Hilda Ransome's well-documented and copiously illustrated study of bees points out that no creature has provided man with so much wholesome food; nor has any inspired so many beliefs and superstitions. Illustrations depict bees, hives, and beekeepers as they appear in paintings and sculpture, on coins, jewelry, and Mayan glyphs; and carved into African tree trunks. Chapters cover the folklore of bees and bee culture — from Egyptian, Babylonian, and other ancient sources to practices in modern Europe. The use of honey in religious rites, as well as customs and superstitions in France and Central Europe, folk stories from Finland, and the bee in America are also described.
Well-documented study of bees, hives, and beekeepers, along with rare illustrations as they appear in ancient paintings, sculpture, on coins, jewelry, and Mayan glyphs.
Hilda Ransome's well-documented and copiously illustrated study of bees points out that no creature has provided man with so much wholesome food; nor has any inspired so many beliefs and superstitions. Illustrations depict bees, hives, and beekeepers as they appear in paintings and sculpture, on coins, jewelry, and Mayan glyphs; and carved into African tree trunks. Chapters cover the folklore of bees and bee culture — from Egyptian, Babylonian, and other ancient sources to practices in modern Europe. The use of honey in religious rites, as well as customs and superstitions in France and Central Europe, folk stories from Finland, and the bee in America are also described.
Ransome's The Sacred Bee is classic that has stood the test of time. It is a must read for anyone interested in the history of beekeeping and beekeeping lore. Gene Kritsky, PhD, author of The Tears of Re: Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt
According to Egyptian mythology, when the ancient Egyptian sun god Re cried, his tears turned into honey bees upon touching the ground. For this reason, the honey bee was sacrosanct in ancient Egyptian culture. From the art depicting bees on temple walls to the usage of beeswax as a healing ointment, the honey bee was a pervasive cultural motif in ancient Egypt because of its connection to the sun god Re. Gene Kritsky delivers a concise introduction of the relationship between the honey bee and ancient Egyptian culture, through the lenses of linguistics, archeology, religion, health, and economics. Kritsky delves into ancient Egypt's multifaceted society, and traces the importance of the honey bee in everything from death rituals to trade. In doing so, Kritsky brings new evidence to light of how advanced and fascinating the ancient Egyptians were. This richly illustrated work appeals to a broad range of interests. For archeology lovers, Kritsky delves into the archeological evidence of Egyptian beekeeping and discusses newly discovered tombs, as well as evidence of manmade hives. Linguists will be fascinated by Kritsky's discussion of the first documented written evidence of the honeybee hieroglyph. And anyone interested in ancient Egypt or ancient cultures in general will be intrigued by Kritsky's treatment of the first documented beekeepers. This book provides a unique social commentary of a community so far removed from modern humans chronologically speaking, and yet so fascinating because of the stunning advances their society made. Beekeeping is the latest evidence of how ahead of their times the Egyptians were, and the ensuing narrative is as captivating as every other aspect of ancient Egyptian culture.
Honey bees—and the qualities associated with them—have quietly influenced American values for four centuries. During every major period in the country's history, bees and beekeepers have represented order and stability in a country without a national religion, political party, or language. Bees in America is an enlightening cultural history of bees and beekeeping in the United States. Tammy Horn, herself a beekeeper, offers a varied social and technological history from the colonial period, when the British first introduced bees to the New World, to the present, when bees are being used by the American military to detect bombs. Early European colonists introduced bees to the New World as part of an agrarian philosophy borrowed from the Greeks and Romans. Their legacy was intended to provide sustenance and a livelihood for immigrants in search of new opportunities, and the honey bee became a sign of colonization, alerting Native Americans to settlers' westward advance. Colonists imagined their own endeavors in terms of bees' hallmark traits of industry and thrift and the image of the busy and growing hive soon shaped American ideals about work, family, community, and leisure. The image of the hive continued to be popular in the eighteenth century, symbolizing a society working together for the common good and reflecting Enlightenment principles of order and balance. Less than a half-century later, Mormons settling Utah (where the bee is the state symbol) adopted the hive as a metaphor for their protected and close-knit culture that revolved around industry, harmony, frugality, and cooperation. In the Great Depression, beehives provided food and bartering goods for many farm families, and during World War II, the War Food Administration urged beekeepers to conserve every ounce of beeswax their bees provided, as more than a million pounds a year were being used in the manufacture of war products ranging from waterproofing products to tape. The bee remains a bellwether in modern America. Like so many other insects and animals, the bee population was decimated by the growing use of chemical pesticides in the 1970s. Nevertheless, beekeeping has experienced a revival as natural products containing honey and beeswax have increased the visibility and desirability of the honey bee. Still a powerful representation of success, the industrious honey bee continues to serve both as a source of income and a metaphor for globalization as America emerges as a leader in the Information Age.
Spiritual lessons from insect archetypes of the Medicine Wheel • Reveals the sacred wisdom inherent in Honeybee’s pollinating, Butterfly’s transformation, Spider’s weaving, and Earthworm’s recycling • Provides experiential practices, such as Shamanic Breathwork journeys, to connect with insect teachers and harness their consciousness-activating patterns • Shows how Dragonfly, Cicada, and Cricket connect us with the Great Star Nations, the depths of Mother Earth, and the music of life • Includes access to Cricket Chorus Meditation audio tracks Our insect brothers and sisters are some of the most ancient beings and teachers on planet Earth. Their powerful skills of adaptation and their plight, such as the widespread colony collapse facing honeybees, have brought them to the forefront of collective consciousness, as every being on Earth faces a time of incredible transformation. The archetypal energies of these sacred Wisdomkeepers can guide us through this evolutionary time with new pathways of shamanic healing and transformation to realize the highest potential of humanity. Exploring the insect and arachnid archetypes of the Sacred Instar Medicine Wheel, authors Linda Star Wolf and Anna Cariad-Barrett reveal the consciousness-activating patterns in the pollen flight of Honeybee, the transformative chrysalis of Butterfly, the creative weavings of Spider, and the alchemical recycling of old into new of Earthworm. They show how Dragonfly, Cicada, and Cricket connect us with the Great Star Nations, the depths of Mother Earth, and the music of life, as demonstrated on the accompanying audio tracks. Each chapter includes experiential practices, such as Shamanic Breathwork journeys, to help you embody the strengths of these humble teachers, live within the natural cycles of planet Earth, and discover a higher octave of sacred purpose.
"The Sphinx, the Pyramids, the stone temples are, all of them, ultimately, as flimsy as London Bridge; our cities but tents set up in the cosmos. We pass. But what the bee knows, the wisdom that sustains our passing life—however much we deny or ignore it—that for ever remains." —P. L. Travers
As featured in The New York Times... Throughout the history of civilisation, traditional crafts have been passed down from hand to skilled hand. Blacksmithing, brewing, beekeeping, baking, milling, spinning, knitting and weaving: these skills held societies together, and so too shaped their folklore and mythology. Exploring the folklore connected with these rural crafts, Telling the Bees examines the customs, superstitions and stories woven into some of the world's oldest trades. From the spinning of the Fates to the blacksmith's relationship with the devil, and the symbolism of John Barleycorn to a ritual to create bees from the corpse of a cow – these are the traditions upon which our modern world was built.
Reveals for the first time the ancient tradition of bee shamanism and its secret practices and teachings • Examines the healing and ceremonial powers of the honeybee and the hive • Reveals bee shamanism’s system of acupuncture, which predates the Chinese systems • Imparts teachings from the female tradition and explores the transformative powers of the magico-sexual elixirs they produce Bee shamanism may well be the most ancient and enigmatic branch of shamanism. It exists throughout the world--wherever in fact the honeybee exists. Its medicinal tools--such as honey, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly--are now in common usage, and even the origins of Chinese acupuncture can be traced back to the ancient practice of applying bee stings to the body’s meridians. In this authoritative ethnography and spiritual memoir, Simon Buxton, an elder of the Path of Pollen, reveals for the first time the richness of this tradition: its subtle intelligence; its sights, sounds, and smells; and its unique ceremonies, which until now have been known only to initiates. Buxton unknowingly took his first steps on the Path of Pollen at age nine, when a neighbor--an Austrian bee shaman--cured him of a near-fatal bout of encephalitis. This early contact prepared him for his later meeting with an elder of the tradition who took him on as an apprentice. Following an intense initiation that opened him to the mysteries of the hive mind, Buxton learned over the next 13 years the practices, rituals, and tools of bee shamanism. He experienced the healing and spiritual powers of honey and other bee products, including the “flying ointment” once used by medieval witches, as well as ritual initiations with the female members of the tradition--the Mellisae--and the application of magico-sexual “nektars” that promote longevity and ecstasy. The Shamanic Way of the Bee is a rare view into the secret wisdom of this age-old tradition.
