The bear is the great mother of the forest and the long winter sleep: protection, strength, retreat and healing. It can also be a heavy, overwhelming force. It often appears when you need rest, or when you must protect what is yours.
When the dream feels light
A peaceful bear speaks of protection, inner strength and a time to rest and recover.
When the dream feels dark
A threatening bear may stand for a smothering mother figure, rage that has been held in, or a force too big to confront now.
Ask yourself
What do I need to protect, and do I give myself time to rest?
Correspondences
- Archetype
- The Great Mother — Nourishment, protection and the depths that both give and take.
- Element
- Earth — body, matter and the real
- Planet
- Moon
- Tarot card
- Queen of Pentacles
- Alchemical stage
- Nigredo, the Blackening
The great protective mother and the long winter sleep. A time to retreat, gather strength and guard your own.
Words that call this sign
bear, bears
Related signs
The Spider · The Bee · The Sea · Earth · The Cave · The Mother · The Queen · Bread
The card of this dream
Queen of Pentacles. Prosperity that nurtures, a warm and practical heart. The Queen of Pentacles sits in a garden full of flowers, holding a pentacle in her lap, a rabbit at her feet. She is nurturing, practical and generous: a woman who creates comfort and abundance.