Artio, Celtic Goddess of Wild Life, Transformation, and Abundance, is one of the more obscure goddesses in the Celtic pantheon. She is often shown with baskets of plenty and surrounded by animals. Artio is frequently depicted as a bear. Her name comes from the old Celtic word for bear, arth(e), which the Romans Latinized to artos.
Artio arrived in western Europe with the Helvetii a Celtic tribe who migrated to Switzerland around 450 BC. They worshiped Her as the “She-Bear”.
But Her origins could be even older than that. Some feel that the bear is the oldest European deity as bones and skulls of bears have been found lovingly arranged on niches found in caves across Europe. In 1840 in Ireland, during the restoration of Armagh Cathedral, ancient, small stone carvings of bears were found.
Further evidence of Artio’s ancient origins is found in the first written sentence from the “Old Europe Script”, invented around 6,000 years ago, long before the Celts arrived. It reads “The Bear Goddess and the Bird Goddess are the Bear Goddess indeed.”.
In Northern Europe the bear was always associated with transformation and shape-shifting. The female bear conceives in the fall, going into hibernation pregnant. She journeys in the darkness and emerges in the spring, symbolizing rebirth and a shaman’s return with new wisdom and insights to share with the world.
Joseph Campbell, in his Historical Atlas of World Mythology, concludes that Artio is the Celtic sister of the Greek Goddess Artemis, who is also associated with bears.
Campbell also explores Artio’s connection to the heavens by connecting Her and the long line of bear cults to the constellations of Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the Great Bear and the Little Bear (which contain the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper). The brightest star in Ursa Major is Arcturus which is Greek for “bear watcher” or “guardian of the bears.”
Campbell writes of these constellations – they are “revolving forever as constellations around the Pole Star, axis mundi of the heavenly vault”. In the same way Artio was perhaps seen as strong and enduring – as the center and the connection between Heaven and Earth.
As the years moved on and Christianity took hold in Europe, many Goddesses changed their forms to that of saint. It is very possible that Saint Ursula, whose name is the Latinized form of the Saxon ‘Ursel’ (‘She Bear’) retained elements of Artio in the hearts of Her worshippers. Saint Ursula’s feast day is celebrated on October 21 which coincides with Artio’s association with an abundant harvest.
Some view Artio as a Goddess of the Hunt. But I see Her more as a protector – like a mother bear who fiercely protects her cubs. Artio protects wild animals and the natural world, bestowing the abundance of nature of us, her human children.
When Artio calls your name, know that you are protected. Know that the universe always provides what you need. Take time for introspection. Feel yourself transform as you gain a fuller understanding of the power and abundance of the natural world. Stay calm and feel the power of the Earth and the unending love She provides.
Sources: http://goddessschool.com/projects/wavewalker/l1fpartio.html, https://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/goddess-artio/, http://lairbhan.blogspot.com/2012/09/artio-germano-celtic-bear-goddess.html, http://www.opusarchives.org/blog/?tag=welshceltic, http://www.mythphile.com/2012/06/brave-the-bear-and-the-bow/, http://www.mcmahonsofmonaghan.org/source_of_Mathghamhain.html
Judith’s illustrated fairytale: Elena and the Reindeer Goddess — A Magical Winter Solstice Mission — will be released by late January 2024. Sign up for Judith’s newsletter on her website for more info on the release.
Judith’s oracle decks are available on her website:
Celtic Goddess Oracle — order your deck here.
Animal Wisdom Oracle – order your deck here.
Judith Shaw, a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, has been interested in myth, culture and mystical studies all her life. Not long after graduating from SFAI, while living in Greece, Judith began exploring the Goddess in her artwork. She continues to be inspired by the Divine Feminine in all of Her manifestations. Originally from New Orleans, Judith now makes her home in New Mexico where she paints, writes and works part-time.
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Love those little bears!
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What a fascinating trinity of attributes for this goddess, unusually diverse — Wild Life, Transformation, and Abundance! Wow! And I think your bear mask fits in doubly well, thanks Judith, because it also suggests Artio’s attribute as a Goddess of Transformation. Well done!!
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I have also read that King Arthur’s name is related to Artio. Is this true?
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for what it’s worth: Given Name ARTHUR
GENDER: Masculine
USAGE: English, French, German, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Welsh Mythology, Arthurian Romance
PRONOUNCED: AHR-thər (English), ar-TUYR (French), AHR-toor (German), AHR-tur (Dutch) [key]
Meaning & History
The meaning of this name is unknown. It could be derived from the Celtic elements artos “bear” combined with viros “man” or rigos “king”. Alternatively it could be related to an obscure Roman family name Artorius. Arthur is the name of the central character in Arthurian legend, a 6th-century king of the Britons who resisted Saxon invaders.
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Thanks for that info, Carol. I love digging into the origins of words.
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I so enjoy your posts, Judith!
I practice a combination of Celtic/Native American Paganism and Bear is very prominent in both so this post really spoke to my heart.
As for your question, Barbara, I do believe that King Arthur was referred to as “The Bear”. The name Arthur actually means bear. It would seem the Goddess Artio would have something to do with him especially since the Arthur mythology is of Celtic origins. Any insights Judith?
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Thank you for sharing Artio with us!
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Judith, this is fantastic. May I share on my facebook page, Creativity and the Divine Feminine?
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HI All, Sorry for the delay in responding but Wednesday are my days out in the world with 56 middle school kids which takes all of my time and attention.
Anyway about King Arthur – yes I found in my research a correlation between bear and Arthur. The Celtic word for bear was arth or arthe, Latinsed as Artos, which in addition to being found in the name of Goddess Artio also gives rise to the name of ‘Arthur’. There seems to be a symbolic relationship between bear and kingship, which is interesting when you consider the whole concept of Divine Marriage and a king being a king only at the pleasure of the Goddess.
Joseph Campbell finds this progression of names, from Artio to King Arthur as proof of the importance of the bear cult through Europe. Continuing to view King Arthur through this symbolic lens, it’s an interesting fact that legend places him sleeping in an underground cave until the time Britain needs him to rise again – hibernation, transformation, rebirth.
Jessica, of course – please share.
Carol – I loved painting those little bears.
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I teach senior English, i.e. British lit, at a high school. Last year I had my students write a paper telling me whether they thought King Arthur was a real person or a legend/myth based on research they had to do. Today, we talked about the first English literature being of pagan origin. When I asked them what the word pagan means, only a few seemed to have a clue. Most claim to be Christian but I have discovered they know nearly nothing about Christianity.
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Juliana, How great that you are attempting to open your students minds to other ways of seeing things. It is not an easy task. Did most students feel that King Arthur was a real person or a myth?
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a myth that still rings true for a variety of reasons.
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https://eldermountaindreaming.com/2015/11/06/829/
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I wonder if there is a connection to the Korean she-bear who morphed into their ancestor (forebear, so to speak). ^^
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Definitely Edward … women’s shamanic past was based on animism and because all grandmother cultures were eradicated slowly around the same time in all cultures, there are only small pieces within each culture that give clues. Woman + Animals = Goddess eras and that is why in ancient art and art along our evolution. Goddess at the core means Mother Earth of course and since the circle of the Sun Cults are now complete, we begin again at the zero point and return to nature (the dreaming cults which is the first off all our evolution and nature of our soul.
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I am a Pagan and have been trying to connect with my spirituality more deeper,while listening to lucid dreaming music I dreamt that I had a large black female bear as a pet but wanted her to return to the forest where I knew she’d be happier ,so I kept luring her with food but she was still sticking around.I checked out what dreaming of bears mean and found myself reading about Artio (I’ve never heard of her before)I’m wondering if my dream meant me to find her.
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Devore, I’m glad your dream did lead you learning about Artio. She and Bear offers us much wisdom about transformation – ” She journeys in the darkness and emerges in the spring, symbolizing rebirth and a shaman’s return with new wisdom and insights to share with the world.”
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In my development circle we were guided to connect to our spirit animal guide.. in that moment it was not clear but that night I dreamed and I was in a clearing in a forest and a bear walked in standing on two feet.. it leaned down and placed its paws gently cradled my head and touched it’s nose to my 3rd eye chakra.. said I was protected.. I dared to ask what was it’s name and was told it (this is my spelling ) it’s was known as Arthur.. then said you can call me Art!. I woke up hearing those words..
I recorded the dream it felt so important then many months later I was looking on the internet and was looking at meanings of animals and was so surprised when my search took me to goddess Artio who was known in Ireland as Art.. I had felt this connection and the gift I was given as having her as a guide in my life.. my ancestors are from Ireland and Wales and have felt drawn to Ireland all my life..
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Nola,
Sorry for my late response – just saw your comment.
Thanks for sharing your experience about how you connected with your spirit animal guide. Wow that was a powerful dream! Both Artio and Bear are powerful allies to have. You must be feeling them even more strongly right now as we move into the winter hibernation period of the year.
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