Dear Claire,
I have a lot of dreams that have bears in them. The dreams aren’t specifically about the bears, but the bears are present or in the background of the dreams. Where the bears show up depends on the dream. For example, one time I was dreaming that I was shopping in the grocery store, and I looked over and there was a bear casually moving down the aisle to the perimeter of the store, where I was shopping. That bear took up almost the entire aisle, but none of the people in the store seemed to think that it was out of the ordinary, and I didn’t either. It was no big deal in the dream. It was like it was a totally typical and everyday thing to be shopping with a bear. In another dream, I was at a school baseball field, where there were lots of people, and the bear was way on the other side of the field, in the background. It was far away, and just standing there with another crowd of people attending the game. And, again, everyone in the crowd just acted like it was natural to have a bear at the game with them. In fact, no one seemed to take any notice of the bear at all. These bears in my dreams are always very calm and very peaceful. And the bears are always very large and are usually dark brown. However, the one in the grocery store dream looked more like a polar bear. Why do you think they are showing up in my dreams?
As noted in previous column responses, dream objects, animals, people, and such may have different meanings for different people depending upon the personal experiences of the various dreamers. For example, if one person has very positive associations with bears, and has had many happy experiences with bears, then bears would, most likely, serve as a positive and happy symbol in that person’s dream. However, if the associations are negative (let’s say that the dreamer saw a bear attack someone), then bears could take on a completely different type of meaning – and could surface in dreams in order to represent attack, threat, or serious danger. I would assume that there aren’t any significantly negative associations with bears when it comes to this dreamer because the bears in his/her dream are always “calm and very peaceful.” However, since there is no background information on this particular dreamer’s relationship with bears, assumptions will have to be made and standard symbolism will have to be applied – and only possible meanings for this bear symbolism can be proposed.
Classically, bears are symbols of physical strength, aggression, fearlessness, protection, power, and being grounded in life; seeing a bear in one’s dreams usually signifies that it is time to summon or show strength, power, or courage (or that protection of one’s family or oneself is an issue). In addition, due to their often massive size, bears can also symbolize an individual who is physically overwhelming and/or intimidating – and can also symbolize someone who is to be feared, someone who is a strong and powerful force, or someone who takes aggressive action or an aggressive position on something in life. Furthermore, because bears hibernate for survival, they can also serve as symbols of survival, as well as symbols of the inner strength and dormant power which is residing within all of us, waiting to be roused from “hibernation.”
Bears are major figures in Native American symbolism and are common, yet powerful, “spirit animals” or “spirit guides” – spiritual entities who take on animal forms and guide us and protect us on our journey through life. These “spirit animals” usually embody the desired or acquired personal characteristics of the individuals who they serve. According to Native American symbolism, bears are physical representations of the warrior spirit – the courage to fight and do battle – and they embody the personal characteristics of strength, bravery, confidence, power, leadership, protection, renewal, and being strongly grounded in life. For the Inuit tribe of Alaska, the polar bear is not only a symbol of the above characteristics, but, due to the polar bear’s ability to withstand bitterly cold and brutally inhospitable weather conditions, it is also a symbol of survival and the strength to endure.
So why would these various bears keep appearing in this dreamer’s subconscious world? Perhaps they are symbols of this dreamer feeling very strong and grounded in life – because, again, he/she made note of the fact that the bears were “very calm and very peaceful,” yet “took up the entire aisle.” The dreamer also noted that seeing the bear in the store was “no big deal” and was a “totally typical and everyday thing.” That would indicate that these feelings of being strong and grounded could also be a “totally typical and everyday thing.” On the other hand, these bears could serve as a simple reminder for the dreamer to be strong, confident, and fearless, and to take a leadership role in life, or could be alerting the dreamer of the need to be guarded or protected. Or a final theory – these dream world bear sightings could simply be reassuring, subconscious reminders that the dreamer is being supported, guided, and protected in life.
The polar bear? Perhaps a symbol of endurance (or could have something to do with the possibility that the bear was in the frozen food aisle?). However, in the final analysis, one would have to know what bears might represent for this dreamer in order to fully understand the significance of the bears in these particular dreams. Regardless, these bears are definitely subconscious reminders that it is either time to summon and show strength and power in life, or it is time for the dreamer to acknowledge the existence of this strength and power and claim the bear as a “spirit animal.”
