Bears importance in Far Eastern cultures

[Montezuma]

"Bears and tigers were the most fearsome animals to be commonly found in Far Eastern Asia. Hulbert is right: The Korean people not only believed in the Heavens, but worshipped the tiger spirit. However, the myth itself does not present the importance of the tiger spirit. Perhaps the reverence of tiger came in later stages of Shamanistic development. The sacred attention is given to the bear who was transferred to a woman and elevated to the level of Holy Mother".




books.google.com.pk/books?id=N3ldDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19&dq=bear%20worship%20in%20korea&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_#v=onepage&q=bear%20worship%20in%20korea&f=false

"The examples can also be multiplied from the Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic in the Near East. Actually, these images also seem to belong to the intertwined worlds of animal and human beings as reflected in the shamanic tradition of dedicating or connecting the soul to a predator such as wolf, bear, vulture and etc." 

"Lajoux (2002) and Bonifay (2002) have drawn attention to the frequent importance of the bear as a symbol of death and resurrection (because of its hibernation and reemergence in spring), making it apt for rituals. These examples can also be multiplied in shamanic cultures in Central Asian and Native American cultures." 

www.researchgate.net/publication/228931893_Is_it_goddess_or_bear_The_role_of_Catalhoyuk_animal_seals_in_Neolithic_symbolism

[Montezuma]

The semantics of the Ainu bear ritual iomante: bear as a kind of inaw 


Abstract 

Bear was one of the most important beings for Ainu. Bears were not only named kamuy, but were considered as true kamuy by the Ainu. And bear ritual iomante was one of the most significant rituals in the system of Ainu rituals. In the system of Ainu religion inaw is a universal sacrifice, i.e.: a bridge between the world of people and the world of kamuy, a bridge through which ramat can flow from the world of kamuy to the world of people. And the iomante ritual serves to establish a connection/bridge with the world of kamuy, and grace from the world of kamuy flows over the bridge into the world of people: people become more successful in hunting. And thus, bear in the iomante ritual can be considered as a kind of inaw.





www.academia.edu/73880340/The_semantics_of_the_Ainu_bear_ritual_iomante_bear_as_a_kind_of_inaw?hb-sb-sw=16201463