I grew up in the northern parts of Sweden in a small town by the name of Örnsköldsvik (which translates as “eagle shield bay”)....

If you do a shamanic journey with a group of people in these parts, you will most certainly meet the Spirit of the Bear. She, as I usually call her, has a strong presence here and you can also see that in people and how they live their lives. Here the name for Bear is Björn, also used as a male first name.

Mama Bear has a connection to all of the worlds by walking on four legs, being able to stand on two, and having the ability to swim and climb trees. It is my belief that Bears are not so different from humans, and if you look at the back foot of a bear, it creates a print not so different from a human footprint. Some of the oldest cave paintings in the world made by humans are around 40,000 years old. They show pictures of Bears, so she has been here for a long time and has gone through many changes and difficult times on the planet.

Finding a Center of Peace in Stressful Times
One of things the Spirit of Bear can teach us is how to retreat, go inside ourselves and later come out with power and strength. Each Fall the bear goes into a hibernating den and in the Springtime she emerges, having given birth to her cubs during the winter’s sleep. We too, can go into deep retreat, find answers about our lives, dream our way into the universe to discover wisdom and a new meaning of life.

We are now in a global situation when many are cut off from social activities. Some even find themselves in a quarantine. If you find it difficult to go into retreat, get restless, or feel cut off from other people or the universe, you can call on the Spirit of Bear and ask her for healing and assistance. The Spirit of Bear has a supportive and calming healing energy. It’s no coincidence that a stuffed animal in the shape of a bear is many children’s favorite friend while sleeping. She’s like a protective blanket helping you through the storm, in whatever shape it may come. Who knows, this collective retreat may bring some unexpected gifts, both on a personal and global level? Perhaps Earth will dream herself into a new being, and we can do the same?

Bear as Nature’s Herbalist
Bears eat anything from leaves, roots, and berries to insects, carrion, fresh meat, and fish, and have digestive systems and teeth adapted to such a diet. In a way Bear is mother nature’s herbalist or pharmacist. It is said that in old times people would watch what bears ate, and if it was good for them, then it probably was good for humans too. I hope the Spirit of Bear can inspire people to use food as medicine. So when they look at the lemons and honey they use in their tea and honor their gifts of health and calm. When you use herbs in making dinner, call upon the spirits of the plants, making the dinner full of good medicine and strength, the kind of strength that helps people and families through chaotic times.

The most common herbs we use for cooking have been used for hundreds of years, not only because they make things taste good, but also because they were the medicine available for people.

Finding Balance in the Medicine Wheel
Medicine wheels can look different depending on where you live and what tradition you belong to. In the Temple of Witchcraft tradition, we have Earth in the North and Air in the South. Water in the West and Fire in the East. (The same directions we have in the Alven Inner Ring Tradition.)

...Fire and Water are on the east/west axis of (our) the medicine wheel. They are activators and they are intense. You feel the danger as you approach it. The fire burns you and the water drowns you. Imbalances here can start suddenly and stop quite suddenly as well, if you are lucky.

...Both Earth and Air are on the north/south axis. These element are stabilizers, so when we have an imbalance here, things get very unstable. The wind represents our mind and our thoughts. Imbalance in this element can create fear, resounding in our minds. Information (air) can bring stability, but it can also create thoughts that are hard to change later.

Instability in the earth element is very physical and tangible. You touch it, you feel it....Because the earth and air are stabilizers, things are shaky when they are out of balance, and because they have a longer time for processing changes it can take time to get things moving towards normal again after a crisis.

On the other hand, if the earth is going through a big change, creating something better for the future, the change can not only happen with our feelings (water) and what we want (fire), it must also create new mental structures and agreements (air) on how to live on the planet and put that into tangible action (earth). When the elements of air and earth decide to do something they have a tendency to stick to it. So if we want permanent changes in a good direction for the earth, these elements can help us a lot.

Personally, I’m a great believer of working with all the elements for balance, no matter what element is out of balance at the moment. In this same way I believe in creating healing for the whole person on all levels....

The Spirit of Bear Embodying Many Powers
I really love the Spirit of Bear. She was the first animal that I met on my first shamanic journey many years ago. Since then she has helped me and others through many retreats, healing sessions, and soul retrievals. I specially love how she helps lost soul parts, many times in the energetic form and shape of lost children returning back home to our adult selves. It is in my prayers that in this global crisis the Spirit of the Bear, together with other spirit helpers, will guide people through this process with their souls intact, and perhaps with this “global healing retreat,” help the earth to bring back lost soul parts for her as well. This is how the Spirit of Bear relates to the planets and asteroids to me.

The Moon – with Bear’s ability to be a good and strong mother.
Mercury – Bear’s intelligence and her way of adapting to new circumstances when her environment changes.
Venus – Bear’s strong connection to herbs and herbal healing.
Mars – her way of protecting her cubs, and the speed she can run with when needed.
Jupiter – Bear’s ability to expand consciousness.
Saturn – Bear’s ability to slow down time and go into hibernation.
Uranus – Bear’s ability to change the fire in her body and change body temperature.
Neptune – Bear going into sleep and dreamtime for many months and Bear as a totem for many dreamers and people working with dream healing.
Pluto – Bear’s power to symbolically die and be reborn again, going in and out of hibernation.
Chiron – Bear being a strong totem for many healers.
Ceres – Bear as a symbol for the great mother.
Juno – having strong relationships with other animals and being a key player where she lives. Bear is many times a totem animal for chefs and excellent bakers.
Vesta – Bear as a protector for witches, midwifes, völvor, priests, and priestesses.
Pallas Athena – being a protector for great warriors throughout time.
Lilith Black Moon – learning us to see in the dark and bring wisdom back out into the world
The Sun – helping us to dream through the gate of the sun, visiting other suns and worlds to return back home with medicine to our people and planet.