The Mythology and Worship of Bears

The bear. A symbol of primitive brute force. The bear was an incarnation of the Norse God Odin and the Viking beserker warriors wore bareskin tunics. In Greece the cult followers of Artemis dressed as bears. The bear is linked with many other war like divinities including the Norse God Thor and the Celtic thunder god. To the ainoo new of north Japan and to Native Americans the bear is an ancestral figure the closest relative to humans as bears can walk on two legs. It is also linked with resurrection symbolism perhaps because of its hibernation.    The formless bearcub licked into shape by its mother became an image of the heathen needing the spiritual ministrations of the church. Similarly the bear is the alchemic symbol for the primary state of matter.

 

Bear worship (also known as the bear cult or arctolatry) is the religious practice of the worshipping of bears found in many North Eurasian ethnic religions such as the Sami, Nivkh, Ainu,[1] Basques, Germanics, Slavs and Finns.[2] There are also a number of deities from Celtic Gaul and Britain associated with the bear, and the Dacians, Thracians, and Getians were noted to worship bears and annually celebrate the bear dance festival. The bear is featured on many totems throughout northern cultures that carve them.