Bear in dream

Last night I had a dream with a large bear wandering around inside the house. I was not really afraid of it for some reason. I went and sat in my rocking chair and the bear lumbered over and crawled into my lap. I was startled at first and felt like it would crush me but it seemed all it wanted was for me to hold it and cuddle it so I did the best I could. Later on I was in the kitchen with my daughters partner and through the skylight I saw the bear jumping from a tree and over the skylight in the kitchen. That concerned me so I left the room thinking the bear might fall through the skylight. It did. Then it went over to my daughters partner and started mauling her. I started to go over to pull the bear off of her because I did not think the bear would hurt me after our cuddle and then I woke up.

Yesterday before the dream I had switched my reading to Castaneda feeling I needed more tools to navigate my life at present because things are getting more intense around here and I am becoming somewhat exhausted. Since my daughter had her vaccine injury the rest of us have had to take on more and her partner is starting to show signs of anger and resentment. She can be a bit of a petty tyrant at times and make life real miserable for the rest of us and I see that starting to stir up again. There is no way out of what is happening right now though. I'm also feeling some anxiety at having to leave the house more often to do various tasks my daughter used to do. It's just so weird out there right now and I am never sure what to expect at the stores and other places. And if they start requiring vaccines to get into places I won't be able to carry on with this. So far so good but I am feeling some anxiety about it all.

And then a huge bear enters my dreams. I'm hoping it means added strength to carry on, but it worries me it was attacking my daughters partner because that is the last thing I would want. Maybe subconscious desires? This feels somewhat silly to write about but I am curious about other meanings the bear could have. I am feeling more determined than ever to hold to my stance with everything even with the anxiety and petty tyrants in the home and out in the world. I'm reviewing the Castaneda material right now. Seems I need it. And then I read we need to be thankful for what the petty tyrants are showing us. What is the bear showing me I wonder? I have never had a dream with a bear in it before that I can recall. It would be amazing to acquire a bear totem to help navigate through these times if that is what this is about. Not sure.
 
Hi Debra Lynn,

Here is my speculation.

It is curious that bear is inside your house when you are by yourself. It behaves friendly.
However when your daughter's partner is around the bear behaves aggressively and even attacks her from outside the house.

I think that bear is something you have/feel when alone, but suppress (expel?) when your daughter's partner is around. It can be ongoing or a single key event in the past.

FWIW.
 
That's quite the dream,

I also find interesting that the dream contrasted two opposing sides of the bear, that instinctive animal nature of aggression and protection. Perhaps your dream is processing underlying feelings that you hold against them both for how your life has turned out? Perhaps you haven't processed resentment for your life becoming more complicated not by your choice and the bear is those emotions being clearly expressed?

And your conscious self, is you in the dream, trying to control those feelings and preventing them from being expressed. It's just a thought that occurred to me while reading your dream.
 
Last night I had a dream with a large bear wandering around inside the house. I was not really afraid of it for some reason. I went and sat in my rocking chair and the bear lumbered over and crawled into my lap. I was startled at first and felt like it would crush me but it seemed all it wanted was for me to hold it and cuddle it so I did the best I could. Later on I was in the kitchen with my daughters partner and through the skylight I saw the bear jumping from a tree and over the skylight in the kitchen. That concerned me so I left the room thinking the bear might fall through the skylight. It did. Then it went over to my daughters partner and started mauling her. I started to go over to pull the bear off of her because I did not think the bear would hurt me after our cuddle and then I woke up.

Yesterday before the dream I had switched my reading to Castaneda feeling I needed more tools to navigate my life at present because things are getting more intense around here and I am becoming somewhat exhausted. Since my daughter had her vaccine injury the rest of us have had to take on more and her partner is starting to show signs of anger and resentment. She can be a bit of a petty tyrant at times and make life real miserable for the rest of us and I see that starting to stir up again. There is no way out of what is happening right now though. I'm also feeling some anxiety at having to leave the house more often to do various tasks my daughter used to do. It's just so weird out there right now and I am never sure what to expect at the stores and other places. And if they start requiring vaccines to get into places I won't be able to carry on with this. So far so good but I am feeling some anxiety about it all.

And then a huge bear enters my dreams. I'm hoping it means added strength to carry on, but it worries me it was attacking my daughters partner because that is the last thing I would want. Maybe subconscious desires? This feels somewhat silly to write about but I am curious about other meanings the bear could have. I am feeling more determined than ever to hold to my stance with everything even with the anxiety and petty tyrants in the home and out in the world. I'm reviewing the Castaneda material right now. Seems I need it. And then I read we need to be thankful for what the petty tyrants are showing us. What is the bear showing me I wonder? I have never had a dream with a bear in it before that I can recall. It would be amazing to acquire a bear totem to help navigate through these times if that is what this is about. Not sure.

Many questions you do. This dream seems very deep into inner emotions, thus I can’t avoid seeing the bear (as others pointed out here) as a part of yourself regarding only what you narrated. But I may be wrong. Anyway, likely indeed is best to leave to you to discover. But for now I can emphasize what you just described.

In these days many of us have faced tyrants, little or big ones, and certainly they unconsciously help us as they challenge us. In my own experience this has been severely heavy and tough. So, I certainly don’t wish they around, and doubt anybody do. Now, you say that you are reading Castaneda, so we see there that D. Juan succeeds beating his life-threating tyrant. For this, D. Juan was certainly “patient and strategic.” It seems that as much we become aware of the reality, most the 3D human “lives” are filled with these negative guys. But, as you saw, D Juan claims that those nasty guys are a blessing granted to the warrior. That’s the same the C’s tell us: in the end, you know, the important is not a good or bad story, but the learned lesson, though good ones for sure seem more fun. :-P

Moreover, in my young days I practiced shamanism, but from that time what remains to me is the power of plants, as well as the respect and love for the living nature. Now, there is a session where the C’s comment ‘animal-spirits.’​
October 28, 1994 Session

Q: (L) According to shamanistic teachings, one can have animal spirits or guides. Is this correct?
A: Partly. You have them if you believe you have them.
Q: (L) If believing in them makes it so, is this belief beneficial?
A: All belief is beneficial at some level.
Q: (L) Did Jesus of Nazareth believe in animal spirits or totems?
A: No.
Q: (L) Is it just New Age revival of superstition?
A: Shamanism is subjective and limits. Lizard inspired.​


Your bear is narrated as a strong, wild, almost uncontrollable creature but also owing a consciousness that asks for attention and tenderness. So, if the totem is meant to remember this inner force, it sounds good. :-)
 
Hey, thanks for sharing this. I've had some bear dreams in the past, too. And I've been thinking recently about the concept of spirit guides.

There hasn't really been much discussion on the forum of animal spirit guides specifically. The only mention of it by the C's that I've found is as follows:

Q: (L) According to shamanistic teachings, one can have animal spirits or guides. Is this correct?

A: Partly. You have them if you believe you have them.

Q: (L) If believing in them makes it so, is this belief beneficial?

A: All belief is beneficial at some level.

Q: (L) Did Jesus of Nazareth believe in animal spirits or totems?

A: No.

Q: (L) Is it just New Age revival of superstition?

A: Shamanism is subjective and limits. Lizard inspired.

There have been more forum resources dedicated to understanding prayers directed towards the ancestors for guidance, and less dedicated to the cultivation of animal spirit guides. It seems that if one chooses to believe in them, they may be beneficial.

I'm not sure how to grok the use of the term 'belief' here, as it usually sends up a red flag for me, as in 'religious beliefs' or 'political beliefs', etc. Looking closely, the world 'lie' is right there in the middle of the word 'belief'! But as humans, we do have beliefs - it seems to be part of the 3D experience. Often these are unconscious and hidden. Kinda like "I'm super speshul" or "Nobody loves me" or "Life is meaningless suffering."

It seems to me that the above quote indicates that a belief, consciously chosen on the basis of Faith and also open-eyed Reason, is beneficial in some way. So it could be that spirit guides from 2D are 'looking out for us' somehow, such as the discussion of our dog friends sticking around energetically to be of assistance. Perhaps they - animal spirits - do show up when our Soul is calling out to the information field for assistance with a specific lesson.

And it seems that our shamanic ancestors knew this, and perhaps relied on animal guides with as much regularity as we have been encouraged to get in touch with our ancestors in 5D.

From The Wave, Chapter 28:

"My work is all about following the lines of Pagan/shamanistic ideas and teachings back to the Ice Ages — the cave painters, the Northern European origins — to find the most original, fundamental, common foundation of all of them. The idea that there was a time when man was directly in contact with the Celestial Beings is at the root of many of the myths of the Golden Age. Myths tell us of a time when the “gods withdrew” from mankind. As a result of some “happening”, i.e., “The Fall”, when the communications were broken off and the Celestial Beings withdrew to the highest heavens.

But the myths also tell us that there were still certain people who were able to “ascend” and commune with the gods on behalf of their tribe or family. Through them, contact was maintained with the “guiding spirits” of the group. The beliefs and practices of present day shamans are a survival of a profoundly modified and even corrupted and degenerated remnant of this archaic technology of concrete communications between heaven and earth. This shamanism seems to have been born in Western Europe with the arrival of Cro-Magnon man and the myths seem to have been redacted repeatedly until we have numerous claims of occult secrets of various sorts revived by this or that person, including Wicca. If that is the case, then true “witchcraft” is really shamanism, aka Druidism, and even more, as we shall see. Mircea Eliade writes:

Recent researches have clearly brought out the “shamanic” elements in the religion of the paleolithic hunters. Horst Kirchner has interpreted the celebrated relief at Lascaux as a representation of a shamanic trance. … Finally, Karl J. Narr has reconsidered the problem of the “origin” and chronology of shamanism in his important study … He brings out the influence of notions of fertility (“Venus statuettes”) on the religious beliefs of the prehistoric North Asian hunters; but this influence did not disrupt the Paleolithic tradition. … it is in this “Vorstellungswelt” that the roots of the bear ceremonialism of Asia and North America lie. Soon afterward, probably about 25,000 [BCE], Europe offers evidence for the earliest forms of shamanism (Lascaux) with the plastic representations of the bird, the tutelary spirit, and ecstasy.
… What appears to be certain is the antiquity of “shamanic” rituals and symbols. It remains to be determined whether these documents brought to light by prehistoric discoveries represent the first expressions of a shamanism in statu nascendi or are merely the earliest documents today available for an earlier religious complex, which, however, did not find “plastic” manifestations (drawings, ritual objects, etc.) before the period of Lascaux.
… It is indubitable that the celestial ascent of the shaman is a survival, profoundly modified and sometimes degenerate, of this archaic religious ideology centered on faith in a celestial Supreme Being and belief in concrete communications between heaven and earth.
… The myths refer to more intimate relations between the Supreme Beings and shamans; in particular, they tell of a First Shaman, sent to earth by the Supreme Being or his surrogate to defend human beings against diseases and evil spirits.” (Eliade 1951, 503—504)

It was in the context of the “withdrawal” of the “Celestial Being” that the meaning of the shaman’s ecstatic experience changed. Formerly, the activity was focused on communing with the god and obtaining benefits for the tribe. The shift of the function of the shaman associated with the withdrawal of the benevolent god/goddess was to “battling with evil spirits and disease”. This is a sharp reminder of the work of Jesus, healing the sick and casting out demons — the shamanic exemplar “after the Fall”.

There was, it seems, another consequence of this “shift”. Increasingly, the descents into the “underworld” and the relations with “spirits” led to their “embodiment” or in the shaman’s being “possessed” by “spirits”. What is clear is that these were innovations, most of them recent. What is particularly striking in the research of the historiographers of myth, legend, shamanism, etc., is the discovery of the “influences from the south, which appeared quite early and which altered both cosmology and the mythology and techniques of ecstasy”. Among these southern influences were the contribution of Buddhism and Lamaism, added to the Iranian and, in the last analysis, Mesopotamian influences that preceded them.

… the initiatory schema of the shaman’s ritual death and resurrection is likewise an innovation, but one that goes back to much earlier times; in any case, it cannot be ascribed to influences from the ancient Near East. But the innovations introduced by the ancestor cult particularly affected the structure of this initiatory schema. The very concept of mystical death was altered by the many and various religious changes effected by lunar mythologies, the cult of the dead, and the elaboration of magical ideologies. (Eliade 1951, 506)
It is clear that shamanism, as it is known, has declined from its original unified and coherent system. One reason for thinking so is that, while there are many local terms for a male shaman, there is only one for a female shaman. Shamanism, it seems, was formerly a woman’s activity. In one Tartar dialect, utygan, the word for a woman-shaman, also means “bear”."

Often in New Age groups (including one I've been a member of) this empties out into a kind of mysticized deification of animal spirits. I think this is an expression of the detrimental form of belief, ungrounded as it is in real Knowledge. It's a slippery slope. Witness the way ayahuasca peeps worship snakes. And Barbara Hort's warning that willingly opening oneself up to archetypes can lead to archetypal possession. Plus, one would be hard pressed to know if a spirit guide is just that - or a spirit attachment or Lizzie illusion in disguise. Plus it's been known that dreams are a ripe ground for manipulation.

As Laura said in the same chapter:

Now, let me make a point here. The religion of the Ice Age was so satisfying to all the peoples of the Earth that it was stable for over 25,000 years, as is evidenced by the archaeological and historical data. There were shamans, women, who engaged in ecstatic ascents which brought benefits to the tribe and, later, defended the tribe against negative influences. In short, it seems that Paganism, even Druidism, was the original Christianity, and the original “Christed Ones” were women. Many researchers repeatedly point out that Christianity has pagan roots. Well, yeah; more than anybody suspects. And if the lines of research I have presented in my book, The Secret History of the World, are anything to go by, then the original “witches” were Christs.

This, of course, leads us to wonder how can things get so turned around that we actually end up believing the opposite of the truth in almost every field of endeavor? We may turn away from mainstream religions that we can see are false and contradictory, only to fall into the arms of New Age religions that are not any better, being just another variation on a control system designed to prevent us from accessing what is real."

So it's a complex topic. But from the above chapter of the Wave, it could be that due to the Work you've been doing, you're resonating with the original "Christed Ones" and as such, 'The Bear' in 2D is responding to your FRV in your dreams in a beneficial way.
 
Hey, thanks for sharing this. I've had some bear dreams in the past, too. And I've been thinking recently about the concept of spirit guides.

There hasn't really been much discussion on the forum of animal spirit guides specifically. The only mention of it by the C's that I've found is as follows:



There have been more forum resources dedicated to understanding prayers directed towards the ancestors for guidance, and less dedicated to the cultivation of animal spirit guides. It seems that if one chooses to believe in them, they may be beneficial.

I'm not sure how to grok the use of the term 'belief' here, as it usually sends up a red flag for me, as in 'religious beliefs' or 'political beliefs', etc. Looking closely, the world 'lie' is right there in the middle of the word 'belief'! But as humans, we do have beliefs - it seems to be part of the 3D experience. Often these are unconscious and hidden. Kinda like "I'm super speshul" or "Nobody loves me" or "Life is meaningless suffering."

It seems to me that the above quote indicates that a belief, consciously chosen on the basis of Faith and also open-eyed Reason, is beneficial in some way. So it could be that spirit guides from 2D are 'looking out for us' somehow, such as the discussion of our dog friends sticking around energetically to be of assistance. Perhaps they - animal spirits - do show up when our Soul is calling out to the information field for assistance with a specific lesson.

And it seems that our shamanic ancestors knew this, and perhaps relied on animal guides with as much regularity as we have been encouraged to get in touch with our ancestors in 5D.

From The Wave, Chapter 28:

"My work is all about following the lines of Pagan/shamanistic ideas and teachings back to the Ice Ages — the cave painters, the Northern European origins — to find the most original, fundamental, common foundation of all of them. The idea that there was a time when man was directly in contact with the Celestial Beings is at the root of many of the myths of the Golden Age. Myths tell us of a time when the “gods withdrew” from mankind. As a result of some “happening”, i.e., “The Fall”, when the communications were broken off and the Celestial Beings withdrew to the highest heavens.

But the myths also tell us that there were still certain people who were able to “ascend” and commune with the gods on behalf of their tribe or family. Through them, contact was maintained with the “guiding spirits” of the group. The beliefs and practices of present day shamans are a survival of a profoundly modified and even corrupted and degenerated remnant of this archaic technology of concrete communications between heaven and earth. This shamanism seems to have been born in Western Europe with the arrival of Cro-Magnon man and the myths seem to have been redacted repeatedly until we have numerous claims of occult secrets of various sorts revived by this or that person, including Wicca. If that is the case, then true “witchcraft” is really shamanism, aka Druidism, and even more, as we shall see. Mircea Eliade writes:



It was in the context of the “withdrawal” of the “Celestial Being” that the meaning of the shaman’s ecstatic experience changed. Formerly, the activity was focused on communing with the god and obtaining benefits for the tribe. The shift of the function of the shaman associated with the withdrawal of the benevolent god/goddess was to “battling with evil spirits and disease”. This is a sharp reminder of the work of Jesus, healing the sick and casting out demons — the shamanic exemplar “after the Fall”.

There was, it seems, another consequence of this “shift”. Increasingly, the descents into the “underworld” and the relations with “spirits” led to their “embodiment” or in the shaman’s being “possessed” by “spirits”. What is clear is that these were innovations, most of them recent. What is particularly striking in the research of the historiographers of myth, legend, shamanism, etc., is the discovery of the “influences from the south, which appeared quite early and which altered both cosmology and the mythology and techniques of ecstasy”. Among these southern influences were the contribution of Buddhism and Lamaism, added to the Iranian and, in the last analysis, Mesopotamian influences that preceded them.


It is clear that shamanism, as it is known, has declined from its original unified and coherent system. One reason for thinking so is that, while there are many local terms for a male shaman, there is only one for a female shaman. Shamanism, it seems, was formerly a woman’s activity. In one Tartar dialect, utygan, the word for a woman-shaman, also means “bear”."

Often in New Age groups (including one I've been a member of) this empties out into a kind of mysticized deification of animal spirits. I think this is an expression of the detrimental form of belief, ungrounded as it is in real Knowledge. It's a slippery slope. Witness the way ayahuasca peeps worship snakes. And Barbara Hort's warning that willingly opening oneself up to archetypes can lead to archetypal possession. Plus, one would be hard pressed to know if a spirit guide is just that - or a spirit attachment or Lizzie illusion in disguise. Plus it's been known that dreams are a ripe ground for manipulation.

As Laura said in the same chapter:



So it's a complex topic. But from the above chapter of the Wave, it could be that due to the Work you've been doing, you're resonating with the original "Christed Ones" and as such, 'The Bear' in 2D is responding to your FRV in your dreams in a beneficial way.
Thank you for your reply. I've spent some time thinking about it. I had no idea that to some the bear represents shamanism and that relates to christed ones. (I need to review the wave material again.) I had thought it might be an animal totem for strength or whatnot. Not to long ago I was really curious about the women who the C's said was the first christed one, but after a while I realized it would probably be impossible to find out more and it probably didn't manner all that much anyway in the larger scheme of things.

I did have an interesting experience while doing some EE (still a beginner) and then meditating about a week ago. Lot's of emotions coming up and feeling like I needed to curl up in the fetal position with the covers up over my head a few times. Some faces have appeared to me in my inner eye. One of them appeared to be an extremely old, weathered and gnarled person who seemed familiar in a way. I felt so much strength coming into to me and then feelings of being more grounded and solid. It was a nice experience. Could of been an ancestor, past life or something else. Maybe related to the Bear dream. I don't know. I try to be careful to make sure some of the things I see or experience don't take me off into la-la land and I think the reading and this group help immensely with staying balanced and on the right track. I think this group has many shaman like christed ones within it. Wise ones.

Also, reading Laura's new book has felt like standing under a crystal clear water-fall and having many misconceptions washed away. Things are taking a new shape within me and reorganizing in a better way. I think perhaps being raised as a Christian in a culture that has had those values for at least 2,000 yrs. now had gotten deeper into my subconscious than I realized and even some illnesses may be related to that. And the other novels are helping also. Feels like I have more room inside and can accept some of the parts of myself that needed to be released and come to the surface. And just in time! When the C's said,"get to work!!!" in the session before last they were not kidding around. We need all the strength, wisdom and courage we can muster up to deal with this shit show happening around us. At least I do.

So, I will continue doing what I have been doing and try to understand these other parts of myself along the way. It really is an adventure. If you'd like to share some of your bear dreams I would be interested to hear them.

And thank you to the others who responded. Much appreciated and love to all.
 
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