Ask the wild bee what the Druid knows
Welcome to this bee-themed blog. It’s packed with summer goodness, but for scrollers in a hurry, here’s an index to get you where you need to be:
· The bee in antiquity and mythology
· The Alchemist’s cave – recipes for cocktails and creams
· A micro-ritual for the season
· BeeBC promotion and help, UK
· Bees to soothe the soul
So, hover a while and choose to choose your topic, or buzz right through the whole… here we go!
Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon
High summer in the Northern Hemisphere: the sun penetrates deep into earth’s dark mystery of roots swelling and sweetening towards harvest, whilst above ground the sugar-factory-leaves work overtime, and the grain ripens in swathes in tow-coloured fields.
The soundtrack to this torrid generosity of light and warmth is the hum of insects, vital pollinators of our world. And they are ever present. Huge bees – usually queens, searching a new hive location - surprised us way back in February; and, as they prepare the hive for overwintering, we need to be wary not to step on those drunk with cider-apple juice, or, in the first breath of winter, those befuddled with cold.
The mythic bee in antiquity
These dancing workers hold a mythic resonance, telling of our relationship with them from the beginning of recorded time. The Goddesses Demeter, Astarte, Cybele and Aphrodite were all associated with bees and honey. Ancient art is full of bee images in exquisite jewellery, and priestesses, especially of Demeter, were called Melissae, bee, honey. Ancient Egyptian myth says that bees are the transformed tears of Re, the sun God, and the Temple of their mysterious, senior Goddess Neith was called the House of the Bee. Worldwide, the use of beeswax goes back at least 8,000 years.
Bees have always symbolised industry, and the gifts of prosperity, luck and wealthy. Their qualities inspire awe and their matriarchal community seems to inhabit a world of co-operation; their combs are a miracle of precision engineering. Their gift to us is wholesome sustenance from seeming-nothing, the only form of concentrated sweetness in ancient times; and their dances, providing visual information and routes to their fellows, reinforce their legend as messengers from the gods.
The bee in the British Isles
One of Britain’s ancient names was The Island of Honey, so let’s fly around the ancient Celtic cultures for evidence of the bees’ status…
In Wales, in the time of Hywel Dda (the Good c. 880 – 950CE) mead symbolised the sustenance of the court, and the mead maker was one of the officers who attended the king. Bees, they believed, came from paradise and conferred God’s grace, and so the Christian mass was always lit with beeswax candles. The Laws of Hywel Dda detail the value of every kind of swarm the rules for finding swarms and compensation for them.
In Ireland, the Brehon Laws have a section on bee-Judgments, dealing with the gamut of hive and honey allocation. Bees, taking nectar from a neighbour’s land, could be deemed guilty of trespass, compensation for which would come after a few years of their pollen-poaching, with the transfer of a hive to the owner of the fields. The wealth and status of hives made stealing a hive a capital offence.
In the Highlands of Scotland, bees were said to hold secret knowledge – ‘Ask the wild bee what the Druid knows…’: and believed people’s souls flew out as bees during dreams.
Bees were sacred to the Celtic over-arching Goddess Brighid, Brigit or Bride, with honey holding the nectar from the orchards of the Otherworld: and bees are warriors! As geese warned of attack and saved Rome from invasion, so, in the legend of the Christianised version of Brighid, St Gobnait, her bees attacked thieves and prevented the theft of cattle – a predominant theme in early literature. The saint also used honey to help cure plague. Here she is with her bees immortalised in stained glass by the wonderful artist Harry Clarke:
In a third incarnation of the Goddess in Celtic tradition Henwen, the Old white sow of Welsh myth, brought (or gave birth to…) three bees and three grains of wheat over Gwent, ensuring that their wheat and honey would be superlative. And from the Norse, we have a story of the theft of the mead, which had been made from honey mixed with the blood of a pre-eminent skald, or bard, named Kvasir: some strong drinks are still named after him, but the original drink was called the Mead of Poetry, and imbibing it would confer the skill of bardistry, reminding us of the ‘honey-tongued’ Ogma of Ireland, and the feeling of honey in the mouth of the trance-prophecying of the Awenyddion of Wales.
Lastly, in ‘modern legend’, The Owl Service by Alan Garner, summer is conjured by the Magician Gwydion in his present-day incarnation of Huw Half-bacon. I find this incantation compelling, and recite it every year:
‘Come honey-sweet murmurer, come harp of my gladness, come summer come.’
Enter the alchemist’s cave…recipe corner
Mead is for a joyous sharing with family and friends, so let’s scurry to the alchemist’s depository (the drinks cabinet). Carefully cradling our booty, we enter the magician’s lair (kitchen) to mix and temper our liquids…
RECIPE 1
Mix mead with any bubbles: Cava, Prosecco or Champagne. I think this last might be called Druid’s delight. Or make it into a long drink with tonic or soda, ice and a slice. Mmmm.
RECIPE 2
A genuine cocktail from the prohibition era. Combine gin with honey syrup (honey dissolved in water, 50/50) and lemon. Illegal liquor, ‘bath tub gin’ was rough, and needed plenty flavouring to disguise the taste.
RECIPE 3
Non-alcoholic mead, for those who prefer their honey untipsified.
The basic mix:
1Tablespoon honey dissolved in ½ pint water
Bring to the boil, stirring, with spices to taste –ground nutmeg, ginger (2 slices of the root, but powdered is OK) and cinnamon
When heated, add orange and/or lemon to taste
Strain and cool; chill and serve with a sprig of mint.
Because I like a kick to a drink but not from alcohol, I use plenty of ginger and a few flakes of chilli to the boil as well.
Delicious; pass the olives!
RECIPE 4 - Cosmetic
For those with beeswax to hand. No need of expensive face creams, just -
Melt ½ tablespoon of beeswax in ¼ cup of oil. If you haven’t a double boiler to stop it overheating or burning, use a heat-proof bowl in a saucepan of simmering water. Use any oil suitable for cosmetics- olive, almond, jojoba, grapeseed.
Remove from heat when melted
Drip in about 10 drops of your favourite essential oil (optional). Caveat: if you have sensitive skin, be safe and check on safe essential oils, or leave out completely. And do a skin test on a tougher part of the body – heels?? - first. (I’ve even met someone who reacted badly rose, a staple of cosmetics). I stick to rose, frankincense and lavender. Cream too hard or soft when set? Reheat gently and add more beeswax or oil for a stiffer or softer mixture. Proportions will change slightly as the set is affected by the ambient temperature.
Let it cool, and enjoy a silky-smooth luxurious cosmetic, courtesy of the bees. Imagine you are following the practice of ancient priestesses by doing this. Who knows?
Micro-ritual for the season
Let’s go back to that traditional saying; “Ask the wild bee what the Druids know.”
So why don’t we? Let’s leave playtime in the kitchen and go to the garden for instant micro-ritual...
‘Telling the bees’ – literally – has been a tenet of beekeeping for many generations. Domestic honey bees have always been a respected part of a family, and if not kept informed, will fly away. Traditionally, the householder takes the key of the door to impart any important news – births, marriages, deaths. Not many of us have our own hives, but this is what we can do, in an instant, the very next time we see a bee.
Introduce yourself, say hello to this wild bee
Observe it closely throughout the exercise
Hold the intention that you will imbibe some knowledge, just by watching; do not speculate.
Take three breaths, and allow any thoughts or news to arise
Tell it your news, and that you desire to become more in harmony with the world
Become meditative as you watch it mumbling and bumbling its way round the pollen-laden stamens of some open, generous plant.
Relax and settle into timelessness and rightness; dreamily mark the bee’s progress from flower to flower
Allow that feeling to sink deep within, with each in-breath.
Thank the bee as it buzzes on its busy way
Start to buzz, quietly, feeling the resonance in your chest, your heart region
Hold your hand there to reinforce the feeling.
Feel a drop of golden nature-wisdom settle deep within; a honey-sweet drop to a dd to your store
This feeling is a resource to bring to mind whenever you’re stressed. Hold your hand to your heart, take three breath, buzz gently, and remember this moment of harmony.
This bee-buzzing can signify absolute joy, and we see from pop lyrics how sensual the references to bees and honey can be – just think of a honeymoon. In the best Robin Hood film I know of, an effulgent Uma Thurman, as Marion, declared her love for Robin thus; ‘I will not marry to symbolize a peace, or to ratify a treaty. But... this man I will have... because he makes the May tree blossom and the bees buzz in my breast. I will take this man because he brings springtime to my heart.’ Doesn’t that just sum it all up?
Bee promotion and helping
Bees are our mates, our helpers. Along with a myriad other insects, our lives literally depend on them. And we can support them: there’s a BBC initiative this weekend, when Radio 2 is launching The Bee Challenge Weekend, 31st July – Sun 1st August. Gardeners are be(e)ing urged to help, and the radio programme will give lots of ideas and ways of doing that. Find the details here:
Added to this, The National Garden Scheme will be opening up bee-friendly gardens up and down the country, whilst the National Trust will have bee-friendly activities including bee-garden tours and ‘how to build a bug hotel’ events at some of their properties – all very apt for a Lughnasadh weekend.
Bees and harmony
To end where we began; with the ever-present soundtrack of the bees in W. B. Yeats paeon of praise to the simple life, The Lake Isle of Innisfree.
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings. (Extract)
So here’s a question: as active, Druidic workers in the world, is this longing pure indulgence or escapism? I would say, no.
Reading the extract – or better still the full poem - aloud in/to our garden or wild space will give us five minutes of rest and recreation; five minutes of withdrawal to breathe with the sun, the warm earth, growing crops and the bees. It is these regular five minutes-es that keep us refreshed, balanced, and recharged, ready to rejoin the apparent world. We are both socialised and entities in nature: we, like the bees, are miraculous and, recognising this, we are thankful.
Have a peaceful, vibrant and humming Lughnasadh!
Links for your interest:
The Laws of Hywel Dda https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/laws_hywel_dda.html
Bees in ancient Ireland https://emeraldisle.ie/index.php?p=the-irish-bee
St Gobnait https://holywellscorkandkerry.com/2021/03/14/st-gobnait-shes-a-fine-woman/
Trailer for Robin Hood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLdJcp-fsyU
The Lake Isle of Innisfree https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43281/the-lake-isle-of-innisfree