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Wild Kin: The Bear Goddess · Wild Kin: A Celtic Podcast

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Welcome to Wild Kin,
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where we reconnect to Celtic myths,
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one story at a time.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm your host,
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SPEAKER_00: Jess,
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SPEAKER_00: and today we'll step into the world of Arteo,
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SPEAKER_00: the bear goddess of transformation,
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SPEAKER_00: strength,
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SPEAKER_00: and abundance.
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We'll follow her from the ancient Celtic forests to the wild
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places where her
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SPEAKER_00: strength can still be found today.
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SPEAKER_00: So pull up a chair by the fire and let's begin.
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SPEAKER_00: She is ravenous.
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SPEAKER_00: Claws dig deep into the forest floor as she watches the shadows lengthen.
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Fog begins to seep into the trees,
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kissing berry bushes and dew as they hang heavy on branches.
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There is only so much time left in the day as the pulse of the
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earth shifts with
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SPEAKER_00: the fading light.
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Arching her neck into the air,
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she catches an undeniable scent amidst the decay of leaves.
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SPEAKER_00: Ripe apples woven into smoke.
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Instinct overtakes her as she follows the heady trail,
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ambling down into the valley below.
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She needs to find as much food as she can before the cold,
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long months ahead.
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Soon,
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she'll burrow into the earth,
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lost to the world as ice spreads across the land.
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SPEAKER_00: But now, the days are still warm.
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She still has time to build her last sources of strength as her
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hunger drives her
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SPEAKER_00: into the valley.
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SPEAKER_00: She reaches the bottom near a delicate stream,
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SPEAKER_00: sensing humans downwind,
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SPEAKER_00: unaware of her presence as they gather fruit from a grove of trees.
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She avoids them,
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turning back to the dark canopy as the scent of apples grows
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stronger.
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SPEAKER_00: Leaves cascade down around her,
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SPEAKER_00: the forest alive with animals hunting for their own winter stores.
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SPEAKER_00: It's buzzing with energy,
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as if all the sounds and smells amongst the trees fall into a
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single thread of
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SPEAKER_00: thought.
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SPEAKER_00: We must prepare.
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SPEAKER_00: She steps into a clearing where,
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SPEAKER_00: before her,
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SPEAKER_00: bathed in golden evening sun,
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is a hollowed stone basin overflowing with apples amidst small
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bones and wooden
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SPEAKER_00: figurines.
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SPEAKER_00: She realizes this was left for her, an offering from her people.
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For a millennium,
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people had given her food and talismans in return for her
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protection.
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SPEAKER_00: She guides them through their transformations,
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SPEAKER_00: their cycles of life from growth,
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SPEAKER_00: energy,
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SPEAKER_00: and the inevitable return to quiet.
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Pregnant mothers whisper pleas at her altar and bringing their
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children into the
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SPEAKER_00: world,
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SPEAKER_00: as smooth and quiet as the she-bear in her deep winter sleep.
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SPEAKER_00: Warriors ask for her fierceness,
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for no other spirit could compare to the strength of a mother
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bear defending her
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SPEAKER_00: cubs.
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SPEAKER_00: She listens to them all,
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SPEAKER_00: her spirit guiding them when she deems them worthy,
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SPEAKER_00: following her tribes into both battle and birth.
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Now,
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amidst the fading autumn light,
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she chooses to walk among them in her true form.
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SPEAKER_00: Sniffing the air with the feast before her,
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she places her giant paws on the stone as she reaches forward
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for the bright fruit.
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SPEAKER_00: Cracking it open with her jaws, she loses herself to its sweetness.
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But she doesn't notice when the wind shifts,
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catching the scent of someone just out of view.
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SPEAKER_00: With a deep growl,
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SPEAKER_00: she whips her massive body upward to stand on her hind legs,
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SPEAKER_00: searching for the source of this intruder.
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Branch snaps as a whimper comes from behind a thick oak as a
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small girl peeks around its trunk.
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SPEAKER_00: What a brave, foolish thing to come so close.
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SPEAKER_00: The child steps out from behind the tree,
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her entire body shaking as she reveals another basket brimming
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with fruit,
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SPEAKER_00: an offering to her goddess.
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Slowly,
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she bends over to place her bundle on the forest floor,
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hands trembling in terror.
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SPEAKER_00: When she stands, her breath catches.
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SPEAKER_00: A bear no longer stands before her, but a woman.
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SPEAKER_00: Hair wild,
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SPEAKER_00: body draped in thick furs,
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the mystical deity is every bit as fierce as the stories
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whispered in her village.
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The two stand perfectly still,
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only the rustle of grass and branches stir between them.
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Then,
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the she-bear smiles,
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bowing her head in thanks,
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and motions for the girl to leave.
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SPEAKER_00: As she watches the small figures retreating back,
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SPEAKER_00: the goddess leans down to pick up another apple and takes a bite.
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SPEAKER_00: So, where does this story meet history?
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Though her ancient tales are lost,
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traces of Arteo remain carved in stone and cast in bronze.
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SPEAKER_00: Thousands of years ago,
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SPEAKER_00: this goddess was revered by the Celtic Helvetii tribe,
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an ancient culture that resided within the Swiss Plateau region
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as far back as 450
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SPEAKER_00: BCE.
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SPEAKER_00: It's hard to even imagine what life was like that long ago,
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SPEAKER_00: but we do know there was a forest that stretched endlessly around them.
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SPEAKER_00: This is where Artio as a divine goddess was born,
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SPEAKER_00: in the mists and trees of the ancient European wilderness.
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SPEAKER_00: We don't know much about how she was honored as a deity,
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SPEAKER_00: but we do know her presence endured for centuries.
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Nearly 600 years separate the first Helveti settlements from
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the Roman artifacts we find today.
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SPEAKER_00: The Celts did not record their culture in writing,
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so a lot of what we know about them today is based on the
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records and artifacts
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SPEAKER_00: found when the Romans started infiltrating their lands.
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The cultures often merged as Romans moved in,
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with Celtic deities adapting to fit the times.
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SPEAKER_00: From the Roman era,
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versions of the name Artio have been found in inscriptions
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across Switzerland,
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SPEAKER_00: Germany,
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SPEAKER_00: and Luxembourg,
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SPEAKER_00: all part of the broader region known in the ancient world of Gaul.
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What's fascinating is unlike many other Celtic deities whose
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legitimacy as a divine
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SPEAKER_00: figure is up for debate,
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SPEAKER_00: these real physical carvings establish Arteo as a full-blown goddess.
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She was deeply ingrained in Celtic culture and carried on for
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hundreds of years.
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then,
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there's the exceptional artifact that secures her place in
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history.
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The most significant find supporting Arteo's distinction as a
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goddess comes from a
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bronze sculpture dated to the 2nd century CE that was found in
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Switzerland.
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The statue depicts a seated woman facing a bear while holding
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an offering of fruit.
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Underneath the detailed carving is a message reading to the
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goddess Arteo from Licinia Sabinia.
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SPEAKER_00: What did the statue represent?
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Scholars believe it was likely a votive offering created by a
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Gallo-Roman woman
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SPEAKER_00: with hopes for blessings of abundance,
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SPEAKER_00: protection,
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SPEAKER_00: or fertility.
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SPEAKER_00: It's a rare moment of connection to the past,
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SPEAKER_00: because we might not know who this woman was,
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SPEAKER_00: but her hopes have been carried across time for nearly 2,000 years.
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SPEAKER_00: Between these inscriptions,
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SPEAKER_00: her statue,
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SPEAKER_00: and the long-standing symbolism of bears in the region,
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SPEAKER_00: Arteo seems to have held a pretty revered place in this era's history.
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SPEAKER_00: But she wasn't just a mythological being.
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SPEAKER_00: because at the time,
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SPEAKER_00: native bears roamed what was called the ancient Hyrcinian forest,
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SPEAKER_00: which covered much of central Europe for millennia.
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This forest scale even left Rome's greatest chroniclers
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scrambling for words.
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SPEAKER_00: Scholars like Julius Caesar,
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SPEAKER_00: Strabo,
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SPEAKER_00: Pliny the Elder,
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SPEAKER_00: and Tacitus all seem to have emphasized its immensity.
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SPEAKER_00: And based on these descriptions,
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the closest comparable scale could likely be our modern Amazon
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rainforest.
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Because of this,
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people would have encountered bears in these vast ancient
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forests.
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SPEAKER_00: So naturally,
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SPEAKER_00: as they lived alongside these powerful animals,
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deities were inspired by their reverence to become like more
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divine figures.
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SPEAKER_00: A lot of the Celts' belief system was connected to this natural world,
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SPEAKER_00: and their deities,
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SPEAKER_00: traditions,
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SPEAKER_00: and language centered around the forests they resided within.
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SPEAKER_00: But, unfortunately, this sacred world would not last forever.
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SPEAKER_00: With agricultural expansion and Roman conquest,
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SPEAKER_00: the Celts' culture began to disappear with these dramatic landscapes.
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SPEAKER_00: Caesar,
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SPEAKER_00: in his account of the Gauls,
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SPEAKER_00: describes the Druids as priests of sacred groves,
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SPEAKER_00: which makes sense as they live surrounded by trees.
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SPEAKER_00: But later,
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a Roman historian named Tacitus records how Roman armies
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destroyed these groves
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SPEAKER_00: during conquests in Britain,
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SPEAKER_00: cutting down the very heart of Celtic religious practices.
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SPEAKER_00: Whether or not his account is true,
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this sentiment was carried throughout the ages as these ancient
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forests were slowly
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SPEAKER_00: torn down,
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SPEAKER_00: burned,
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SPEAKER_00: and turned to timber.
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SPEAKER_00: But we can't blame Rome for all the destruction.
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A lot of the forest was replaced by people simply clearing
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fields to grow food.
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SPEAKER_00: It was a slow,
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SPEAKER_00: gradual tragedy because as the forests fell,
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so too did the beings that lived within them and the deities
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they inspired.
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SPEAKER_00: Native bears were hunted down as their habitat slowly vanished,
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SPEAKER_00: just as the Celtic goddesses like Arteo faded into the mists.
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The Eurasian brown bear,
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once widespread across Europe,
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slowly went extinct.
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SPEAKER_00: They no longer exist in the countries we know today as Denmark,
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SPEAKER_00: Great Britain,
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SPEAKER_00: the Netherlands,
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SPEAKER_00: Belgium,
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SPEAKER_00: Germany,
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SPEAKER_00: Switzerland,
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SPEAKER_00: and so many more.
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SPEAKER_00: And yet, traces of these beings linger in surprising places.
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SPEAKER_00: In Switzerland's capital of Bern,
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SPEAKER_00: the bear is a heraldic animal and deeply embedded in the city's identity.
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SPEAKER_00: Its coat of arms features a bear,
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SPEAKER_00: and they converted a medieval bear pit into a park,
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SPEAKER_00: highlighting their ongoing protection of the species.
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Each year,
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the city celebrates the Burne Carnival,
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with a ritual translated to Bear Liberation.
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And though the Harsinian Forest as a continuous ecosystem no
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longer exists,
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SPEAKER_00: traces of these ancient woodlands still survive in protected pockets.
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SPEAKER_00: In Poland, there's a forest protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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You can still walk beneath ancient oaks and beaches where
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wolves and bison roam,
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SPEAKER_00: A glimpse at what once stretched across half of Europe.
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And in Germany,
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the black forest and bohemian ranges echo this same wild
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spirit.
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SPEAKER_00: Today,
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international efforts are working to protect these last fragile
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remnants so they
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SPEAKER_00: aren't completely lost.
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SPEAKER_00: The loss of habitat and deforestation in Europe is irreversible,
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SPEAKER_00: but in North America,
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SPEAKER_00: we still have time.
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Our grizzlies in the United States almost suffered the same
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fate as their European
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cousins when they were seen as threats to profit and progress
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in the last few
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SPEAKER_00: hundred years.
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SPEAKER_00: With westward expansion in the 1800s,
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SPEAKER_00: bears were soon seen as a direct threat to livestock and settlements,
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SPEAKER_00: so they were hunted,
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SPEAKER_00: poisoned,
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SPEAKER_00: and pushed out until only a few hundred survived.
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By the 19th and 20th centuries,
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trophy hunting became fashionable and U.S.
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government programs actively encouraged predator extermination
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to promote ranching
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SPEAKER_00: and expanded settlements.
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SPEAKER_00: Grizzlies lost 98% of their historic U.S.
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range by the early 1900s,
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dropping from 50,000 bears to less than 1,000 by the mid-20th
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century.
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SPEAKER_00: Thankfully,
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SPEAKER_00: they were placed on the Endangered Species Act that was passed in 1975,
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SPEAKER_00: and finally,
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SPEAKER_00: grizzlies were protected from disappearing completely.
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SPEAKER_00: Since then, their numbers are slowly beginning to return.
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SPEAKER_00: An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 live in the lower 48 states,
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SPEAKER_00: with as many as 55,000 stretching across Alaska and Canada.
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And with this growth,
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there is and continues to be inevitable run-ins with humans.
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But local communities are in the midst of finding ways to
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coexist peacefully.
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SPEAKER_00: One example close to my heart is Grizzly 399.
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SPEAKER_00: She was one of the most famous mother grizzlies that lived in the greater
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SPEAKER_00: Yellowstone region,
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SPEAKER_00: close to where I grew up.
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She was crowned Queen of the Tetons as she roamed the area for
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28 years and raised
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SPEAKER_00: 18 cubs throughout her lifetime.
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She was unique in that she found ways to live near humans as
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she raised her babies,
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which helped her protect them from roaming males who would
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always try to kill them.
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But in October 2024,
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she was hit by a car near Jackson Hole while trying to cross a
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highway.
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SPEAKER_00: The community mourned her death,
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SPEAKER_00: as she was beloved by photographers,
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SPEAKER_00: conservationists,
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SPEAKER_00: and a lot of the town.
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SPEAKER_00: Sharing space with bears will always be a challenge,
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but the Queen of the Tetons reminds us of the magic we can find
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by honoring these
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SPEAKER_00: wild places,
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SPEAKER_00: just as the Helvetii tribe once did for RTO.
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They both embody the power of resilience and gorgeous feminine
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strength as a
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SPEAKER_00: testament to a world that isn't built on expansion and destruction.
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SPEAKER_00: With respect and enough space, we can coexist.
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SPEAKER_00: Not as enemies, but as kin.
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SPEAKER_00: All it takes is courage.
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SPEAKER_00: To stand up for our lands and defend them.
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SPEAKER_00: Just like a true mother bear.
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SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening to Wild Kin.
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If you'd like to explore more Celtic-inspired stories and
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seasonal resources,
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SPEAKER_00: you can find me at the RTO Journal on Substack.
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SPEAKER_00: The link is in the show notes.
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SPEAKER_00: So glad you could join me by the fire, and we'll meet again soon.