Totem

"Immensely powerful, the bear knows about death through its ability to deal it as well as survive it. Associated with highly potent and thus dangerous spiritual domains, the bear is also emblematic of the drastic repercussions for uninitiated who violate them. In alchemy the bear corresponds to the potentially devouring affective energies of psyche's unconscious realm that can size us destructively, especially if we are naive or disrespectful enough to underestimate their significance."