Dripping
golden as liquid sunshine, honey has been a symbol of the sweetness
and richness of life since ancient times. In all cultures which had
access to it (and that's most of them) honey (and the mead made from
it) has been seen as the nectar of the gods.
Cave
paintings in Spain from 13000 BC depict a honey hunt. The Neolitic
settlement of Catal Huyuk (6540 BC) has an image of the goddess with
a halo of bees, and the temple walls are painted with honeycombs.
Sumerian carvings depict the Mother Goddess as a bee. Their
physicians are believed to be the inventors of apitherapy, the
medicinal use of bee products. The Omphalos stone of Delphi is
believed to be modeled after a beehive. It is even postulated that
the braided hair of the Willendorf Goddess may represent a beehive.
Priestesses of Cybele were called Melissai or Melissae (the Greek and Roman words for "bee") and they utilized honey in the rituals that brought on their oracular relevations. Demeter, Artemis, Aphrodite and Rhea are also associated with bees. It is possible that the Many-Breasted Artemis statue of Ephesia may depict bee eggs rather than breasts. As a baby, Zeus was fed on honey. In Egypt, bees were "the tears of Ra" and honey was symbolic of resurrection, and a protection against evil spirits. The temple of the goddess Neith, in Sais (in Lower Egypt) was known as "the House of the Bee." The Mayans saw the beekeeper god as Mok-Chi, while Ah-Muzen-Cab was a god that protected from Killer Bees. In India, the bee goddess is Bhramari Devi, and Kamadeva, the love god, has a bow with a bowstring made of bees. Honey is also sacred to Oshun, the Voudoun Orisha of love.
The star Sirius has been linked with bees in cultures from Sumeria to Crete and even as far away as the Dogon tribe of Africa. In Crete, the rising of Sirius marked the new year and a 40-day festival in which the honey was gathered.
In Britain, 3,000 year old objects made with beeswax (I'll assume lost-wax castings) were found near the river Thames. On the Isle of Mann it was a capital offense to steal bees. St. Bridget was said to have visited Gastonbury and lived for a time on the Island of Beckery - which translates as "beekeeper's island". The Welsh Bardic Triads which call Britain the "Island of Honey," tell of the sow-goddess Henwen who had a sow which gave birth to a bee. In ancient Wales, taxes were paid in measures of honey. At Tara, home of the kings of ancient Ireland, one residence is known as "the House of Mead Circling". The Brehon Laws of the Druids contained twenty pages on "Bee-Judgement," detailing laws surrounding the care, keeping and ownership of bees.
In the Norse Eddas, bees are connected with Yggdrasil, the world tree. In Germany, the sacred Irminsul, wooden and stone carvings resembling tree-stumps (used to house bees?) may be related to the bee-god Imme.
In Lithuania, where the bee goddess was named Austheia, families would move when the Queen Bee started a swarm and left the hive, establishing their new home wherever the bees landed. If a dead bee was discovered, all work stopped until the bee had been properly buried. Honey and bees were seen as a gift, and could not be sold, only given freely.
Amongst the folklore associated with honey, it was believed that if a bee touched a baby's lips, he would become a great poet and orator. Bees were thought to be spirit messengers who brought prayers to the heavens. The term "honeymoon" comes from the practice of giving a new couple a lunar month's supply of mead to bring fertility.
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| Honey Hunt - 13000 B.C. Spain |
Priestesses of Cybele were called Melissai or Melissae (the Greek and Roman words for "bee") and they utilized honey in the rituals that brought on their oracular relevations. Demeter, Artemis, Aphrodite and Rhea are also associated with bees. It is possible that the Many-Breasted Artemis statue of Ephesia may depict bee eggs rather than breasts. As a baby, Zeus was fed on honey. In Egypt, bees were "the tears of Ra" and honey was symbolic of resurrection, and a protection against evil spirits. The temple of the goddess Neith, in Sais (in Lower Egypt) was known as "the House of the Bee." The Mayans saw the beekeeper god as Mok-Chi, while Ah-Muzen-Cab was a god that protected from Killer Bees. In India, the bee goddess is Bhramari Devi, and Kamadeva, the love god, has a bow with a bowstring made of bees. Honey is also sacred to Oshun, the Voudoun Orisha of love.
The star Sirius has been linked with bees in cultures from Sumeria to Crete and even as far away as the Dogon tribe of Africa. In Crete, the rising of Sirius marked the new year and a 40-day festival in which the honey was gathered.
In Britain, 3,000 year old objects made with beeswax (I'll assume lost-wax castings) were found near the river Thames. On the Isle of Mann it was a capital offense to steal bees. St. Bridget was said to have visited Gastonbury and lived for a time on the Island of Beckery - which translates as "beekeeper's island". The Welsh Bardic Triads which call Britain the "Island of Honey," tell of the sow-goddess Henwen who had a sow which gave birth to a bee. In ancient Wales, taxes were paid in measures of honey. At Tara, home of the kings of ancient Ireland, one residence is known as "the House of Mead Circling". The Brehon Laws of the Druids contained twenty pages on "Bee-Judgement," detailing laws surrounding the care, keeping and ownership of bees.
In the Norse Eddas, bees are connected with Yggdrasil, the world tree. In Germany, the sacred Irminsul, wooden and stone carvings resembling tree-stumps (used to house bees?) may be related to the bee-god Imme.
In Lithuania, where the bee goddess was named Austheia, families would move when the Queen Bee started a swarm and left the hive, establishing their new home wherever the bees landed. If a dead bee was discovered, all work stopped until the bee had been properly buried. Honey and bees were seen as a gift, and could not be sold, only given freely.
Amongst the folklore associated with honey, it was believed that if a bee touched a baby's lips, he would become a great poet and orator. Bees were thought to be spirit messengers who brought prayers to the heavens. The term "honeymoon" comes from the practice of giving a new couple a lunar month's supply of mead to bring fertility.
Some interesting honey links:
TheBee: Beedazzled (3 part series)
The Bee Goddess
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