My mother grew up in New Jersey, the place the corn grows knee-high by the Fourth of July, and black bears battle raccoons over breakfast. She was raised on tales by Laura Ingalls Wilder and taught to be courageous by girls like her Aunt Sally.
“Hey, bear! Hey, bear bear!” they’d chant as they gathered raspberries from the bushes every summer season to make jam.
My mother’s ancestors hailed from the misty moors of England, the verdant glens and rugged highlands of Scotland, and the forested mountains of Germany. With a fiery spirit and purple hair to match, she is a dwelling descendant of the Vikings and the Celts. Whereas mapping her origins, I found an historical historical past steeped in mythology.
Artio, whose identify derives from the Gaulish phrase artos (bear), was revered by the Celtic tribes of Europe. She was a goddess of wildlife, abundance, and transformation — however above all, she was a determine of maternal power and divinefemale power.
Artio was intimately attuned to the cycles and seasons of the Earth. Simply as being pregnant and menopause are sacred occasions of restoration and inner development for ladies, denning intervals permit for Artio’s corporeal counterparts [female bears] to emerge extraresilient.
Mama Bear & Child Bear
The connection between mom and daughter is difficult…significantly throughout these turbulent teenage years.
We thrash our claws and gnarl our enamel to show we are able to depart the den and declare our personal territory. The mom should defend her cubs from the hazards of the world whereas getting ready them to face it. She has the not possible activity of being each a fierce protector and nurturing guardian, a fearless warrior and a delicate soul.
As an grownup, I’ve developed profound empathy for my mother.
This One Time, At Bear Camp…
Final summer season, I invited her on a women-only journey to point out her how a lot she means to me.
My mother is afraid of heights, so naturally, I booked us on a visit to see coastal brown bears in Lake Clark Nationwide Park, which is just accessible by boat and bush airplane.
To arrange, we purchased matching Darn Robust socks with bears on them. They might be our good luck charms on the Beaver experience to Nat Hab’s Alaska Bear Camp.
Because the airplane took off from Homer, my mother closed her eyes and squeezed my hand with a demise grip. As soon as we reached altitude, I nudged her to open her eyes and look out the window. It was a bluebird day with panoramic views of snow-clad volcanoes, jagged glaciers, and meandering meltwater rivers.
Her eyes welled with tears because the wheels touched down on the sandy shoreline. “I really feel alive!” she exclaimed. In that second, I knew she had skilled one thing life-changing, and that was solely the start.
Within the days that adopted, we turned shut buddies with the ten different girls of our group. Some had traveled solo, some got here with their finest buddies and wives, and others got here as multi-generational relations.
Everybody was there to expertise the marvel of the bears, and our mixed female power made the expertise all of the extra highly effective.
The spotlight of our bear-viewing expertise was witnessing thebond between brown bear mom Roxy and her cub Pebbles, who’ve been frequent guests of Nat Hab’s Bear Camp since July 2022.
“Observing them sleep on the rocks subsequent to camp is how Roxy earned her identify. She would nap together with her cub—at all times with one eye open—and we’d watch as she introduced Pebbles all the way down to the seaside to clam and graze on sedge.” Defined Expedition Chief Jessica Morgan.
“Over time, we’ve earned Roxy’s belief, and he or she now feels snug strolling proper by us with Pebbles in tow.”
Jessica’s fondest recollections embrace listening to Pebbles’ purring sounds when being nursed by her mother. She additionally loved seeing Roxy take some “much-needed downtime by bathing within the river behind camp whereas Pebbles watched from the financial institution.”
I mirrored on this dynamic, mendacity in mattress because the rain tapped gently on our canvas tent. Our bellies full with Michelin star-worthy salmon, ready by the camp chef, and our our bodies heat from the new water bottle baggage crammed every night time.
Nat Hab’s Ladies’s Journeys occupies a particular place within the coronary heart of Nat Hab Founder Ben Bressler, whose ardour for ecotourism was sparked by his mom, Rozie. “If my mom had been nonetheless alive, she would have understood the facility of ladies becoming a member of collectively to discover the world and uncover themselves. And she or he would have signed up for this journey in a heartbeat.”
In brown bear society, females (sows) play a central function in guaranteeing the success and continuity of their species. They’re the only real caregivers, accountable for elevating their younger with out male intervention and shielding them from threats like infantice and different environmental risks.
Cubs sometimes stick with their mom for 2 to a few years, throughout which era she teaches them crucial survival expertise. Habits resembling foraging for high-calorie and nutrient-rich meals in mudflats and thru tidal zones helps the mom’s reproductive well being and the expansion of her offspring.
Trying towards the dual mattress throughout from mine, I noticed my mother lulled peacefully to sleep and imagined how the bears felt of their den. Protected and liked.
“This was the primary time I’ve been on a women-only journey, but it surely received’t be the final. My bond with my daughter Lara was enhanced by superb encounters with the wildlife we love. Sharing it with different girls added one other stage of delight to the expertise. I’ll at all times cherish the connections I shaped with these girls and the data and management of the ladies guides gave me much more appreciation for feminine empowerment.” — Nat Hab Visitor Harriette Frank
The bear goddess Artio embodies the duality of motherhood. Fierce but light, she reminds us to attach with our pure rhythms and primal instincts. She teaches us that relaxation will not be weak point, and that nurturing — whether or not of youngsters, concepts, or ourselves — is an act of energy.
To honor the bear is to honor the wild inside us — the protector, the dreamer, the mom, the warrior.
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