Bear is one of my totem animals. So, because of my resonant connection to that protective, grounded, community energy – bear images are among the most prolific images I see when I am on a nature spirit photo outing.

This is a collage I did to honor this bear spirit. It is composed of three views: to the left is a close up of the bear profile (flipped), in the center is the view he looked at all the time, to the right is a profile of him in his tree.

For over twelve years I enjoyed visiting with this bear spirit who was also a nodal tree and lived along the riverbank at Leroy Oakes Forest Preserve, Illinois. I’ve photographed him in all seasons and as the topography changed with seasonal flooding and the ageing and dying of other trees.

Across the river from him is another nodal tree, a feminine energy. The feminine nodal tree died some ten years before the Bear spirit nodal tree did. It is an example of how the nature spirits hold an energy grid in an area. As one tree’s life energy grows old, the nature beings begin grooming another tree to take over this essential land balancing function. CLICK HERE to read more about how this works.