in the blueberryforest

she felt utterly relaxed, picking the blue little orbs. at the same time exilirated and in perfect harmony with the surroundings. a young raven barked from a tree when she drew too close. cobwebs over the berries. toadstools, snails, but no snake today, even though she purposfully hang around the rocky part of the forest, with lots of places for snakes to rest and nest. maybe they saw her.

so many things in this modern life villified her, she felt, but picking blueberrys were an ancient ritual, passed down from mother to daughter, since beginning of time. perfectly natural. something that makes sense. the blueberrys have a healing effect. at first when she picked them, then eating them - they level out bloodsugar and thereby prevent diabetes. and also, in the wintertime, warming her with the rememerance of summer.

she did not fear the bears, who also were out eating the same berries. she knew that because both she and them were so concentrated on the berries, it could happend that they suddently discover they were in the presence of eachother. then they could be startled, but it would be important to not make a fuzz. if she did not, the bear would not. they were, after all, kin.

her people, the sami people, have a legend that they are the children of the suns daughter and the bearman. so they all have a bit of bear in them. she belived it, because her man sometimes, or quite often, became a halfway bear. inside. one could tell by his way of walking then, heavily, his grunting and that he no longer could understand human language. then she had to drive him into the forest. half a day later he would return, a man anew. and she was the same. she suspected all sami were. to know this about them would make it easier for others to understand them.

but the skilled nåids of her people were said to be able to turn wholy into bear. that was why the bears were revered, and given a royal burial if killed. much ritual and magic surrounded the burial som the spirit of the bearman would not return to take revenge. the wimen would chew red bark from (al)tree and spit it on the returning hunters trough brass rings, which she imagined symbolised the circle of the sun. forgive us, father bear, in the sign of our mother!

the vikings feared these bear men, and had a name for them that they transfused into the english language: berserk. Bärsärk, means björn (bear) särk (shirt/guise). they used the name for men who could go into animal fury in battle, and prove to be formidable warriors...