In most situations, if you mention the word Wolfenoot, you’ll likely get confused stares, as well as a few ‘Wolfe-what’s’. But what is Wolfenoot exactly, and where did it originate? To put it simply, Wolfenoot is a holiday. Although the holiday itself is oddly much weirder and more complicated than it’s name.

Invented on November 23, 2018, the holiday originated in the mind of a seven-year-old in Hamilton, New Zealand. And, after a certain tweet talking about this kid’s crazy idea for a new holiday (which now proudly takes its place on the Wolfenoot website), the holiday slowly spread across the internet and has been celebrated by people all over the world for the past three years.“He makes things up all the time – he always has. I think he was playing an online game that involved wolves, and that’s what set it off, originally,” explained Jax Groot, his mother. 

Wolfenoot is a celebration of our canine companions, respect to animals, family, and the ‘Spirit of the Wolf’. A typical Wolfenoot meal consists of meat and moon-themed treats (‘You eat roast meat (because wolves eat meat) and cake decorated like a full moon,’ stated a portion of the original post.), but of course it varies from family to family. One special tradition some families follow is the Wolfenoot toast, written by Marcia DeNardo in 2020. 

“It was written by a member of our community and I think it captures the fact that this thing really does now belong as much to the community as it does to us,” Groot said, “One year people did a ‘howl around the world’ where in each time zone, they went outside at 7pm and howled. I thought that was wonderful.”

The toast itself was a poem, portraying a group of friends celebrating Wolfenoot. Instead of toasting with a speech while they had their drinks, they stepped outside and howled instead. The narrator stated that there was something more magical about that night compared to any other Wolfenoot they’d celebrated, like they could feel the wolf’s spirit howling with them.

And then of course, there is the icon of the holiday, the ‘Spirit of the Wolf’, who hides gifts within the houses of people who are kind to dogs and other animals. But, there is a special reward in the story for those who have gone above and beyond when it comes to their treatment towards these animals. The Golden Paw award, where the wolf leaves a golden paw print within the person’s home. According to the official Wolfenoot website, the first real award went to the Michigan Humane, a nonprofit veterinary clinic and pet shelter. The prize continued to be given (almost) monthly to other organizations such as the Lightshine Canine (A rez dog rescue group) and TEAS (The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary, a charity organization aiming to rescue disabled guinea pigs) groups.

“We were looking for a way to spread the love around a bit, and he came up with this idea that the Spirit of the Wolf leaves a golden paw print for people who had done particularly great things,” mentioned Groot.

Since that day in 2018, Wolfenoot has spread into a global holiday, celebrated worldwide by ‘wolfenatis’ everywhere. All in all, this holiday is not only a fun occasion with presents and family fun, but it is also a holiday with a lesson that teaches us how to respect and care for each other, as well as our furry, scaly, and feathered friends that live in our homes and the nature outside our doors.