Saturday 16 April 2011

The Shaman, the Honeybee and Legend.

If the bee disappears off the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than 4 years to live.
Albert Einstein.


We are going to keep honey bees this summer, our garden and hive is nearly ready.  I have planted all the favorite flowers and herbs that I could have the space to fill.  Even our lawn is going to be a wild flower mini meadow. We have apple trees, plum, greengage,grape vine, pear, berry and many flowering vegetables that the bee can have a love affair with.  It's so exiting to hear of so many others that are taking up the protection of this wonder filled creature, and to think without the honey bee here with us on this beautiful Earth, we may not exist, nor much of any of Mother Earth's creations.
A sacred and adored feminine princible long through the ages, the honey bee has been on the Earth for around 20 million years.

There is a legend told that the bee was to have been created from the tears of Ra, the father of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. Mead or honey wine is the Ambrosia of the Gods. In Greece bees were thought to be the surviving souls of the priestesses who served the Goddess Aphrodite.
Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, called herself 'Melissa', the Queen Bee, and her priestesses were called the Melissae.      See the link below for the wonderful book 'The Shamanic Way of the Bee.
http://www.sacredtrust.org/the-shamanic-way-of-the-bee.php
The Melissae, were accompanied by priests called ' Essenes ' - meaning drones, which are the male bees of the hive.
The honey bees were Aphrodite's sacred creatures who Pythagoreans worshipped, created their endless perfect symmetry of the hexagons, and this suggested the underlying order of the Cosmos.
Demeter is also known as the 'Mother Bee' for she governs nature's cycles of life.



A Poem by Pablo Neruda.

Let the wax raise green statues,
Let the honey drip in infinite tongues,
Let the ocean be a big comb and the Earth a tunic of flowers,
let the world be a cascade, magnificent hair,
unceasing growth of Beedom.



Clay faces singing lullaby's for the bees and crab apple blossom in the garden.



Bees have been believed to have secret knowledge and are divine messengers. Celtic cultures say that bees have the secret wisdom of the soul and the 'Otherworld'.  They made a drink called 'Mead' - a honey wine that was drunk to bestow the gifts of wisdom, creativity and immortality.  Indeed a mythical drink!
The Melissae were said to be prophets and oracles that entered a trance by taking a secret recipe which included honey and pollen.

Here is a swarm of honey bees being introduced to their new home by a lady called Heidi. My partner went to Heidi's beautiful Kent home for a course in Natural Bee Keeping.

Our new bee hive!   Nolan makes these to order and I can also paint them for people. These are Warre Hives.

Is this a bee's eye view?



For to the bee the
Flower is a fountain of life
And to the flower a bee is a
Messenger of love
And to both, bee and flower
The giving and receiving is
A need and an ecstacy.
Kahlil Gibran.


Power Animal - Honey Bee

Power Honey Bee's wisdom includes, love, cooperation, giving back to the Earth, sweetness.
This totem also says to forgive yourself and others, have compassion. Honeybee carries sweetness to those in need of love. Sit beside a field of blossoming clover-and listen to the humming mantra of love's fertility.
Loren Cruden.
( The Spirit of Place )

The message of the honey bee tells us to go get your dreams, you can make your dreams a reality. You can create anything you put your mind and heart to.
Some of the favorite plants for the Honey
bee;
Spring- Old species of tulips, snowdrops,violets, crocuses, forget-me-nots, dandelion,helleborus,and trees; hawthorn, blackthorn,hazel,lime tree,oak,willow, sycamore, and all fruit trees and bushes.
Summer - buddleja, anise-hyssop,bergamont (bee balm ), melissa, catnip, red clover, heather,majoram,thyme,joe-pye weed, motherwort,milkweed,poppy,basil,borage,clove-pink,germander,horehound,lavender,mints,nasturtium,alliums,sunflowers and all daisy shaped flowers.

Coriander is useful - helps the bees rub off mites.
Sage can be a spring cleanser for bees. A feed of 5kg of honey with a tea brewed for 20 mins in 5 ltrs of water, 14 tsps sage, 4 tsps thyme, 4 tsps chamomile. warm this to around 65. c.
To help with the bee's health, it's important to have growing in the garden, anise-hyssop,catnip,purple loosestrife,majoram, motherwort and mint.
These help with honey production to feed the bees throughout the winter months. Ivy is also good to have around for pollen in late Autumn.

Well, I will let you know when we have our bees and hopefully a few photos of the wild flower mini meadow!  I will be raising a glass of honey wine to the bees while sitting out in the garden, watching them collecting their gold.  Here's to the Honey Bee!

Links.


Books.

The Theory and Practise of Natural Beekeeping-encompassing the Biodynamic Perspective.
Bees, lectures by Rudolf Steiner.
The Barefoot Beekeeper by P.J Chandler.
The Shamanic Way of the Bee by Simon Buxton.

10 comments:

  1. how lovely Amanda...I look forward to perhaps seeing them when you have your open studio....I am often near you getting my milk from Boydells farm..xxx love to you

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  2. I hope I have an open studio in the Autumn. I Will let you know Suzy. X

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  3. how wonderful that you will be keeping bees! thank you. that is one way to serve life on our planet. That video is amazing. to see a woman in a skirt patting bees out of a basket, wow.
    your art, both pieces are vitally beautiful!

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  4. Thank you Tammie.
    She never wears any protection from the bees. She feels peaceful and calm, they do not sting! To be like this helps us through life and helps the bees. Heidi has many more videos on you tube. XX

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  5. I'm so excited for you! There are certain things I have always thought would make for a fulfilling existence...inviting Nature back into our World of concrete and fast food is a biggie...

    I've imagined living in the country somewhere with room enough to plant gardens large enough for my family and the animals, too, to partake of it's bounty...to keep chickens, and bees...to eat freshly picked fruit and taste a freshly laid egg (I've never had one that didn't come from a supermarket!)...

    Your new adventure sounds wonderful....your life, idyllic!
    If you don't mind, I will take part vicariously...and cheer you on from here :)

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  6. Great blog ! My husband really wants to keep bees at some point too. We will keep watching and reading :)x

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  7. Some bee lore from my blog - http://westcountryfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/bees

    A swarm of bees in May is worth a stack of hay.
    A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon.
    A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly.

    If bees get out in February the next day will be rough and rainy.

    To dream of bees -
    That you see a swarm of bees signifies you will be wise and highly respected. If they disturb or sting you, you will lose friends, and your sweetheart will abandon you.

    Bees were said to sing in their hives at midnight Christmas eve.

    Piskies and faeries sometimes swarm like bees.

    Helpfull 'brownies' (faerie spirits) where still asked for help when attending to a bee swarm at the end of the 19th century - the would be swarm taker beets a pan and shouts "Brownie!" until the bees settle,

    It was deemed unlucky to - To omit to inform the bees of the death of a relative, by tapping at each hive with the key of the front door. It is necessary too, to say to each hive as one taps "Maister is dead," or "Missus is dead," as the case may be; To forget to put the bees in mourning, by placing a scrap of black crape or cloth on the top of each hive; To neglect to communicate any great social or political event to the bees.

    All this was from either Devon or Cornwall in Britain...

    I have a friend who talks to the bees and tells them all the village gossip...

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  8. Thank you for all your lovely comments and info on the honey bee!! Spiral moon, so glad your joining in the village of beedom. X

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  9. What a lovely blog! I'm in love with your little clay faces in the picture. Did you make these? If you can tell me where I could purchase them I'd be so appreciative! Blessings, Kathryn

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  10. I would love to know where those darling clay faces came from! Did you make them?

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