Bear Medicine: True North of the Heart

Bear Medicine is the ideal still point, deep and resonant.

Over the last two years of service, I have led more seekers in totem work with Bear than with any other critter. With each session my relationship with this energy grows in Beauty.

In circle, I have led women into the cave to meet Grandmother Bear. Entry into the darkness is not without its risks. Often the firelight doesn’t reveal all of Bear’s face or her wisdom and you’ve got to sit and stay awhile. Drink from that soup bowl. Watch the osharoot and sage crackle on the flames. See garnets and glowing chrysoprase along the cave walls. You have to stay and Be Loved Unconditionally. And that can be hard work.

In private session, a woman with a brilliant mind, truly a dynamo- had to admit: she was tired. Worn-down. Adrenal fatigue. Drum comes out and Bear comes around.

With a man (a poet) of considerable strength and rising personal power, Grey Bear had already made himself known. He had taken this student by the paw and brought him to me in such a state of readiness to work through legacy and connection to sacred masculine that the restorative medicine had an energizing impact. This was this seeker's first connection to totem work. Bear’s power as teacher and elder were on display here.

An older woman, who has struggled a lifetime to feel loved and welcomed in this world, at this time….I thought Mother Bear and Grandmother Bear were about to tumble out of my kitchen cupboards as I listened to her speak, examined her turn of phrase, and body language! Mugwort oil will join in. Berries, honey, the sweetest things in life. Things our Mother Planet gifts us everyday. Every single day.

Bear Medicine carried me, twice through almost unspeakable darkness with courage and assurance. When I am for sure going to lose my mind,  I start four rounds of Bear Chant. By the third round, I can feel myself landing in the arms of Love. Fierce, rooted, larger than life, sharp clawed. Bear’s power translates as a welcome home, a true north in my heart.  

Bear is wonderful medicine to prepare for the coming of a child, to mourn the loss of a loved one, to with grace and finality-- accept yourself just as you are.

If you want to come home to yourself, to your life, to your gifts, to your wisdom: come find me. Today, I’ll be with Bear. xx