I don’t mean to discredit this wonderful photograph taken in the fifties in Russia. I just want to point out that one should not attempt to feed bears or entertain the idea that predator animals could be approached safely with altruistic intentions…not even if one is a person devoted to meditation, uses essential oils, and walks around with crystals in their pockets.
This picture reminded me of the ‘Anastasia people’, a movement in Eastern Europe, that
started with the books of Vladimir Megre, a Russian author who claims that his forest
fiction books are based on a real woman and her true stories. The woman, who he calls
in his books Anastasia, roams the Russian taiga alongside bears and other wild animals,
sleeping in a bed of leaves under the stars, and survives on foraged berries, roots, and
herbs. I read the first book that was available in PDF format online. While there are some
wonderful ideas of a human living in symbiosis with nature and the author inspired a
rise of ‘kinship homestead’ settlements in a back-to-the-land movement of sustainable
and self-sufficient environments, the lady is a fragment of the author’s imagination, even
though he claims she had his child. Anastasia is not of this 3D reality and her story
strongly resembles tales of Aya connected to Ahayuasca legends.
Here is a true story of one of the Anastasia’s followers:
My brother’s settlement attracts all sorts of interesting people. Some want to spend a
weekend there while others want to stay and learn about natural lifestyle – chopping
wood, building fire, shearing sheep, milking goats, gardening, and other things of this
sort. Occasionally there is a good fit, someone who comes for a retreat or festival and
extends their visit for a prolonged period of time, mostly if they are a good fit by being
an asset, as most people are considerably unsuited for mountain living. One of the
settlers is Vidimír – the guy milking the goat on the video I shared – who lived there for
over 5 years participating in all activities including being a farm hand, IT, sound man,
and anything the survivalist lifestyle and work required.
So this one time in comes a lady with a small child looking for a bear to raise her child. I
kid you not!
In case you find yourself face to face with a bear, it may be helpful to consider that it
may be a mama bear killer. If you wish to see a realistic looking event of an encounter
with a bear, check out The Revenant, a movie based on a true story, starring Leonardo
DiCaprio.
PS: And yes, I do find it suspicious that both the bear feeding picture and the lovely
fiction being presented as a true story come from the same country, the cradle of a
certain ideology.
