Ursun
 | |
| Titles | Father of Bears[1a] |
| Status | Active |
| Type | God |
| Domains | Bears[1a] |
| Affiliation | Kislev[1a] |
| Followers | Great Orthodoxy |
Ursun, Father of Bears is mainly worshipped in Kislev.[1a]
The ancient Gospodars worshipped bears as sacred creatures. The bear Ursun is often depicted as a cave bear with a crown, teeth and claws of glistening gold. He can also take human form and will appear as a burly, bearded man with an age-worn face, thick hairy arms and a great mop of hair and wearing nothing but a loincloth (making him stand out as any normal human would freeze wearing that little clothing).[1a]
Contents
Nature
Father Bear is a fierce, patriarchal figure, inconsistent in his justice and brutal in his anger. He is unyielding and unforgiving when it comes to his strictures but also demands his followers fend for themselves. Ursun is the God of bears first, then men and only permits the hunting of his children out of compassion for humanity with the awareness that it is a privilege, not a right. [1b]
Cult of Ursun
Although Ursun is aloof, he grants prayers to the faithful be they common folk or priests alike and they attract his attention by nailing a fish to their door. Father Bear highly favours those who demonstrate the strength and courage of his bearkin but a warrior fighting furiously in battle will win favour more easily than a priest praying fervently. The cowardly, weak, or those who hunt in a disrespectful fashion will receive no blessings and may be punished which might take the form of a great bear charging into town and rending the transgressors limb from limb or that the stanitsa has no successful bear hunts. [1b]
Quotes
| The Great Bear. Ursun. Father to the Motherland. Our god of strength. Those in the South - the ones with hands as soft as Empire-men - believe him to be a brown cave bear with golden teeth, and golden claws, with a jewelled crown upon his brow. Typical of the Gospodars...for they see wealth and comfort even in their diety. But I have seen Ursun, I know his true form. he came to me first as a burly man with grey in his beard...but then he changed, turned into a gigantic bear of the poles - white as the snow he protects - with a crown of ice, not jewels. |
Sources
