BEAR Animal Symbols Charm

For the Celts, 'bear' was synonymous with 'warrior.' The name of the greatest Celtic king, Arthur, shares the same root as the name for bear—'artos'—meaning 'bearlike.' This warrior-bear attribute was not restricted to the male; in the kingdom of the Gauls, there was a ferocious warrior-queen called Artio. The Greek Goddess of the Hunt, Artemis, also shares the bear's name.
The bear is an earthy creature, and in Northern European pre-Christian society, it represented worldly power and authority, the equivalent of the lion in other societies.
The bear is associated with the Moon. As the Moon disappears for a time, so does the bear, when he hibernates during the winter months. Diana/Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt (who also has close links to the Moon), is often depicted with a bear, and can shape-shift into the form of a bear.
The constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor—the Great Bear and the Little Bear—are the stellar incarnation of this Goddess. These constellations are always visible in the northern hemisphere, and so are effective markers for the seasons.