Dreams of bears are complicated at best.  I've had many and I've worked many; there is no simple answer and the farther you dig (into myth and ancient history) the heavier and decidedly more Divine the answers become.  In other words, bear as a symbol is one of the oldest, connected to the mother goddess societies of the paleolithic (see Gimbutas' work).  Ancient Greece picked up the great animal symbol and placed Artemis in her care.  Look to the stars, you will find Bear.  Diana in Roman myth carries the bear further into the present and so on and so forth.  In N. America, the bear is also connected to the Mother, the dream lodge, North, introspection, hibernation...a sacred time.  Bears come to many dreamers as protagonists, the abusers.  Pushing and forcing, causing fear and terrorizing or threatening to destroy.  Fear is key here.  Fearing both the massive strength and potential to destory is overwhelming...but a sow, the mother bear, is also a fierce mother and will defend her cubs to the death. 

 

I urge the dreamer to become the bear in your dreams and ask yourself the 6 Magic Questions.  Go to my tools page.  Dig deep here...what is the purpose of the bear in your dream and see if it matches your own or perhaps it is time to let the fear go, or at least become aware.