The bear symbolizes great strength and courage. They meet you at a crossroads and guide you in the right direction.
The bear spirit animal is a force to be reckoned with; powerful, strong, and fiercely protective. The bear often guides parents and shamans.
Biology
There are eight species of bears. Most are omnivores with the exception of the gentle Panda bear whose specialized diet consists of bamboo.
While bears vary in size and appearance, they all belong to the same family; Ursidae. The smallest bear – the sun bear – measures approximately 4 feet with a weight of around 60 pounds, while the huge polar bear can reach more than 8 feet and weigh around 1,000 pounds plus.
While bears are thought of as hibernators, they don’t, in fact, hibernate in the truest sense of the word. In fact, there is much scientific debate over if bears hibernate or experience torpor.
During the winter rest period, they do not need to eat, and the body doesn’t even excrete waste products during this time. In fact, both Grizzly and Black Bears can survive for 100 days without eating or drinking, surviving instead on the fat they have accumulated during the warmer months.
Bears are omnivores, but each species has their own favorites; polar bears eat seals, while brown bears prefer salmon. American black bears eat berries, and pandas munch on bamboo.
Bears in Alaska, foraging for salmon during migration. Photo by Donna Ruiz.
Overview of Bear Symbolism
Authority
Courage
Curiosity
Motherhood
Nobility
Protectiveness
Patience
Playfulness
Peace
Softness
Solitude
Strength
Deeper Meaning
The bear is a powerful ancient symbol for alchemy, awakening the unconscious, and connecting with lunar energy.
The overriding quality of a bear is that of strength. While these noble animals can run pretty fast when they need to (up to around 30 MPH), they were built for strength and endurance.
Bears prove that we can dig deep and draw on our inner strength as well as physical power, and we can endure battles much longer than others who are seemingly more powerful.
Huge and awe-inspiring, the bear will remind you to stand tall and proud and claim what is yours.
“Brave is as brave does” could well be the bear spirit animal’s motto, because the mere sight of him conjures up images of power. Enemies are not to know that you are feeling scared on the inside when you project strength and confidence on the outside.
The bear spirit animal is also protective, and just like a mama bear when her cubs are facing danger, those with a bear spirit animal will fight to the death for their loved ones.
This ferocity extends to injustices, too; the bear spirit animal will lead us to stand up for those who cannot. It’s not just fellow beings that the bear will lead us to protect, though; this mighty animal will also remind us to stand up for our rights, our beliefs, and our dreams, too.
One of the most beautiful sights in the animal kingdom is a group of bear cubs playing. They rough and tumble, chase each other, and go searching for adventures.
The bear spirit animal will give us a nudge towards letting our hair down once in a while and stop taking life so seriously. Even for the fiercest of bears, there is a time and a place for play.
With this spirit animal in your life, you will not be able to ignore your more light-hearted side for long, and neither should you, for there must be a balance.
Bear people are wonderful parents and protective of their families. When the She-Bear comes to you it is a message to protect your children.
Bears are curious creatures, and by listening to your spirit animal, you will develop a healthy curiosity about the world you live in.
Such tenacity can be applied to pretty much every facet of life, as the underlying message from this spirit animal is that if it’s worth having, it’s worth waiting for, and that could mean love, health, wealth, or success in your chosen field.
And finally, having a bear as our spirit animal will remind us to take time out and chill. Bears go into a deep sleep during the winter, and it’s a timely nudge for us to find our own dens and take time out to recharge our batteries ready for the busy times ahead.
Sleep, like everything else that’s important to a bear, needs to be protected, so if this spirit animal shows up in your life, it could be a reminder to stop burning the candle at both ends. Developing a healthy sleep routine is vital, otherwise, the saying ‘like a bear with a sore head’ could well apply to you.
Bear Spirit Around the World
The bear means different things to different cultures, and it can be enlightening to compare how each culture sees this magnificent animal.
Asia
Panda bears are a symbol of prosperity, peace, and luck. Panda’s are related to the heart chakra and remind us to be in touch with our feelings.
The black and white coloring of the panda brings to mind the balance of yin and yang. An ancient Chinese legend tells of a young shepherd girl who saved a baby panda from a jaguar. At that time pandas were all white.
However, in their grief over her death, they covered their legs and arms with ashes from the fire. Their descendants are black and white to show homage to the young shepherdess.
During the Han Dynasty, (206 B.C. to 22 A.D) the bear was a much-revered animal and is prominent in the artwork.
In Korea, the bear is thought to be female, as mythology tells of a bear that turned into a woman, whose son was responsible for building the first Korean kingdom.
Celtic
The Celts see the bear in a different light. Strong and tenacious, the bear was thought to heal mind, body, and spirit, as well as fine-tune spiritual awareness and abilities.
The Celtic Goddess Artio, often took the shape of a bear. Artio was the goddess of wildlife and artwork dating back to 450 BCE often shows her feeding wild animals and standing with a bear.
You can read more about Artio on our blog.
Native American
Tribes throughout the Americas hold the bear in high esteem as a healer. Bestowed with the strength to fight on even when injured, the Native Americans include the bear in many ceremonies and see them as a symbol of wisdom and strength.
Norse
Several Nordic gods and goddesses had the bear as their spirit animal.
Thea, daughter of Thor, was the goddess of beauty, strength, and storms. Her spirit animal is the black bear
Ull, is the god of competition and sport. His Spirit Animal is a polar bear who helps us to overcome difficult challenges.
Vikings often had bears or wolves as their tribal totem animal. One group was the legendary berserkers, or bear-shirts. The berserkers would often go into a trance and call upon the strength and power of the bear.
Read our article Norse Gods and Their Spirit Animals to learn more.
Eastern Europe/Slavic
The Rodnovery God Veles rules the underworld and is the guardian of animals. . He has two spirit animals. The snake and the bear. Stands for strength and wisdom the bear represents everlasting balance between our world and the underworld.
The Bear Totem Animal
If your totem animal is a bear, this will help you to discover hidden strengths and powers you might not have known you have. Encouraging you to dig deep and find those reserves, the bear totem animal will also drive you to bring more strength and courage into your life and mold it as your own.
Be careful with this new-found strength though, because it can be easy to be overconfident and take on more than you are able to deal with. Choose your battles and fight smart, not hard.
Patience is a key feature when you have the bear as your totem animal; it will help you to stop being so impulsive and accept that good things come to those that wait.
Check out my video on the bear Spirit Animal!
Bear Dream Symbolism
Not only will the situation in your dream determine the meaning, but the species of the bear will, too. Here we look at some of the more common bear dreams, and what they could mean for you.
A brown bear in a dream is symbolic of a new start; be brave and embrace those new beginnings. A black bear, on the other hand, is trying to give you clues about a person’s actions and is asking you to try to see things from their perspective to understand what is behind their behavior.
A white bear can be a warning that other people are out to get you, and if the bear is being aggressive this could mean you will be facing a significant challenge sometime soon.
A bear that is standing or rearing up can be an indicator of your insecurities, but it can also be a sign of financial rewards coming your way. If a bear bites you, though, it means there is a need for communication in a relationship that’s important to you.
Being chased by a bear means, quite simply, that you are running away from a situation, and that you need to stand still and face it, but if a grizzly bear attacks you, beware: somebody in your life is not being truthful with you.
Of course, all dreams are open to interpretation, so go with your feelings and emotions surrounding your dream and listen to what your intuition is telling you.
Polar bears are particularily affected by climate change and the warming of their environment.
Bear Careers
If you are a bear person, your strengths will lie in logic. Both curious and patient, bears do well in careers such as research, mathematics, science, and finance.
Connected with alchemy bear people make great scientists, especially chemists and astronomers.
As a strong leader, the bear is wonderful at leading by example, and therefore a career that involves teaching or inspiring others will be a great success.
A stickler for detail, a bear person will always get the job done, and because of their steadfast loyalty, they make awesome personal assistants and confidantes.
Also revered as healers, bear people will make a success of any job in the medical profession, and with such attention to detail, their patients could not be in safer hands.
Bears in Wildlife Rehabilitation
My spirit animal guides always include a section on wildlife rehabilitation. I am a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and came to this because of my deep spiritual connection with animals.
I have not worked with bears in wildlife rehabilitation however my friend Mark Naniot of Wild Instincts is active in bear rehabilitation. So far this year he has rescued 14 orphaned black bear cubs that will be raised and then released in late October.
Bears are important species in our ecosystems and deserve to live a natural lifestyle. This means preserving lands for conservation and animal habitats.
While bears, in general, have few predators, other than humans, they do face a significant risk through climate change and habitat loss. They often need large spaces to forage and seek mates.
While the bear, on the surface, might look like an animal to avoid because they appear scary, in actual fact they are fabulous spirit animals and totems to have around, because of their absolute loyalty to those who are important to them.
Always there to stand up for someone who is unable to do it for themselves, bears lend strength to anyone who needs it. Fastidious in whatever they do, bears are unwavering in their attention to detail, so listen to this most majestic of animals – whatever form they take – and bask in the protection and strength they offer.
Author, Ame Vanorio, is a lifelong pagan and the founder of Celebrate Pagan Holidays and Fox Run Environmental Education Center.
Animal totems and spirit guides were common among many pagan groups including the Native Slavic Faith.
Some Gods in the Rodnovery pantheon had really strong connections with certain animals. To some extent, they were even shapeshifters who came to our realm of living in the form of animals or animal spirits to interact with humans.