As we have seen, the bear spirit is one of Finland's national symbols.  In times past, it was a tribal totem, in fact it was considered pretty much a god.  The bear was revered, beloved, and hunted after proper ritual and offerings were made to Mielikki. 

Bear is the primal mother--the fierce protective nature of a mother bear with her cubs is well known; she is danergous, even deadly, to those who would interfere with her cubs and yet she is loving and nurturing to the cubs themselves.

Bear is a guide to the psyche, to the sleeping world, the world of the shaman, the bear lives in a dream state for the winter, hibernating much like a shaman enters a trance.  Bear is an ancient spirit who teaches us to journey within our own selves, to find our hidden secrets and examine them.

Bear has great power--they may appear cuddly and cute but once they reach beyond the cub stage, bear can be an aggressive creature who isn't afraid of much.

When hunting a bear, the hunter should make appropriate offerings to Mielikki, which can include gold and silver, and the head of the bear is placed at the head of the table during the sacred feast after it has been killed.  The head is then returned to the forest, the skull set in a tree, as an act of reverence and respect. 

Women were supposed to have a special relationship with bears--in fact, bears were thought to reincarnate through women.  Bear was not seen as 'just' an animal, but as a spirit living in the woods, that came down from the heavens. There existed a belief that women and bears could interbreed, and certain clans claimed to be descended from such liaisons.

The word 'bear' was not commonly used, out of fear and respect; instead--euphenisms were used instead, including the name bestowed upon the bear by Mielikki when she first created it: Otso.