About The TribeThe Tribe of the Spirit Bear was founded in 2006 as a Druid group working towards the education of the public on the subjects of religious tolerance, environmental awareness and community rejuvenation. The Tribe has grown out of what began as "The Grove of The Spirit Bear ", which is now but one of the Clans within the Tribe. Each Clan within the Tribe offers a variety of services, from public ceremonies to craftwork, workshops to healing. They may also offer a regular moot or an annual Gathering/camp. There is an online forum within the Tribe that is open to the public and is a place to discuss spirituality and current events. If you are interested in finding out more about the Tribe, one of the Clans or indeed about setting up your own Clan, please contact Sunbird using the info on the Contact page.
Our MissionThe Tribe of the Spirit Bear, using a Practical, Shamanic and Modern expression of Druidry hopes to bring to life the ancient teachings of our Ancestors in order to better cope with the Modern World and provide a real and practical solution to environmental destruction. Although we draw on many teachings, stories and practices from an ancient spiritual path, we try to ground that in a very real sense by working with the environment and eventually, by sharing both our knowledge of Druidry and its practical applications with the wider community. From every sale from our online shop we will donate 5% to Survival international, who work so hard to preserve the rights and territory of Indigenous Tribal cultures worldwide. And we are currently seeking to be able to donate 5% to the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition and the Valhalla Wilderness Society who both aim to protect the Spirit Bear and it's Territory. We aim to strengthen Community Spirit, help and advise people on environmental issues, bring religious, cultural and environmental education and tolerance to a new level of imporantce in order to help heal the many rifts created by the modern world.
Why The Bear?Bear as a Totem is a very strong and protective Spirit and we are happy that Bear has chosen to be our Totem. As a deity or ancestorThe Bear represents many things in ancient Cultures, more often than not the Bear is seen as a deity, as in Artio (A Bear Goddess of the Continental Celts) or Mudjekeewis (The Spirit Keeper of the West to some Native Americans). Also Bear is seen by many ancient cultures as an ancestor to humanity. In some cases the ancestor Bear is female, more often however it is male, and the link to the bear as an ancestor can be found in it's many names. Babgai (a Buryat Mongol word for Bear) means Father, Mato (A Lakota word for Bear) means Grandfather. Like us, the Bear has five fingers. This brings us our love of the Ancestors ways and our wish for inter-cultural peace and understanding. Bear splits the VeilWhether through the medium of shapeshifting as in the Berserkers of the Norse or through it's creative dreaming, the medicine of Bear is that of piercing (or in some cases completely rending) the veil between the world of man and the world of nature, and between the world of the physical and the world of the spiritual. In fact whereever there is separation, Bear is there to bring connection by a direct communication between both sides. This brings us our reasons for practicing Druidry with a Shamanic twist. Bear as a foragerNaturally Bears spend much of their time rooting through the earth for roots, tracking down berries and, well searching for their favourite thing... food. but in this searching, the Bear also has built up a knowledge of what plants make it feel better when it's stomach as been upset or it has a pain etc. The Bear is a natural healer. The Bear can also smell roots underground... from up to four miles away!!!! This leads us onto another amazing part of Bear Medicine.... Knowing the landscapeIn order to gain this amount of knowledge, the Bear needs to have an intimate relationship of the land in which it lives. Bear territories are huge and so this points to a vast memory. To be at one with the environment and as we have said above, the world of spirit, makes the Bear an ideal Druidic or Shamanic guide. These two parts give us our emphasis on environmental awareness and protection.
So Who are We?The Tribe of The Spirit Bear is made up of all sorts of people and welcomes people from all faiths, all cultures and all walks of life. Th tribe also has multiple Groves within it, each focussing on it's area and some on different aspects of Druidry or the chosen spiritual path of that Clan. The guiding force within the Tribe is of course the spirits of land, sea and sky, but we also have a council made up of members from our various Clans. If you wish to contact us please visitthe page: Contact the Tribe
The ClansThe Clan of The Spirit Bear
The Clan of The Spirit BearThe Original Clan within the Tribe. Founded in 2005 by Sunbird, did not begin public work until 2006 when it had it's first public ceremony on Arthur's seat, Edinburgh. Later that year it was joined by Tammie "Tink" Rees and soon afterwards the Forum was born and from there, it rapidly began to grow and reach more people. In early 2008 The Clan gave birth to the Tribe of The Spirit Bear. Who's in the Clan?
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