...from
the Pen of the Puca...
By Katharine Clark, Puca by Lauren Curtis
Midsummer, and everyone is bustling, preparing for the bonfire tonight. Folks are clearing ground, gathering wood, fixing food and creating torches to be lit later, and run through the field to encourage growth. Yep, this place is humming like a hive--each person fulfilling their role, busy as a colony of bees.
Ah, bees--the very symbol of the Sacred Divine at Midsummer. Oh, you didn’t know that? Well then, settle down over here by the fire pit and I’ll tell you all about the sweetest creature in the worlds of myth and reality!
It is said that, should our honey bees disappear, human kind will cease to exist within thirty years. Why, you ask? Because we are so dependant on bees to pollinate and cross-pollinate our plants, fruits, flowers and crops that their demise would bring about the end of our food supply.
The ancients must have realized how vital the bee is to our survival because, in folklore, it has always been honored as part of the human family. In England, and the American Appalachians, it was believed that bees could only thrive if kept by a happy family. Any news of the clan had to be shared with the bees--happy news, such as marriages and births, but especially the passing of a family member. In fact, if the bees were not told of the death before the next sunrise they, themselves, would begin to die!
The bees should be invited to the funeral. However, if the deceased had to be removed from the house (not everyone dies in a hospital), the hives had to be turned to face away from the front door.
Bees may have been closely connected to Death because they were considered to be messengers of the gods, and guides to travelers between the worlds of the living and the dead. Honey was considered the “nectar of the gods” and the food of the Divine. Bees and their honey symbolized immortality and the continued life of the spirit. They stood for resurrection. That could explain why King Tut was buried with pots of honey. (Honey was even used by the Egyptians to embalm and preserve bodies.)
The bee’s honey could be made into mead (honey wine) which was thought to have magical and prophetic powers. The person who drank the mead would speak the truth. In Greece, a child whose lips touched honey was thought to grow into an eloquent poet or speaker. In Irish myth, the god Oghma--creator of language--was called “Cermait” or “honey-mouthed.”
Bees were naturally associated with goddesses. After all, the hive workers were female, servicing a “queen bee,” but even god-based societies got their “buzz” on. In Maya, there was a bee god named “Ah-Muzen-Cab.” His image was found in the Mayan ruins. (By the way, their tombs were shaped like beehives. Hmmm…)
Even in Greece, the mighty sun god Apollo was connected in various ways with bees. Apollo could bestow the gift of prophecy. This ability was given to him by 3 “bee maidens” called “The Thriae.” Later, he gifted them to Hermes, a god who often guided the dead out of life (and sometimes spirits back into it). This makes sense, especially if bees could easily travel between the worlds!
Have you ever heard of Delphi? (Someone told me about this ditzy Seeker who traveled there, but thought she was in Las Vegas!) Anyway, the oracle of Delphi was a woman referred to as the Pythia, but she and her attendants were also called “bees.” They served the god Apollo at his temple. It’s interesting that the “navel stone” at Delphi (a stone supposedly marking the navel of the planet) is shaped like a large hive.
Then there’s Dionysus, the god of wine. When the Dog Star (Sirius) rose in the late July sky, a bull was sacrificed to him. Bees were thought to rise from the carcass--the reincarnation of the bull. There are even ancient depictions of bee goddesses with bull horns!
Naturally, many goddesses have been considered “Queen Bees.” Take Artemis, for example. She’s Apollo’s sister, and a goddess of magic and the moon. So, what’s the connection? There are some beliefs that hold that honey comes from the moon, and the stars are its very own bees. Artemis is also known to the Romans as Diana. Her statue at Ephesus shows her with many breasts--or some think. They could also be palm dates or grain sacks (the scholars can’t tell for sure) but they bear a striking resemblance to bee eggs!
In Crete, the goddess Potnia was the “Pure Mother” and her priestesses were called Melissas. They were all depicted as dancing while being dressed as bees (Melissa = bee). Demeter’s priestesses were also called bees, and Aphrodite (the goddess of love) was worshipped at honeycomb shaped shrines.
Cybele’s priestesses (Melissas) were prophets and oracles. Part of the mixture they ingested to produce their trance included honey. An Anatolian Goddess has been unearthed, sculpted wearing a beehive headdress--a sign of Divinity. Finally, in the Bible--yes, even the Bible --there is a prophetess named Deborah. Her name means “true oracle,” “true words”... or "bee."
Think about this: the Bible says, “In the beginning was The Word.” The Buddhists say that there was a creating sound or word that brought all of Creation to life, and that word was Om. However, there are others who say that the creating “voice” of the Goddess was the humming of bees.
Well now, what do bees have to do with Midsummer? In some societies, like the Minoan, Litha is New Year’s Day! For the next forty days--until Sirius rises--honey is collected from hives in caves and forests, then made into powerful mead for use in rituals all year long.
So, off you go! Help gather some wood, or lend a hand preparing the feast. Find some honey to spread on the Sabbat cakes or to mix in ice tea. Enjoy your Midsummer and, if you do…
...tell it to the bees!