On Tuesday, we met the bears of winter: spirit bears, ghost bears, sources of inspiration and symbols of protection and healing. It perhaps seems a bit odd to associate bears with winer at all, given that we’re taught that they spend the season in hibernation, but as always, nothing is that simple — and especially not now, in this world of accelerating climate change.
Scientists now know that bears do not, strictly speaking, “hibernate,” at least as that term is traditionally defined, although colloquially, it has been expanded and extended to cover bears. Originally, hibernation required four elements: 1) a lowering of body temperature beneath a certain maximum level; 2) a lowering of the metabolic rate; 3) a slowing of the heart rate; and 4) a slowing of breathing. Certain rodents exhibit all four elements routinely, and can truly be said to be “hibernators.” Bears, on the other hand, are more accurately described as entering a stage of “torpor,” and are now thought to inhabit a spectrum, or continuum, of states throughout the course of the winter, one in which body temperature and other processes adjust according to the environment. What this means, of course, is that if the weather warms sufficiently, a bear may awaken from its state of torpor even in the middle of winter.
Here, with climate change contributing to wild 60-degree fluctuations in temperature in the course of less than a day, with a low of thirty-four below zero projected to give way in a matter of days to a high of fifty above, the bears (and other creatures) are no doubt finding their winter sleep more than a bit restless.
And so, for this week’s Friday Feature, I thought it might be appropriate for us to meet some smaller versions of such fierce spirits. Two are bears; one is a non-hibernating spirit that inhabits this land, perhaps the closest we have to a cousin of Punxsutawney Phil, another creature we encountered briefly in Tuesday’s post. All are summoned from the same stone as Tuesday’s bears, albeit its pink variant.
The first, pictured above, is small enough to qualify as a fetish (a concept explained a bit here). From its description in the Other Artists: Fetishes gallery here on the site:
This classic little Southwestern-style hump-backed bear is rendered in pink alabaster by Ned Archuleta (Taos Pueblo). The bear’s clean, spare lines allow the cool beauty of the stone’s matrix to take center stage. His only accent is a tiny offering bundle of colorful parakeet feathers, tied on with sinew. Three inches long, he stands 1-7/8″ high (dimensions approximate). Another view is shown at the link.
Pink alabaster; feathers; sinew
$75 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Today’s other two fierce small spirits fall into the “sculpture” category — just a bit too large to qualify as fetishes. One is a less stylized version of its brother shown above, evoked more realistically, down to the individual strands of fur on its coat. From its description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery here on the site:
Taos Pueblo master carver Ned Archuleta has coaxed a little “furry” medicine bear from this chunk of stone: The hair of his coat is carved right into his body. This little guy is This piece really shows the variability of pink alabaster: All of one small block of stone, his face is nearly white, but from the ears back his body shows varying shades of rose, almost purple, in the stone’s matrix. Inlaid bits of turquoise serve as his eyes, and his medicine bundle, tied on with the traditional sinew, is of turquoise and coral beads. At a little under 4″ long, this piece is almost — but not quite — small enough to be considered a fetish; he fits comfortably in your hand, or on a desktop or mantel. Another angle shown at the link.
Pink alabaster; Sleeping Beauty turquoise; coral; sinew
$125 + shipping, handling, and insurance
The second small sculpture is not a bear at all. This is the “cousin” to Groundhog that I mentioned above, a completely different category of animal, yet one that resembles it vaguely in size and shape — and, from the perspective of human [over]development, in capacity for destruction. Perhaps predictably, in such disputes, we tend to root for Beaver.
In this instance, this small spirit resembles the tiny sculpture of Bear immediately above. It’s carved in realistic fashion, once again, with individual strands of fur articulated. The shape and depth and texture of its characteristically-crosshatched tail is a thing of beauty, as is the matrix in the stone that marbles its stoutly-rounded body. From its description, also found in our Other Artists: Sculpture gallery:
Master carver Ned Archuleta (Taos Pueblo) has created this miniature “furry” version of Beaver, his coat etched into a chunk of pink alabaster stone with beautiful variable matrices. His broad, flat tail has the cross-hatching carved right into it; two tiny pieces of turquoise form his eyes. Another angle shown at the link.
Pink alabaster; Sleeping Beauty turquoise
$125 + shipping, handling, and insurance
We are, by the calendar’s reckoning, in the last full month of winter. The season will not depart fully, of course, until long after that magical date known as the Vernal Equinox. Now, in this shortest yet full and frenzied month, the one known to my own as the Bear Moon, winter seems to have settled in for the long haul . . . and yet, in a matter of days, the highs are supposed to reach springtime levels.
It is entirely possible that we will emerge some morning from the cocoon of sleep to find bear scat once again in the drive, along with the tracks of Coyote and Elk and Rabbit. And it may just be that the area’s next utility outage is once again conveniently blamed on the building activities of Beaver.
Neither of these spirit, each fierce in its own way, has ever harmed us. If they awaken and choose to pay a visit in the winter weeks ahead, they have the same safe space here that they have always had.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2016; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
