This past Friday I had the
pleasure of attending my second Bear Dance and it was an amazing spiritual
experience and I even got to witness an extremely rare event…but first, a
little history. The Bear Dance was
revived by Tachi Yokuts spiritual elder Clarence Atwell Sr., who was given a
vision to bring back the Bear Dance to the people for healing. The Bear dance is a spiritual ceremony in
which a few members of the Tachi Yokut tribe are chosen by a Bear spirit to act
as a spiritual healer within the tribe.
To describe the role the dancers and wingman play I thought nothing
would be better than a firsthand account from a Bear Dancer himself. The following in an excerpt from Jim PathFinder Ewing
(Nvnehi Awatisgi) website: http://www.mayanmajix.com/art2747.html (I highly recommend reading his
entire account of his own experiences being a Bear Dancer!)
“In the Dance, the
dancers wear bear skins and “become” the Bear. They “take on” all the ills of
the people assembled, and the ills are transmuted into healing power. It is not
the dancers who heal the people, but the healing power of the Bear. The wing men
keep the dancers bathed in sage smoke, so that the dancers themselves don’t
“take on” the illnesses. The dancers must “become” the bear, and stay “in”
being the Bear. To falter can be dangerous and instantly debilitating. So, the
role of the wingmen is vital: to keep the dancers “clear” of unwanted energy,
and to help keep them grounded between the songs, so that the dancers don’t “go
off” into Spirit place and not come back. Often the dancers will “take on”
something and have to be taken by the wingmen to the sacred fire, where they
may cough up dis-ease, or even collapse, if their connection with the Bear is
not certain.”
The dance began about 9pm with the lighting of a
large bonfire and the bear spirits being honored by four elders of the tribe with
the sacrifice of honey, fish, and berries into the fire at all four
directions. Then the Bears are called
into the circle. The bears, some as
young as 7 or 8, enter the sacred space and immediately started dancing and
riding the watchers of their dis-ease and spiritual, emotional burdens. The wingmen were constantly smudging the
entire space with sage while keeping a watchful eye on the bears ready to
assist them whenever needed. They also
carry a bone whistle that mimics the sound of an eagle to bring the human
spirit back into the body when the Bear spirit starts to take over.
After the initial dance we got
to witness an extremely rare event. When
a bear spirit has finished the work it had set out to do with a particular
person, the bear must be sacrificed in order for a new bear spirit to take up
the task of teaching and being a spiritual guide for the person. This happened to a young man (about 10 or 11
years old would be my guess), he had done a tremendous amount of spiritual work
for his young age and it was time for his bear spirit to leave and another to
come into his life. This young man was
surrounded by the rest of the bears and as they huddled and danced around him
the boy was stripped of his bear skin and the skin (which represents the bear
spirit) he threw the skin into the fire as a sacrifice. This was a powerful event and he mourned
openly his bear spirit. He was then re-clothed with a new bear skin, beginning
a new phase of his spiritual journey.
This was incredibly powerful to watch, I could feel the energy change
and it was simply amazing to witness as this doesn’t happen very often. Most bear spirits will stay with a person his
entire life.
After the remarkable sacrifice
ceremony the watchers had the opportunity to participate in a hook up. A long conga-esque line is created with the
bears in the lead and everyone hands on the shoulders of the person in front of
them. It is an opportunity to dance with
the bears around the sacred fire and a huge part in the healing process. While dancing with the bears it is said that
raking your fingers through the bears’ fur as they pass you is great healing,
in that the bear spirit will take away your illness.
The next part of the ceremony
is when the bears and wingmen go around to every individual person and does a
spiritual cleansing on them including smudging, eagle whistles, and a gentle
beating with eagle wings. (Yes, real eagle wings!) During this time people are also welcome to a
handful of tobacco to throw into the fire as an offering in exchange for the
healing. I feel that my healing was very
powerful; the wingman seemed to spend a lot of time knocking my forehead (third
eye) with the eagle wings. I’m pretty
sure I got the message…
I hope I’ve done the experience
justice; it seems there are not enough words to truly describe the energy that
surrounded the dance. I can’t wait for
next year and hope you will have to opportunity to experience this inspiring
event.
by Krista Erickson
© Casa Del Curandero 2012
