harperevan
what meanings / importance do people assign to the bear? Bear images have been coming up across the board for me in tarot / oracle readings, as well as serendipitously in everyday life.
I know that bears are in important healer, they know how to gather plants for medicine from their own environments - native people in North America learned about a lot of medicinal and edible plants from watching bears. They are discerning, and selective about what they eat at what time. They are associated with fierce protection (like a mother bear) and they are especially attuned with the seasons. The big dipper is also called ursa major and is associated with the pole star (I don't know really what that means though, does anyone have an idea?). The keywords listed in my druid animal oracle are primal power, sovereignty, and intuition married with instinct.
I know that bears are in important healer, they know how to gather plants for medicine from their own environments - native people in North America learned about a lot of medicinal and edible plants from watching bears. They are discerning, and selective about what they eat at what time. They are associated with fierce protection (like a mother bear) and they are especially attuned with the seasons. The big dipper is also called ursa major and is associated with the pole star (I don't know really what that means though, does anyone have an idea?). The keywords listed in my druid animal oracle are primal power, sovereignty, and intuition married with instinct.