When bears visit...

[dragonfly]

Greetings all, I wish to share a dream I had recently with you. I dream a lot but rarely have them with animals. When I do, they are usually quite fortuitous and always leave me quite stirred. If I have misinterpreted this dream or if you have anything to add about this dream and the symbols contained within, I welcome your input whole heartedly and thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. In Lak’esh, Dragonfly.
In this dream I was at my Grandmother's place. She lives overlooking a beautiful valley and mountains where everyday and night Earth Mother and Spirit shine in all their glory and splendour, leading to an amazing array of colours and contrasts of both sky and land which can captivate for hours; I am in the house and look outside to see another beautiful day and there is what i think is a big black bear ambling up; he stops some 10-15 metres shy of the house, drops to his haunches and begins fussing about some bushes. "Oh my it IS a bear" I startle as he begins ripping apart a big log hidden amongst bushes. I am absolutely amazed at this and call my brother. I notice activity around the bear’s head and know straight away what he is doing... Ripping the log apart to get to the beehive and beautiful tasty honey inside! Amazing! A bear in Australia, in my gran's front yard no less! I watch him gorge and gorge and gorge on the luscious bounty, fascinated by this I go outside for a closer look. I don't get close enough to disturb him and my eyes work like magnifying glasses, enabling me to see him as if i were right there next to him. I watch his massive hands and snout effortlessly aid him in the gorging process, the bees not worrying him one bit. I watched him until i awoke, admiring his massively impressive body and his beautiful, serene like presence.
When I woke up I felt very warm and content inside. I believe I knew instantly why. A bear is a sign of strength, bestowing character traits such as endurance, courage and stamina. The bees i think can be seen as a sign of prosperity But I believe it also has a deeper meaning.. One which i have not been able to work out, but having said that I feel it is not a negative dream at all. If anything it is the opposite i feel, one that I like to think promises me the riches of life, if only I can embody the power of Great Bear Spirit.

[Sitting Owl]

Namaste' dragonfly
Thanks for sharing that dream.
In addition to what you see as the message from that dream I can add the following.
From my summary of the Animal Medicine, the bear is as follows:

BEAR - Introspection
Seek sweet truth by digesting experiences within the silent dream lodge.
[Awakening the power of the unconscious]

I must say that the main archetypal message of Bear is Introspection. Grizzly Bear is the totem for the West Power as he goes into his dream lodge to hibinate. The West Power is called the 'Looks Within Place' and is the time of a man's Adulthood when his physical growth has reached its maxamum and he therefore must go within to his unconscious (Higher - Spirit and Lower - cellular memory or habits) to find more growth.
The Black Bear, which you specifically dreamed about is a bit smaller and I'm not 100% sure of his individual medicine, but I would say it is about the Medicine path since the bear was also the being that gave humanity all the knowledge of herbal medicine. That was when men observed and learnt from nature about how to live with nature.
My only other experience with Black Bear is an Ojibway Medicine man by that name who visited here a few times to attend gatherings and spent his time here in 2006 and again in 2007 with me. I have created a web page for him to display some of his carving that is for sale.
As for the Bees, they are really busy when they need to be and work as a harmonious community. Also their honey is really good medicine in itself, but also helps other medicines go down; it is far more natural than sugar.

[sunmoonstarlex]

That's some good stuff from Sitting Owl alright.
Pretty comprehensive.
Bear is a wonderful healer, and there's a lot of power in Bear dreaming.
Ever use "bear root?" It's also known as "osha root."
It's a gift from the Bear Nation, they dig for it when they are feeling ill.
Ground & made up as tea, it's good for a strengthening tonic, as well as respiratory ailments. We sometimes use it in smoking blends, & also use it in sweatlodge, both to bless the Grandfathers and to pass around to everyone before the Bear round, or healing round, third round in the West.
Interesting, too, that the bees did not harm the Bear, allowing him to have the honey, like a gift...
Made me think of the expression "honey in the heart."