each other to belong to ourselves, to look within for answers, and to learn to trust the instinctive nature that knows. This mail list was formed after reading Women Who Run with the Wolves. We highly recommend this book to understand many of the concepts that we hold as solid truths for the wild woman. Conversations will often turn to many of the lessons that are taught there.

The alphas are the list owners and make any and all major decisions pertaining to this list. You may write to any of us if you have concerns about the lisst, problems with your list settings or how to manage the mail, or for any general questions or comments. You may also direct your question to the mail list. We have many members that may be able to answer your questions about the listserv or managing email.

ALPHA 3

Janis - Willow
Cate - Nokomis
Lisa - Dreamseer

IMPORTANT LINKS

For this website verson, we have removed the links to our private web areas, leaving in links to our Cafepress store, and to Amazon.com. We receive a small commission on purchases of any items at Amazon.com (books, clothes, shoes, toys, CDs, DVDs, etc.) and those funds go to pay for the list.

Our Store

Amazon.con

HOW IS WWWW DIFFERENT FROM STARLIGHT SPRINGS

While we try to nurture an atmosphere in Starlight Springs that is similar to WWWW, the two lists can't help but be a bit different. WWWW contains three times the membership of SS, and generates three times the email. WWWW is 11 years old and has very low turnover in membership. SS has a complete turnover of membership several times a year. Those of you coming to SS are new together, whereas you will be entering WWWW, an established list, one at a time and be new again. Take heart! We were all new once.
We want and need our new members, so you are indeed welcome on Star Mountain.
Go in with an open mind and see if you find a spark that ignites in your heart. The Wild Wolf Women of the Web pack isn't for everyone, but it just may be the pack you have been seeking.
When the mail starts pouring in, you will be joining many different conversations going on at once. It may seem like chaos to you, but be patient. Read what you can. One suggestion is to pick a thread that looks promising and follow that one. Feel free to delete anything that isn't of interest.
As time goes by, you'll begin to recognize names, and get a feel for the wolfies behind them.
Be sure to read this entire letter, because it contains information on our group and individual daily posting limits, and general netiquette.
Be welcome, sister. Come join us at the fire
!INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Jump in and join the pack! We love new members and you'll find yourself easily welcomed into our den. If you'd like to get to know the other packmates better, check out the private wolf woman scrapbook pages. This is a website which shares pictures of the packmates as well as the profiles each creates for herself.

Please send in an info page, and a picture of yourself if possible.

PARTICIPATION

If you are reading this, you have spent a good deal of time in Starlight Springs, the wait list for WWWW. You know that we do not allow lurking in the Springs or on the Mountain. When you join WWWW, you need to post something every 30 days, or you will be unsubbed. There are sisters waiting in the Springs to join us, and we simply do not allow people to take space on the WWWW list - which is limited to 75 people - if they are not participating.

If you are finding that you are consistently deleting WWWW mail without reading it, or that you haven't responded or contributed here in some time, you will be soon sent a notice asking whether you wish to renew your membership. Consider that carefully, and if you're not committed to participating with us here, then please unsub and let someone else from Starlight Springs have their opportunity.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The degree of individual growth that occurs in a group is contingent upon how much intimacy develops. In turn, that intimacy depends on trust. People will share very sensitive and fragile parts of themselves as part of the growth and healing process. All e-mails that you receive here must be considered confidential, unless you receive permission from the writer, you may not forward or share these posts.

ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED

Members need to ask for what they need rather than expecting the group to know and respond appropriately in all situations. We encourage and respond to whining, if you need to whine that no one is answering your mail, then do it, you'll get answers that way. If you just leave this den and feel that no one noticed you here, then that is your own fault for not letting your wild woman speak for you, here in the place that she is most revered.

DISAGREEMENT

As wild women, we do not shy away from disagreeing with each other. The key to productive disagreement is to focus on our own feelings and beliefs, rather than telling other people why they are wrong. New members may find such threads to be upsetting, and want to send out a call for us to be nice and stop. We tendo let these discussions run their course. We have found that this can lead to better understanding, more honesty, and is empowering for our members. However, while we may disagree, it is inappropriate to post words that wound another. Nor should we post in a way that devalues another woman's bone song. We each have a responsibility/obligation/sacred duty to step away from a thread if it becomes so heated that our responses are no longer in balance with the conversation.

GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL

We take seriously our responsibility to protect the integrity of the den and the sanctity of the den environment. Grounds for removal from the den may include the following: flaming, bullying, lying, stalking, and attacking. This applies not only to comments made to individuals, but to posts that attack or belittle the group itself.

Abusive conduct os not part of the journey to wildness and authenticity, and a true wild woman does not need to resort to such tactics to validate her sense of self-worth or make herself heard in the den. We realize and accept that discussions in the den may become animated from time to time, but our conversations must be always be marked by respect and tolerance for each other.

If you feel someone in the den is engaging in these behaviours, please contact the Alpha3. Your concerns will be kept confidential.

POSTING LIMITS

This is a very high volume list, with a 160 post a day limit, set by Lsoft. There is a 10 post per day limit set for each person, BUT if all 75 posted 10 posts a day - we'd be so over our limit . So we ask you to use your head when it comes to posting. Don't over-post, because when you do, it affects others. For example, if wolves on the East Coast of the U.S. hog the daily den mail quota, wolves on the West Coast and in other time zones get shut out until the next day. That is not fair to our sisters. So use your head. Send private notes for birthdays, "me too" posts, and any other one-liners or other short posts that really do not need to be sent to everyone.

GENERAL NETIQUETTE

1. Plain Text Only! Be sure your mail program is set to Plain Text only because that is what this list processes. You are writing to women around the world, with different kinds of email programs. Compatibility is key. Do not use rich format mail or other fancy email formats.

2. Do not send any attachments. If you have pictures or documents to share, send a notice to the list for those interested to contact you privately. These will be rejected by the system.

3. Trim your posts! Highlight and delete most of an email you are responding to, leaving in enough so that we can see what you are responding about. When you just hit reply and leave the whole email intact, it clogs up the daily digest, takes up space in the archives. We will send out occasional reminders to trim your posts, and anyone doing it repeatedly will get an alpha reminder, then be set to moderation.

4. If you are responding to a thread, (A) don't change the subject line. Don't add to it or take away from it. (B) If you do want to change the subject from the one being discussed in the existing thread, change the subject line like so: Subject: pink elephants (was: re: subject lines). Now you know where the thread evolved from, and we can move away from the previous thread. Then if no one else wants to discuss pink elephants, the thread dies. (C) Feel free to start a new thread any time, and use a fresh subject line: Subject: World peas

5. Post your own words. Our list has a focus of the wild nature and building sisterhood. This is NOT the place to send URLs to cute websites, chain letters, or pass-it-ons of any kind. If you'd like to share an essay, article or other writing that speaks to you, that you did NOT write, please include your comments about why you are sharing this and why this is relevant to our list. If you quote in a den email the words of another, please give them credit. Plagarism is an ethical breach.

LIST MEMBERSHIP

There are no membership dues here, but running a mailing list and a website domain does cost money.

We have our own store, where you can purchase t-shirts, a coffee mug, or some other wonderful item with our WWWW logo. Visit our store.

We are an Associate member of Amazon.com, and you can help to offset the costs of this mail list is by purchasing your books, CDs, DVDs, clothing, toys, and any other products from Amazon. You can connect to Amazon.com through the following link to give credit to the WWWW list for your order through amazon.com.

All proceeds go toward paying list expenses and toward the Wolfcon fund.