Sooner or later a person in involved in crypto will become familiar with the dreaded bear as it begins to claw at the market. As an artist working in the space and affected by it, I was inspired to make a tribute to the creature that has deep roots in the folklore my culture.
The bear is central figure in myths of many cultures who have lived side by side with the great king of the woods. The bear has a special place for us Finns. We have hundreds of names for it, with purpose to circumvent mentioning the real one, which was afraid to cause it to anger and attack who trespasses it. The ancient people worshiped the bear as sacred being, a revered forefather of mankind. People living among woods would had to have great consideration for their hairy neighbor, who otherwise is very manlike in its appearance and behavior; like standing on two fegs, gathering berries and mushrooms, fishing and having a sweet tooth. When time telling was based on cycles of nature, the bears movements were observed with great fascination. The relationship with the bear has evolved over times. When the society started to move towards animal husbandry, the bears presence near habitation and cattle was not so much desired for obvious reasons. Still holding position as a sacred animal the bear would be disposed of in a ritual killing, after which a great feast would be prepared in its honor, the guest of honor being also the main course. The bear would be married to the family in a symbolic ceremony to keep its powers. Afterwards the remains of the bear were carried back to the woods to a special tree to send its spirit back to the stars, where it was once born and from where it would be born again. With coming of Christianity, the bear which was considered a familiar of witches and a symbol of paganism, was declared as vermin and a bounty was paid for its killing. As a result, it was hunted down to near extinction.
Now days the bear is doing well, and it is an emblem for a lot of products, sports teams, and government organizations. The bear carries a lot of positive symbolism such as strength, wisdom, and persistence. Good qualities to hold in the hard times. It is also grounded and caring mother that guards its offspring ferociously.
This is just a scratch on folklore around the bear here and globally there is a vast treasury of myths surrounding it.
Golden Apple of the Forest is one of bears many names, now my favorite. It rings strange at first but when you think about it makes sense when you visualize a plump one chilling in the sunlight. or perhaps there is another reason? It brings interesting associations to other myths around the world.
I have depicted the bear on a pile of skulls as the market can be dangerous as the bear itself in the old times and even still if you happen to cross one. For me it does feel like the mythical bear is also alive and well. And question for me is how to relate to and deal with it.
