Bear worship

The Ainu Iomante ceremony (bear sending). Japanese scroll painting, circa 1870

Bear worship is the religious practice of the worshipping of bears found in many North Eurasian ethnic religions such as among the Sami, Nivkh, Ainu,[1] Basques,[2] Germanic peoples, Slavs and Finns.[3] There are also a number of deities from Celtic Gaul and Britain associated with the bear, and the Dacians, Thracians, and Getians were noted to worship bears and annually celebrate the bear dance festival.[citation needed] The bear is featured on many totems throughout northern cultures that carve them.[4]

  1. ^ Bledsoe, p. 1.
  2. ^ Frank, R. M. Bear Ceremonialism in relation to three ritual healers: the Basque salutariyua, the French marcou and the Italian maramao. Uomini e Orsi, 41–122. https://doi.org/10.4000/BOOKS.AACCADEMIA.1377
  3. ^ Wilfred Bonser (2012) "The Mythology of the Kalevala, with Notes on Bear-Worship Among the Finns.", p. 344
  4. ^ Wunn 2000, pp. 434–435.