The bear enjoys a large measure of respect from all cultures that come in contact with it, which shows itself in apologies and in festivals in its honour 642-426Bear worship is found in a number of religions, including Finnish paganism.The most notable646-671 ceremonies involving bears are found in East Asia.There is a festival among the Nivkhs that takes the form of a celebration in honour of a recently dead kinsman, to whom the spirit of the bear is sent640-721. There have been some attempts to revive the practice.There is a good deal of evidence to connect the 642-524 Greek goddess Artemis with a cult of the bear. Girls danced as "bears" in her honour, and might not marry before undergoing this ceremony. According to mythology, the goddess once transformed a nymph into a bear and then into the constellation Ursa Major.