Spirit of Indigenous America
I never really knew this, but I did research and discover it was true. We were able to trace my Scottish ancestors back to the 1700's: My father's people were from Aberdeenshire and my mother's the Isle of Skye. Must've been one of my ancestors who inseminated the bloodline! I only hope it was consensual. . .
There is this place on the Ohio River where this is a bridge called Fort Hentry... which you should look up... there was an incredible battle there. A mofo woman pulled off the victory for the settlers. She had to go get munition powder for their riffles. She used her dress to plug the freaking hole from the container once it was shot by the engins. Freaking crazy story... The settlers had been getting their butts kicked for a looong time and they almost lost that one and if they would've lost that one then well there would be no freaking state with an "Ohio River" running all the weird ways through part of it that it does. Look it up! It's insnane bit of history... I'll post 'bout it later. ;)
"The bear wasn’t just a biological entity to our ancestors, Shephard, Sanders and Snyder (1992) highlight that she represented both the physical and magical qualities they observed. She was a wise teacher, a loving mother who was fiercely protective of her young.
Each fall ancient peoples observed the bear going into hibernation and yet in the heart of winter she would have appeared dead, her heartbeat slow and her breathing barely noticeable. To observe the same bear, coming back from the dead would suggest magical powers, that she was a communicator with the otherworld.
Emerging from the dead bearing new life in the form of cubs, she also emerged bearing life to the land itself. She breathed life into the dead of winter, who lost its grip as the stirrings of spring radiated throughout the soil.
All of these qualities fed our ancestors spiritual beliefs, creating myths and ritual and practices to live by which also marked the great cycle of the seasons."
- Jude Lally, "The Great Bear Mother: A Journey with Brighid to the Ancient Dawn of Imbolc" from Patracia Monaghan’s anthology ‘Brigit: Sun of Womanhood'
Autumn Skye Art
