Momma Bear

Did you know that the story of Goldilocks and the three bears has its roots in very olden days when the people of Europe had great respect for bears? (We call those days "prehistoric" before people began writing history.) Bears were looked on as holy, because they were strong and impressive. This was especially true in northern Europe. The mother bear was a life-giver, carrying and bearing her children, the cubs. And that is where our word "to bear" has come from! It is related, of course, to the Scottish "bairn", a child, and to "birth", from the Old Norse "burdh." For a long time, even till now in some places, there was the notion that the mother bear gave the shape to her cubs by licking them. You and I know that no amount of licking is going to change the shape of a cub; the idea probably arose out of the fact that the tiny new bear is such a shapeless-looking fuzzy ball. That must also be the reason we find them so "cuddly" and call them Teddy and so on.
Another feature of their holiness (which nobody approves of any more) was the sacrifice, every spring, of a male bear as the symbol of coming back to life. You know what hibernation is: the bear goes into a cave or hollow tree, sleeps there for a long time, and then "comes back to life" in spring. In Belorusse ("White Russia") there was a time when, if a bear wandered into the village, it was caught and led through all parts of the village, bringing good luck to all. And in Bulgaria they used to lead the bear into the sacred corner, or shrine, of the house, and put out honey, cheese and butter for it. If the bear ate it, that meant great good fortune.
Sometimes bears were thought to have healing powers and sick people would lie on the floor and the bear would walk over them.

In Slavic lands one ceremony can be traced back to the Third Century A.D., when a newborn baby was laid by the grandmother on a bearskin.

Turning to Greece, we know that girls of Athens danced as bears to honor the Goddess Artemis, even wearing bear masks, while the goddess herself might adopt the shape of a bear.

The capital of Switzerland is Bern, its name coming from the Celts there who had the bear as one of their sacred symbols. A figurine from way back to 5000 years B.C. has been dug up, by the archeologists, of a woman wearing a bear mask and holding a cub! Others have been discovered which suggest that women would dress as "bear nurses," with cubs in packs on their backs.

Returning to Goldilocks, you should know that bears play a part in many folk and fairy tales, especially in Europe. There is even a bear-ancestor legend behind Odysseus, hero of the famous Greek epic, the Odyssey. Coming down to our times, you can still find places in towns of Eastern Europe, where a drama is held in which a man dressed as a bear comes rumbling out of the forest, fiercely growling, to frighten the whole community. That is the beginning of a festival celebrating The Bear.

Nowadays you can find in children's books many stories about bears, written by -- you guessed it! a writer named Mr. Berenstain. India's chief bear story is found in the Mahabharata: there you hear about Jambavat who fought with Sri Krishna! But that story is for another day.

P.S. Better not tell all this to Pooh; he might get a swell-head!