Other Cultures
Greek: In his book, Dawn Behind the Dawn, Geoffrey Ashe explores the association of the Greek goddess, Artemis, with bears. In one myth she transforms Callisto, one of her maidens who has angered her, into a bear and then assigns her to the heavens as the constellation Ursa Major. At the temple of Artemis in Brauronia, during a festival held every five years, two young girls aged five and ten wore yellow bearskin robes and performed the bear dance. Ashe postulates that Indo-European tribes brought from the Northern countries the image of a bear goddess, associated with the Big Dipper, who became Artemis in Greece. Archaeologists have claimed that the bear is the oldest European deity, based on the niches found in caves across Europe which hold the bones and skulls of bears, arranged with evident care.
Throughout all of Celtic Gaul and Britain, Artio, the goddess of wildlife, appears as a bear along with similar deities such as Artaius, Andarta and Matunos. The Christian Saint Ursula may be a holdover from these traditions.
The Greek goddess, Artemis, has a bear form.
The Nivkhs in Russia, the Haida of North America, and many peoples of central Asia regard the Bear Mother as their ancestress.
The Hebrew Bible includes metaphoric depictions of God as a mother bear, fiercely protecting her cubs. Hosea 13:8 (KJV) "I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them."
Read more about this topic: Bear Worship
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