the three sisters: a meeting with the bee
poem: May 28, 2020 | photograph: California, January 2020
Katie Shakira, California, January 2020, film photograph
Hi dear ones, how was the Taurus new moon for you? Are you seeing your intentions blooming? Are they still needing more time to reach above the surface? Wherever you are on your non-linear path, I hope you are finding nourishment. And maybe these words can even be nourishment for you especially since we will be talking about…
Bees!!!
As I mentioned last week, these next three weeks leading up to my The Three Sisters Course (starting the first Friday of June) my posts will be dedicated to each of the three allies who this course is dedicated to: the serpent, the spider, and the bee.
And this week will be all about our pollinating, fluffy, super cute, super mysterious and super important bees.
I honestly don’t even know where to begin, these little creatures are so fascinating and there is so much that can be shared about bees. I guess we can start from the “beginning”.
Human fascination with bees is nothing new. Bees have long been revered and worshipped amongst humankind. The image below is a rock painting found in the Araña Caves (interesting side note, “araña” is “spider” in Spanish!) in Spain depicting a “man gathering honey” from the late Paleolithic age.1
Honey was not just consumed for sustenance in these early civilization. It is mentioned that honey was also used for religious and magical purposes, and as a sacred offering to the dead.
Mead, which is made from fermented honey, is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) fermented drinks. Sipping mead tastes ancient to me. I once drank mead that had a particular flavor (the flavor of mead varies depending on which flower(s) the bees gather pollen from) and that particular mead brought to me images and recollections of past lives (it was one of the most potent “journeys” that I’ve been on). This “nectar of the gods” has been an important ambrosia for ceremonies, for offerings, and of course for good time human consumption.
The oldest written text that mentions mead can be found (according to the internet) in the Rig-Veda, the oldest Vedic book written in Sanskrit around 1500 bce. Some legends say that mead originated in Africa 20,000 years ago, from bees nesting in the hollows of Bamboa and Miombo trees. Other stories say that mead originated from Crete about 8,000 years ago. 2
Bees were seen as guardians of both the living life and the after death. Ancient Egyptians would not only use honey in their embalming rituals, but jars of honey would also be buried with the dead for the sweetness to be carried into the afterlife. These creatures who slip between the realms, who buzz behind the veil were also connected to the gods. 3
painting by Muralidhara das depicting Srimati Radharani (Beloved to the Hindu god Krishna) talking to a honey bee about Krishna, first she complains to the bee about Krishna, then believes that the bee is a messenger from Krishna, so she then starts to speak praise about Krishna hoping the bee will deliver her loving words to him.4
The Egyptian sun god, Ra, was said to have created bees from his tears. Another way that bees were seen as the messenger of gods.
In Greek mythology, when Cronos, the father of Zeus wanted to devour him, Zeus was hidden by a nymph named Melissa (Greek word μέλισσα (mélissa), "bee”), who fed Zeus honey. Zeus turned Melissa into a bee when Cronos came after Melissa to punish her for hiding Zeus.
Bee priestesses were and are thus affectionately called Melissae, who are symbols of regeneration and renewal, who dance within the ambrosial honeyed fumed and speak truth, and who are also associated with the underworld.
In Lithuania, bees and beekeeping are still considered sacred. It is a tradition in Lithuania following the death of a beekeeper, for someone to tell the beekeeper’s beehive of the death so that bees could share in the mourning.
The importance of bees and deep connection that we have with them continues to run deep. The Melissae are not of the past, for they continue to deliver messages from other realms as guided by bee. The nectar of the gods can still be sipped, connecting past to present. Honey continues to be a potent offering to body as a form of prayer, to ancestors, and to the land of which the honey came from. And bees continue to buzz from flower to flower, collecting pollen from their travels, teaching us of the importance of community. For in the hive, each bee has a vital role to play, and each bee works to feed their community and to keep their hive immaculate (and beautiful).
My own personal relationship with bees is one that has been filled with curiosity and mystery. I hadn’t been stung by a bee for most of my life. Though the sting was always talked about… and I had fear of that unknown of what the sting would feel like for me. When I was a child, I had once seen an older kid stung by a bee (he actually stepped on the bee) who immediately was overcome with tears. From that moment, I vowed that I never wanted to be stung. I had never wanted to be stung… and it felt like those who were stung had gone through an initiation, a group that I was not a part of but I could not deny the curiosity and mystery surrounding the bee sting.
It wasn’t until 2018 when I was in France attending my first teachings within the Path of Pollen that I first got stung. I was walking with a long skirt amongst a field of clovers when a bee must have gotten stuck underneath my skirt. I was stung not once, but twice… right on my left butt cheek… and the two bee stings resembled none other than… a snake bite of course. After that initiation, I no longer fear the bee sting. Instead, I see the bee as a sister. I am mindful of her path as I seek her for guidance for my own. I see both her honey and her sting as something to be respected.
Bees continue to be our allies, and we must continue to be theirs. For this week’s organization share, I want to highlight the wonderful and potent work that Carlos Cortes from Api-Agricultura is doing here in Costa Rica. He has established an organization whose mission is to help protect and rescue bees, restore native bee populations, and to educate the community on the importance of bees.
The photos above were taken when visiting his property, which he converted into a bee sanctuary and place where people can visit to learn more about bees (it is truly magical). Their organization is completely run by donations, as they are not funded by the government. I highly encourage you to check out this beautiful work that they are doing, and to donate if you have the funds (or share with other folks who would be interested in learning more!). Their website can be found here. They also can be found on Instagram (@apiagricultura_costarica). Their work is not limited to the local community. They have created a bee rescue program with Dole Food Company (probably where you get your bananas from) as the farms here previously would kill the bees, they now have rescued hundreds of hives.
The film photograph chosen for this week was taken in January 2020 when I was assisting a dream retreat in Sebastopol, California with one of my dear teachers of the Path of Pollen, and loving bee tender Ariella Daly. This was her hive of bees, and her hand reaching out lovingly towards them. For all things bee, including online beekeeping classes, dream workshops, and learning more about how to be in relationship with bees, check out Ariella’s website here.
The poem for this week is one I wrote last year when I came upon a dead bee in my garden. I had actually never seen a dead bee before… let alone have one in my own backyard. I chose this poem amongst all of my other poems about bees, to call in their lemniscatic weaving between realms and to honor the bee whose body I was able to hold.
This week’s song share is this suuuuper sexy, sweet-nectared song by Celeste called “Milk & Honey”. Bonus points if you put this song on with a dollop of that ambrosia of the gods on your tongue and let the honey move through your body.
There is so much more that can be shared about bees. If you’d like a deeper dive working with the bee, I’d love to have you join the hive for the The Three Sisters: a guided journey with the serpent, the spider, and the bee course that I am offering in June. We will explore practices where the bee guides creative projects, dreaming, and embodiment practices working with spirit and Eros. Also, feel free to share this post and the course to someone who might be interested in getting to know these dear allies more.
My question for you this week is, what is your relationship with bees? I’d love to hear from you, and I love any excuse to talk about bees!
Sit with this nectar until next week when we meet: Serpent.
Warm honeyed blessings to you.
the softest furs
covering your tiny body
your duty
your pledge to sisterhood
did not go unnoticed
no more need
for this realm
moved on to the next
but your presence still lingers
in this present
and i present your body
to my altar
i am altered
i have loved you
and i still do
seeing you up close
and holding you
observing the even more
tiny devices
that helped you fly
those iridescent crescents
that pressed you from
flower to flower
they helped you hover
and those eyes that
laid open one last time
what did they see
before your body met me
what do you know of this life and the next?
sweet sweet sister
you are not unnoticed
in your final moments
here and now
before you slipped behind the veil
in a world unseen
a world fit for a bee
-k.s.a.
Ransome, Hilda M. The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore. 2004.
https://www.pollenangels.com/blog/the-history-of-mead-its-curious-origins
https://localhivehoney.com/blog/historical-honey-ancient-egypt
https://theharekrishnamovement.org/2012/09/21/4127/