Recurring dreams of bears?

[Faery-Wings]

I have been having recurring dreams about black bears for the last few weeks. I know they must mean something, yet I cannot get a grasp on it. In each one, I am at my parents house, but it is "mine." My kids are there with me too. One time the bears were in the woods in back, entering the yard. Another time, they were in different rooms in the house, and then they were out on the front yard and at the door trying to get in. I feel desperation in trying to protect the kids from them even though they have never threatened us. There is usually a mom, a yearling and 3 or 4 cubs.

My dream dictionary (for what they are worth!) said bears are good luck. Well, bah! That doesn't help!

Do any of you have even a hint? I feel ike if I can get just a bit to work with, it will be enough for me to get rolling with it. I know that being at my childhood home has something to do with it, as the feeling of trying to protect the kids. But from what???

BB

Chris

[Dagda Moon~Lily]

Try this link! ;)


http://www.animalspirits.com/index.html

[Faery-Wings]

These were the bear's wisdom:

Introspection
Healing
Solitude
Change
Communication with Spirit
Death and rebirth
Transformation
Astral travel
Creature of dreams, shamans and mystics
Visionaries
Defense and revenge
Wisdom

I am just not sure how it fits into my family. What am I missing? It has to do with linking the past and the present (my old house and my current family). generations?? Since it is also a generation family of bears?

Argh! I feel it on the edge of my brain and I just can't get there!

Chris

[Lavender]

Ok, completely a stab in the dark here...

When I read your post, I thought of the fact that you're in your parent's house. Presumably where you grew up & felt safe. It's a secure & comforting environment for you. Bears are very protective of their youngs. Perhaps things are not settled for you or your family right now. Everyone wants security & a safe & secure environment to bring up their kids. Perhaps something to do with your roots or an anchor to your past for your kids. Maybe the qualities of the bear family is something you need to think about in your past to give your kids the connection to the future. The house is your environment, your nest. It's not that you're protecting your kids from any physical danger but perhaps to provide them with a link. Things are changing for you & you may be concern how it will affect your family?

Like I said...a total stab in the dark...hope I haven't offended you. That wasn't my intention.

[Mairwen]

Made me think of the goddess, Artio ~ the Female Monad of all Bears. She's interesting! :D

[Lavender]

I found this in Patricia Telesco's book (365 Goddesses)

Calisto
Theme: Instinct; Protection; Flexibility
Symbols: A bear; a Willow Branch; the Constellation Ursa Major

Appearing sometimes as a she-bear guarding her cubs, the Greek goddess Calisto reinspires the natural instincts with which we have lost touch and illustrates the intensity of maternal love. Her other name is Helic, which means "to turn" or "willow branch"; she thus has the power to help with personal transformations. In mythology, Calisto became Ursa Major while pregnant with Zeus's child. Artemis changed her into a bear along with her son, who became Ursa Minor.

[Silver Venus]

Maybe think about what bears mean to you? What a mother a 3 or 4 cubs means to you? what the colour black means? If they are friendly in the dream or agressive?
Bears in your childhood? what did they stand for?

Sorry Im not much help...I first thought of Goldilocks and the bears when I read your post :D

[Faery-Wings]

Thanks for all of your ideas- i know we are onto something.

Wildchild, I am going to look more into Calisto. I had a dream about a month ago. I saw a woman who had long curly hair, dair, pulled back. She told me her name and it began with a C. Shoot, I wish I could remember what it was, I know I looked some names up that began with C and I have them written in my journal.
Shoot I don't have it written there either. This is the entry on that:
I dreamt that I was in a cruddy diner. A man came by and told me that I looked like someone. he showed me a picture of her, 1920-30's era, shirtwaist dress, long full, curly hair, pulled back. her name began with a C. I know that the name means something to me. I saw it written down, I just don't know what. I looked up names of Goddesses-Cassandra and Cassieopia were the only ones that might have fit. They don't feel right to me.

Ok then!
no clue! I do feel that it has something to do with protection. I have been feeling very sad that as my kids get older I have less and less power to protect them. My son is going to Kdg in two months and this is a big thing for me. I was crying to myhusband a few nights ago how it scares me that I love my family so much, scares me that I can't always protect the kids from the hurts they will get as they grow up. And I am scared that life is not always nice and sometimes I cannot do anything about it.

Maybe Calisto is trying to tell me that I need to change my perspective on how to protect and maybe I should work on empowering instead?

Do you know of a way that you can invoke a dream? I would like to know more on this.

Thanks!

Chris

[Lilu]

This is from the Native American "Medicine Cards"

BEAR

"The strength of Bear medicine is the power of introspection. It lies in the West on the great medicine wheel of life. Bear seeks honey, or the sweetness of truth, within the hollow os an old tree. In the winter, when the Ice Queen reigns and the face of death is upon the Earth, Bear enters the womb-cave to hibernate, to digest the year's experience. It is said that our goals reside in the West also. To accomplish the goals and dreams that we carry, the art of introspection is necessary.

"To become like Bear and enter the safety of the womb-cave, we must attune ourselves to the energies of the Eternal Mother, and receive nourishment from the placenta of the Great Void. The Great Void is the place where all solutions and answers live in harmony with the questions that fill our realities. If we choose to believe that there are many questions to life, we must also believe that the answers to these questions reside within us. Each and every being has the capacity to quiet the mind, enter the silence, and know.

"Many tribes have called this space of inner-knowing the Dream Lodge, where the death of the illusion of physical reality overlays the expansiveness of eternity. It is in the Dream Lodge that our ancestors sit in Council and advise us regarding alternative pathways that lead to our goals. This is the power of Bear.

"The female receptive energy that for centuries has allowed visionaries, mystics, and shamans to prophesy is contained in this very special Bear energy. In India, the cave symbolises the cave of Brahma. Brahma's cave is considered to be the pineal gland that sites in the center of the four lobes of the brain.

"If one were to imagine an overview of the head, the top of it would be a circle. The South would be the forehead, the Borh the back of the skull, the West would be the right brain, and the East the left brain.

"Bear is in the west, the intuitive side, the right brain. To hibernate, Bear travels to the cave, which is the center of the four lobes where the pineal gland resides. In the cave, Bear seeks answers while he/she is dreaming or hibernating. Bear is then reborn in the spring, like the opening of spring flowers.

"For eons, all seekers of the Dreamtime and of visions have walked the path of silence, calming the internal chatter, reaching the place of rites of passage - the channel or pineal gland. From the cave of Bear, you find the pathway to the Dream Lodge and the other levels of imagination or consciousness. In choosing Bear, the power of knowing has invited you to enter the silence and become acquainted with the Dream Lodge, so that your goals may become concrete realities. This is the strength of Bear."