BEARS
“Dancing bears
Swimming bears
Sleeping bears
Dreaming bears
Fishing bears
Toy bears
Polar Bears
Extinct bears
Panda Bears
Grizzly Bears
Brown Bears
Black Bears
Red Bears
Honey Bears
Prehistoric bears
Never-before-seen bears
Never-to-be-seen bears
Can’t-be-seen bears
Yet-to-be-made-manifest bears
Unbelievably large bears
Unbelievably small bears
Gentle, roaring, whispering, huffing, fierce, lazy, hungry, persistent, powerful, clever, adaptable bears
Cave, tree, meadow, mountain, ice bears
Claws, teeth, fur, smell, voice, paws bears
Guardian bears
Totem bears
Mama Bear
Papa bear
Bear Chief
Bear Clan
Bear Country
Bear scent
Fantasy Bear
Fairy Tale Bear
Baloo of the Jungle Book bear
Beorn of Tolkien bear
The Sun (who does not hibernate) Bear
‘The Great Bear’ that roams – Hera-cursed never to rise, never to set, never to sleep and dream. Constellation, high in the springtime sky, paws praising, striding the stars; its Big Dipper emptying stardust upon the Aquarius earth
Bears, born to a sleeping mother – unfinished – crawling up her belly seeking nourishment, warmth, and safety – nestled until she wakes to acknowledge our growing presence
We pose you this question: in whatever projections you believe we are known yet not known - from the first to the last; the greatest to the least; given all that we are – why did the Creator make our most potent power our sense of smell?”
Comments
I wondered at this Bear theme pouring in to my mind at the same time we were celebrating the Spring Equinox, the solar eclipse and the new moon. Or if I had just been influenced by having read a story about his experience with a bear told by Robert Moss (dream archeologist/shaman) in a book of his I had just started reading (“The Boy Who Died and Came Back”).
Since exploring the facets of my ponderings over the last several days, I have found several pieces that are related and satisfy my curiosity – the first being Ursa Major is ‘The Great Bear’ and tied to the Spring Equinox skyscape.
Moss mentions that “an archaeoastronomer discovered an ancient arrangement of stones in Chaco Canyon that casts the shadow of a great bear at the spring equinox.” That’s cool. And that is the first time I heard that about Chaco Canyon.
He said that the early church was fiercely hostile to bears – claiming the bear is the Devil; and that Emperor Charlemagne was influenced by the church to order and carry out two separate crusades against bears (committing xenocide). Charlemagne is in my family ancestry.
As introspection – ‘The Cave of the Bear’ is a reference to the Pineal Gland.” He also said something about …”get acquainted with the bear dreams in the Lodge of Spring.”
Bears are such a strong archetype to my psyche. This list titled ‘Bears’ as I read each one contains triggers and journeys which bring me awareness and healings and expansion. I was counseled: “No matter how rich your inner life experience is and is becoming – no matter this shift to the Aquarian Age – dismiss it if you may -- as long as you remain human, in whatever shift you make, the bear archetype goes with you. What will it take for you to acknowledge that we are here and to honor us?”
The last two sentences included with the original posting are the most meaningful and mysterious to me and suggest some kind of trail marker – as in …”born unfinished to a sleeping mother…” And the question of why the power of their sense of smell, which I was told had to do with alchemy.
‘Smell as memory’, I really like that. Your comments, Mary, in response to my posting further add to the discovery of what generated this theme, the alchemy it is, and the bits in the link to “what’s-your-sign..”:
“Hibernating with our ideas or projects until a better time presents itself. (The SuperBeing Project?) Further, the bear will speak to you about connecting to both earth-based energy (shaman) and celestial (sun/moon) forces. Tapping into the bear will also allow you to tap into the wax, wane, and flow of life.” (Timed nicely with the recent solar/celestial activities.)
“……we can be larger than life if we raise ourselves up to our inherent status.” - i.e. SuperBeings.
“….a theme of resurrection” – return of the light? “After a long period of deep, introspective …span of inaction – the bear emerges..” Spring!
And last but not least - “This correspondence with solar and lunar duplicity continues in alchemical tradition where the bear is considered a symbol of transformation.”
Nice. I know I have gained more from this recent experience than I even knew would manifest; and because I had initially hesitated to even post ‘Bears’, feeling foolish and vulnerable among such advanced ones as yourself, I am quite grateful that I did!
The archetype of smell is to me tied to memory. Memory is tied to the context of the continuity of the dream. Here is a little fun tidbit I found which I did not know... found on the page of http://www.whats-your-sign.com/bear-meaning.html
The bear is a powerful symbol of prime matter in alchemy too. Ancient alchemists observed the scent of a bear far outlasts its presence in caves. This caters to an energetic resonance that remains in practices. In other words, if in ritual a powerful balancing effect was required the bear would be a advantageous alchemical animal within the Work.
so not only does a Bear have a deep sense of smell it also has an enduring odor. I think this is some message of about on a more basic level being something that is a stable strong grounding force, an anchor that sustains in the story, the way that smells can invoke the important elements of our life through memory. Maybe memory and smell serve us as markers for who we are and where we have been but since time is an illusion these are jsut parts of the story to be called up. To be sensitive to it, to be able to pick up a scent is to experience something submerge in it. To be able to discern one's path that leads to the honey cache!