| 1 | The Ainu people |
Before Japan officially absorbed the northern island of Hokkaido, the only place in Japan where brown bears live, it was occupied by the Ainu people. This ethnicity worshipped the bear (and still do), to the extent that one Ainu clan called the Kimun Kamui sanikiri were believed to be descended from them.
The legend states that in very ancient times, a husband and wife lived together, until one day, the man succumbed to a sudden illness. It had previously been decreed by Ainu elders that this woman would bear a healthy baby boy.
Months later, she was on the verge of childbirth. Surely she had taken a new husband, inquired villagers. The widow explained that a man dressed in black clothing had appeared in her hut. “O, woman, I have a word to say to you, so please pay attention“, the mysterious figure said. The man announced that he was a god of the mountains, a bear who had taken human form. Her had taken pity on her, and decided to provide her earthly self with a son from his own godly bloodline. When he was born, she would no longer be lonely, and the son would provide her with great riches.
Immediately after this speech, the man left. The widow’s son went on to become a legendary hunter, who amassed great fame, wealth and respect in Hokkaido. Consequently, he had many children, and today, a particularly high proportion of the mountain-dwelling Ainu are believed to be bear people.
| 2 | The Sami of Scandivania |
The Sami are the native people of northern Sweden, Norway and Finland, a distinct ethnic group who may have evolved in Lapland when encroaching glaciers separated them. Until the 17th century when Christianity forcibly took over, the Sami (formerly called Laplanders) had an intricate shamanic culture, and bears were at the forefront of it.
All animals were considered to have their own indecipherable languages and understand human actions clearly, but bears were viewed as the most powerful beasts of the animal world, whose knowledge men wished to share, while simultaneously staying in good relations. Bears were always asked for forgiveness after being slain, and it was essential that each stage of a hunting ceremony was carried out in order to enable the bear’s majestic rebirth.
Like the Finns, speaking the bear’s true name was taboo among the Finns. Archaeological evidence suggests that Sami bear hunters had their own special language. The Sami people were famous for their intricately carved ceremonial drums, and bears were commonly painted on them using alder sap. The drum’s rim would have a life-sized, normal bear in the Earth realm, while on the skin, a gigantic “heavenly bear” would be painted.
These shaman drums were vital for hunting – one beat would offer clairvoyance as to where a bear was hibernating in the winter snows, and another beat in spring would tell the gathering hunters the odds of success. The western sami meanwhile, believed that bears had sexual intentions towards women, and banned them from hunting ceremonies.
| 3 | Artio the forgotten god |
Artio is one of the most mysterious bear deities. What’s confirmed is that in 1832, during the excavation of a new garden for a clergy house in Bern, a mysterious chest was unearthed. It contained 6 figurines – a lar (a guardian deity), and the gods and goddesses Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, and Naria. The sixth figurine was of a woman sitting on a throne facing a large, wise-looking bear with a twisting leafless tree behind it, and the inscription revealed that this was an ancient celtic bear god called Artio.
Soon, connections were made to bear figurines found in Celtic graves across Europe, including figures discovered during the restoration of Ireland’s Armagh Cathedral in 1840. Mentions of Artio have also been found in Daun and Stockstadt in Germany, and Weilerback in Luxembourg.
It’s believed that Artio was worshipped as the goddess of abundance and transformation. She was pictured as a human draped in bear skin, but could transform into a real bear at will. She hibernated during the winter, and awoke during spring to watch over the annual re-advancement of nature. Her name comes from the Gaulish word for bear, Artos.
According to markings on the Naria figurine’s pedestal, the collection was created in the second century AD. It was originally stored in a Roman temple on the river Aar, but locked up in a chest and moved to a secret building for safekeeping, probably to safeguard it from war. The figurines lay hidden and forgotten in its ruins for 1500 years.
| 4 | Ktunaxa first nation |
In 2015, a collision of worlds took place, as the Ktunaxa First Nation peoples of Canada fought a plan by Glacier Resorts to build a colossal new ski resort. The plan had been simmering away since 1991, and aimed to build chairlifts and pistes in Jumbo Valley, a prime piece of grizzly bear habitat in British Columbia.
Chief Jason Louie pledged to blockade the resort and go to jail, and on October 5th 2015 the Ktuzana took their case to the Supreme court of Canada. Yet the religious freedom argument didn’t pass muster and in 2017, the ski resort was given the green light.
Why the controversy? Jumbo Valley is known to Ktunaxa as Qat-Muk, and is believed to be home to the Great Bear Spirit. Supposedly, Qatmuk is the place where this spirit is born, heals itself, and goes to die, in a neverending cycle
. Through ceremonial dancing, the Ktunaxa are able to contact the Great Bear Spirit for spiritual guidance and protection, as the Qatmak is the place where grizzly bears go to dance themselves. It is the sacred duty of the Ktunaxa to protect the Qat’Muk, and one ceremony involves singing songs and laying down tobacco as a tribute.
Glacier Resorts argued deception, that the Great Bear spirit had only been mentioned in 2010 after 20 years of legal wrangles. Ktunaxa representatives replied that this secrecy was deliberate, that the First Nations peoples have long kept their traditions close to their chest, due to colonialist efforts to stamp them out.
| 5 | Viking beserkers |
The Viking berserkers were some of the most brutal and insane warriors to ever walk the Earth. They were famed for running into battle with no regard for their own safety, screaming incoherently and foaming at the mouth. They would gnaw the iron rims of their shields, and for a few minutes at the peak of their frenzy, become seemingly immune to fire and steel. One popular theory is that berserkers were high on hallucinogenic fly agaric mushrooms, which they ate through urine after feeding them to reindeer to remove the toxins.
But according to archaeological evidence, there was a widespread belief in Norse culture that berserkers had shamanic powers, drawing their strength directly from the bear. The most hardened berserkers could apparently transform into a half-bear man during the heat of battle.
Berserkers that died in battle were commonly laid on bear skins for their funeral rites. One Viking legend speaks of the beserker Bödvar Bjarki, who transformed into a bear to do battle with the legendary Danish king Hrólfr Kraki, taking out legions of guards with his forepaws.
The very name berserker may originate from bears – Viking scholars have long debated whether it translates to “bare shirt” or “bear shirt”, hinting that they drew their berserker powers from coats made of bear fur. It’s said that the bear skin caps worn by the guards of Buckingham palace and Danish monarchs are remnants of this glorious warrior tradition – perhaps it’s time for a revival?
| 6 | Finnish mysticism |
The ancient, pre-Christian Finnish tribes were banned from even speaking the names of bears, in case a jinx was placed on their head. Bears were believed to have psychic mind reading powers and would sense an approaching hunter’s presence. Instead, Finnish tribes called them honey-hand (mesikämmen), karhu (rough fir), or one of 100 other names Finnish archaeologists have discovered. Bears were the child of forest god Mielikki and her husband Tapio, who guided the bear into becoming the most feared and respected of forest animals, and had the ability to shapeshift into bears themselves.
Winter hibernation was said to be proof of a bear’s magical powers. Consequently, hunting rituals always took place immediately afterwards in spring, followed by an elaborate funeral feast to encourage the bear’s reincarnation in the forest.
Men would drink blood from the bear’s skull to gain its wisdom, and a chosen groom and bride would act out a ceremonial wedding, to ensure future marital success. The bear’s spirit would be reassured that it was an “honoured guest” rather than a victim.
The skull was then placed on a sacred tree called a kallohonka, always facing east, which would later be worshipped as a totem. To avoid angering the bear’s spirit, its bones were buried at the tree’s base, in a fully-fledged funeral ceremony. Its teeth were removed to access their supposed magical properties, and in the iron age, pendants of bear teeth were a common sight around women’s waists; these were believed to improve fertility.
| 7 | Korean Kraziness |
According to Korean legend, bears were involved in the very foundation of the Korean empire. In ancient times, there was a sky-god called Hwanin who had a dissatisfied son called Hwanung. He had grown restless and bored with playing divine ruler in the clouds, and after many heated arguments with his father, Hwanin permitted him to depart for the valleys and mountains of Earth, with 3000 followers in tow.
Hwanung landed on a sandalwood tree on Baekdu Mountain near the border with China, and soon met a tiger and bear who lived in a nearby cave, who began worshipping him. However, these animals strongly desired to be human, and Hwanung promised to fulfil their wishes, on one condition – if they mediated in a cave for 100 days, and ate nothing but divine mugwort and garlic.
On the 20th day, the tiger lost patience, gave up the challenge, and left the cave. But the bear stayed the course, and on day 21, it was transformed into a beautiful woman called Ungnyeo.
Her name translated to “bear-woman”, and she showed her appreciation to her creator Hwanung with gifts and prayers. Soon, however, she was afflicted with loneliness, desperate for a child. Hwanung took pity on his creation and took her hand in marriage, and in the decades to come, their son went on to found ancient Chosun, the first kingdom of Korea, which lasted from 2333 BC- 676 AD.
| 8 | The Nivkh folk |
By the 20th century, Russia had so many bear worshipping ceremonies that the Soviet Union vowed to eradicate them, so that all Russians could worship the bushy beard of Lenin instead. The Nivkh are an ethnic group in far-east Siberia, and their bear ceremony was similar to the Ainu, similar enough that a secret connection may exist.
A bear cub was taken from its mother and raised for 3 years as one of the tribe. In January and February, delegations of allied tribes from all over the Siberian expanses would visit, and the first stage involved mat’ narkh, ritual meals in the forest which would last for 18 days.
Then the bear would be walked around the village by its keeper, while everyone watched on in ceremonial costumes. Under the guidance of a shaman called a ch’am, the bear would be slaughtered by a volley of arrows and sent back to the spirit world. Celebrational games would last for days, each followed by ritual meals involving distinct bear body parts prepared according to traditional recipes. Only adults were permitted to eat the bear’s heart, head and fat from the belly.
The skull was lain in a temple in the bear keeper’s house, alongside previously sacrificed bears. In one last act of the ritual, carefully selected dogs were beheaded, and their skulls placed around the keeper’s house. Bears were considered to be earthly embodiments of the Nivkh’s ancestors, and despite the Soviet pressure, the ceremonies survived until the 1960s.
| 9 | Theorised prehistoric cult |
Even before the ancient Celts, it’s believed that endless generations of cavemen worshipped bears as deities, both cave bears and brown bears. In caves across Europe, the arrangement of bears bones seems far too precise and artistic to be solely from casually deposited hunting remains.
One example is Veternica Cave near Zagreb, where 6 bear skulls were found placed side by side. They were facing the cave’s entrance, and several other skulls had markings and a strange smoothness as though cavemen had polished them ritualistically.
Caverne de Furtins in France also has skulls with deliberate positioning, and the famous Chauvet Cave is on a whole other level. This archaeological cave contains 200 bear skulls. Its walls are covered with bear paintings (alongside bison and wolves) and while many bear bones lie separated in jumbled bone piles, some have clearly been moved. One near complete skeleton sits on a flat, table-like boulder which protrudes 70cm above the cave floor, not far from the now collapsed cave entrance. Perhaps cavemen kneeled in front of this platform?
The debate over the bear cult is fierce. Sceptics argue that water erosion could have created the unusual looking skeleton placements, and that Neanderthal and homo sapiens remains found outside of caves have very few bear-related trinkets. However, given how widespread bear cults were until 1900, the chances that superstitious cavemen never worshipped them must be low. Anything is possible – perhaps they believed that removing a bear from its natural cave habitat was a violation of the divine.
| 10 | Tunguz peoples |
The Tunguz are an ethnic group spread around the mid-east of Siberia, united by speaking Tungusic languages. In 1989, they numbered around 65,000, most of whom are fascinated by the divine nature of bears. The Great Bear is believed to have been the creator of the world, and the one who blessed mankind with fire.
One tale speaks of how the Great Bear hunted down his enemy, a reindeer or moose who had stolen the sun from Earth, and in doing so gave light back to the people. Another Tungusic belief was to never eat a bear’s eyes. Instead, the head would be cut off and the eyes removed carefully, touching them with neither a knife nor fingernails. Then they would be wrapped in grass or birch bark and be placed high up in a forest tree, hoping that the bear’s eyes would be illuminated by the first rays of the rising sun. These eyes were called “ōsīkta”, or stars.
Every year, a Bear Festival would be held with a secret dish called the seven, a mixture of rendered bear fat with finely chopped bear meat. Participants were forced to swallow this seven without making contact with their teeth, otherwise they would go blind.
According to the Tunguz, the moose originated from bears, growing out of its fur. Like with the Nvikh, the Soviets tried and mostly succeeded in crushing these ancient beliefs.
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