Wisdom of Bee Medicine

The Wisdom of Bee Medicine

By Freya Savitri Sampson

“Bee Shamanism is one of the Earth’s oldest and least understood pathways of magic.”

The humble bee may be the world’s most taken for granted creature, yet certainly is one of the most magical.

Origins

Bee Shamanism is one of the Earth’s oldest and least understood pathways of magic. Its roots are found in Sumeria, Anatolia, Minoan Crete, Egypt, Lithuania, Celtic Traditions and Greece where it is said that bees taught divination to Hermes Apollo through the form of the Melissae Priestesses, according to Homer.

The first mentions of Bees were on the 8,000 year old Sumerian Tablets carrying recipes that use honey for medicinal purposes – treating skin infections, ulcers and disease. They were then channelled as memories of the temples of the House of the Bee in Egypt, where Neith, one of the primordial Goddesses was worshiped. It is said that the statue of Neith in the House of the Bee was veiled, and inscribed at its base were the words, “I am all that has been, that is, or shall ever be; no mortal man hath ever me unveiled.” Another phrase attributed to Neith is, “The fruit which I have brought forth is the Sun.”

The bee mysteries were then channelled in Pasidae in the Minoan Cretan Labryinth, by the dancing, humming, and drumming Mellissae Priestesses. ‘The Drumming Bee Sisterhood,’ - The humming of the bees, the drumming of the sisters, in their sacred chambers of specific frequencies. They were speaking to the divine, just as the bees do. It is said the most important oracular site of ancient Greece, Delphi, has been constructed by bees. The oracle of the temple itself an object called an ‘Omphalos’, a carved stone, shaped like a beehive, covered in beelike images connected by a beautiful pattern. Phythia, the chief priestess at Delphi, was called ‘The Delphic Bee’. Pythia’s priestesses, called Queen Bees used humming, and drumming, to enter into trance states.

Across all traditions, bee medicine, amongst its many attributes, is synonymous with community, cooperation and selflessness.

Bee Shamanism - The Path of Pollen

In the words of Simon Buxton (author of The Shamanic Way of the Bee), this path “is a shamanic tradition that works with humanity’s most ancient ally, the honeybee, not just as a metaphor, but as a vibrant, pragmatic and challenging spiritual path, grounded in the Earth but anchored to the heavens. The Path of Pollen holds a focus of work on what we call ‘endocrine alchemy’, which is a rejuvenative programme that draws upon the intelligence and wisdom of the body-vessel and stimulates the interior stars and hidden veins within the subtle-body, liberating and circulating (bodily) elixirs known as ‘nektars’ which are utilised for shamanic practices including healing, visioning, shamanic flight and the largely lost art of shape-shifting.”

Bee Dreaming

Bees are similar to cats and ravens, known as Bridger’s of Dimensions. They are dream bringers, who connect humanity to the collective dream weave, aka the Earth Dream or the Great Dream, through their intrinsic bridging nature. By intentionally inviting the Deva of the Bees into your dream-work, one can align more fully with nature.

Types of Bees

There are numerous different species of bee in the world. It is important to acknowledge one major distinction between them. The Honey and Bumble Bees operate collectively in a community hive and many Native Bee species are ground dwelling and solitary.

In Australia there are over 1700 species

There are two very different medicines that bee can deliver. In many ancient traditions, the Shaman lived alone, a little distance from the tribal group. Not because she/he rejected the group, because the work that the Medicine person did for the tribe required quietude, allowing them to listen to the voice of nature and the inner dimensions, without the distraction of children’s cries and social chatter. Their solitary service was for the collective, not for the self.

So whilst the many operate as one for collective wellbeing, sometimes the one operates solitarily for the collective wellbeing, depending upon the role one has been chosen for that lifetime.

Human Being, Human Doing

Bees also hold a perfect balance between business always active in their service to one another, yet always finding the way to stop and smell the flowers along the way. Honey, literally the nectar of life is their food. It heals, it nourishes and supports the immune system.

Bee well bee-autiful people.

As Above So Below

An interesting correlation between Mycelium (fungi) and bees is mycelium in the ground is the web of life which unites mineral and plant kingdoms in the womb of the Earth, bees act very much as the mycelium of the of the skies, creating a web of light between the insect and plant kingdoms through their service of pollination.

Freya is available for Crystal Dreaming, The Liquid Crystals and a range of holistic services.

Image Credit: Freya Sampson