Bear Cult
Reblogged from bitchitoldyouigottaste
Soldiers of the Red Army touring a museum in Mongolia, c. 1939.
Reblogged from troubledtreehouse
IOMANTE. The bear cub was captured in the forest and reared with care in the village. It was treated like a gift from the gods, or indeed as a deity. At one or two years of age, it was ceremoniously killed and eaten - “sent off to the realm of the gods”.
The final part of the Ainu ceremony strongly resembles the ancient Finnish feast after a successful bear hunt (karhun peijaiset - note that the article claims what bear meat was never eaten, which is false), when songs and verses were recited to send the bear back to heaven where it had come from like a divine creature. The bear skull was also displayed in both ceremonies.
Photo via troubledtreehouse
