A Bit About the Bear Spirit

Some of you may have noticed we at Kodiak Herbal have a hearty obsession with Bears.

I, myself, am a Bear, through and through! Embracing this identity has been a journey for me, and a learning experience deeper than a winter den. 

Real bears can be terrifying – you wouldn’t want to meet one in the forest! Yet, the Bear is known also for its fuzzy, comforting role as baby’s plush toy.

I see a lot of paradoxes in the human relationship to Bears. We Love them, Fear them, honor them, drive them into hiding.

We acknowledge their strength, size and ferocity with our language (angry as a bear, he was a big bear of a man). We also use the Bear to convey a sense of sweetness and welcoming (bear-hug, he’s just a big teddy bear).

 

People who have been gifted by the spirit of the Bear often share these qualities:

 

– big, stalky, chubby, jolly
– easily warmed, don’t feel the cold much
– LOVE to sleep, & need a lot of it
– quick to laugh
– love to eat, especially sweets & meats
– care for others, highly empathetic
– very slow to anger, but ferocious if their patience is pushed too far
– kind to children, elderly and the feeble
– live to make others feel good, healers
– protective & motherly, nurturing
– have a special love for bears & bear-themed bric-a-brac!

There are also challenges to being chosen by the spirit Bear:

– Bear people can be overly caring, putting others before the self
– can be bossy if lacking leadership skills
– Though brave on behalf of others, Bear people get bogged down by their own unacknowledged fears and worries
– love too much, suffer for others or for the world. Give too much away
– may be grouchy when not fed or rested.
– urge to ‘hibernate’ can be overwhelming for some Bears, leading to health conditions such as depression, hypersomnia, isolation, lack of exercise
– love of food and sweet can encourage diabetes, heart problems, inflammation
– particularly feisty Bear people may burn themselves out by not taking the time for self renewal
– sense of responsibility for community can be unbalanced
– easily put on weight, physical or spiritual!

The gifts given to me by Bear have come with challenges. My first Bear dreams were terrifying reminders of the fears I had yet to face. A desperate feeling of purpose, frustrated by chronic illness, left me sleepless in my twenties. As a young woman I was chagrinned by my belly, the jolly barrel of midsection that never seemed to go away no matter how much I longed to look like the pop culture icon of female beauty.

Being a naturally ambitious person, I learned to slow down and take each step of my life with purpose; it drove me sometimes to fits of rage at my own inefficiency.

I’m only a child when I stand in the foothills, with all of my older brothers and sisters around me. But finally, I’ve learned a thing or two in my 36 years…

Everyone who needs to heal, must heal from within.

Every hurt that is on this earth is not mine to feel. Every battle is not mine to fight.

Every fear will eventually be faced, in life or in dreams.

Every Bear who needs nourishment, must dampen down the roar of their empathy to hear the stream and find salmon.

With immeasurable thanks to Bear, I know the path to walk in this life. He tells me to love deeply and freely. To heal where I can and show others how to do this for themselves. To take care of myself as I would for another. To face my fears, and embrace strength from within. To use my fire as a leader with love, understanding and compassion. To harness righteous anger into meaningful action.

To turn grim experience into a tool for making the world of the two-legged people a better place.

This post ran away with me! In closing I will say that I am always happy to meet other bear people, and answer questions, if I can, for anyone on a bear journey. Please comment or PM me if you have something you would like to say about Bear, a shout out or words of gratitude to the Bear Spirit, or a Bear experience to share. That’s all I have to say, thank you for reading! All my relations. ♡

Written byKalyn Kodiak, ClH