The Honey Bee
The Honey Bee (Apis mellifera), lives on every continent except Antarctica, thriving in habitats ranging from wild woodlands to urban gardens. These highly social insects live in complex colonies split into three distinct roles: a single egg-laying Queen, male drones, and thousands of female workers that gather nectar and guard the hive.
What truly sets them apart is their unique dance, a complex figure-eight movement used by returning foragers to communicate the exact direction and distance of food sources to the rest of the hive.
The honey these bees produce can never spoil. This is because of its incredibly low moisture content and highly acidic pH level, bacteria and microorganisms just cannot grow in it. Archaeologists have actually found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that are thousands of years old—and it is still perfectly edible!
When Honey Bees are processing nectar, they add a special enzyme called glucose oxidase. This enzyme breaks down and creates a low level of hydrogen peroxide, which gives raw honey powerful natural antibacterial and antimicrobial qualities.
The structure of their hives is a also a brilliant solution to a complex mathematical problem, known as the "Honeycomb Conjecture," which proves that a hexagonal grid is the absolute best way to divide a surface into regions of equal area with the minimum total perimeter.
The hexagonal cells are not perfectly horizontal. Bees build them with a precise tilt of 9 to 14 degrees upward to ensure the raw, liquid nectar doesn't spill out before the bees have finished evaporating the water out of it to turn it into thick honey.
Such smart little creatures to perform such feats of communicating knowledge to each other as well as their geometric perfection. I think these are important characteristics with these little insects. Which makes them the perfect candidate to encode divine truths around.
Let our exploration into this fuzzy little winged creature begin with Ancient Greece and see how their Scribes have woven this insect into their mythos.
It begins with Zeus, as the well studied student will remember in a previous Essay regarding the Goat, to protect him from Cronus she smuggled the newborn Zeus away to the island of Crete, concealing him deep inside the Psychro Cave (often referred to as the Dictaean Cave) on Mount Dicte.
Left in the care of the nymph Melissa and the goat-goddess Amalthea, the baby god thrived on a specialized divine diet of Amalthea's goat's milk and harvested sacred honey from the mountain bees to feed the infant king, giving him rapid growth and strength.
Then we have Aristaeus, he was the son of the Olympian god Apollo and the fierce huntress-Nymph Cyrene. After his birth, Hermes brought him to the gods, where Gaia and the Horae fed him nectar and ambrosia to grant him immortality.
The Myrtle-Nymphs and Muses then taught him knowledge about medicine, prophecy, and agriculture. While Athena and Apollo ruled over knowledge and wisdom, Aristaeus was a god who specialized in the more practical skills and knowledge needed for a society to thrive.
Well it seems we have our first connection to Knowledge, but not the intellectual type of knowledge possessed by the Philosopher, it is more the instinctual practical knowledge for the individual and society, to not only survive but thrive in his environment.
There is also a myth attached to Aristaeus regarding the Honey Bee and it begins with him falling deeply in love with Eurydice, a beautiful Nymph who was married to Orpheus. One day, Aristaeus saw her in a meadow and pursued her.
As Eurydice ran away from him, she accidentally stepped on a venomous snake hidden in the grass, it bit her and she died. To punish Aristaeus for causing her death, the Nymphs and the gods struck down his beloved Honey Bee colonies. Practically overnight, all of his hives died off, leaving him with nothing.
The beginning of this myth is very reminiscent of the story where Apollo chases the Nymph Daphne until she begs the gods to destroy her beauty and they turn her into a Laurel tree. The well studied student will identify we are already seeing a connection to the Underworld in the opening scenes of this myth about Aristaeus.
The story continues that a distraught and ruined Aristaeus wept by the river source and called upon his mother, the water-nymph Cyrene. She heard his cries and told him that only one being knew how to fix this curse: Proteus, the Old Man of the Sea. However, Proteus would never give away his secrets willingly.
Cyrene warned Aristaeus that he would have to ambush Proteus while he slept on the shore and hold onto him tight. Proteus was a shape-shifter, and during the struggle, he transformed into a roaring lion, a hissing serpent, a leopard, a raging fire, and rushing water.
Note Proteus was asleep on the shoreline, and all these animals are directly connected to Divine Man in the Lower Ages. The Leopard is the Divine Man in the Underworld and the other two creatures displaying disruptive behaviors, help to identify they are symbolic of the Lower Ages also.
The story continues that Aristaeus held on tightly until Proteus finally exhausted himself, reverted to his human form, and demanded to know what the young god wanted. To show Aristaeus the sheer magnitude of his crime, Proteus recounts the harrowing journey his actions forced Orpheus, the husband of Euradice to take.
Driven mad by the loss of Eurydice, Orpheus descended through a dark cavern straight into the Underworld. Using a lyre given to him by Apollo, Orpheus sang a melody so heartbreakingly beautiful that the entire realm of the dead wept. The cold-hearted King of the Underworld, Hades, was so moved that he agreed to let Eurydice return to the living world.
Hades set one condition, Orpheus must walk back to the surface world without looking behind him until they both stood in the sun. But just as Orpheus stepped into the light, consumed by doubt, he turned around. He watched in absolute horror as Eurydice was snatched backward into the eternal shadows.
Now understanding the weight of his actions, and why the gods killed all his Bees, Aristaeus asks his mother how to make amends. Cyrene instructs him to perform an elaborate ritual of atonement to appease the spirits of the Underworld and the memory of Eurydice.
He builds four sacrificial altars in a grove. He sacrifices four of his finest Bulls and four Heifers and leaves their carcasses out in the open air, then must offer funeral libations, including poppies, to the ghost of Orpheus and a slain heifer to Eurydice.
Nine mornings later, Aristaeus returns to the grove. A miracle has occurred, from the softened bellies of the sacrificed cattle, a massive, vibrant swarm of Honey Bees spontaneously generates, buzzing out of the carcasses and filling the trees, and his Honey Bees and divine skills and abilities are restored.
This very involved myth has a simple lesson for the well studied student, let's first identify that Aristaeus was giving unwanted attention to the wife of another god. This caused the Honey Bees to die, even the doubts shown by Orpheus looking behind him for Euradice shows a loss of faith in her.
The sacrificing of the Bull (and Heifer), was the death of the base nature within the Divine Male and Divine Female, hence the resurrected Honey Bees literally emerge from within them 9 days later. The number 9 is the number of the soul who has possession of Knowledge and an full understanding for who they are.
In Ancient Greek folklore it was said that if a Bee touched a baby’s lips, that child would grow up to be a gifted poet, orator, or philosopher.
Now let us look to how our Ancient Egyptian Scribes have used this buzzing little insect to imbue their mythical stories.
From the Salt 825 Papyrus, there is a myth regarding Ra and the Honey Bee that begins with the murder and dismemberment of Osiris by his jealous brother Set. The entire pantheon of Egyptian gods enter into a state of deep, collective trauma and mourning so deep that their bodies literally secrete holy substances to help heal the earth.
Ra breaks down in sorrow over the death of Osiris and the broken state of the world. The water from his eyes hits the ground and transforms into the Honey Bee.
"The god Re wept, and the tears from his eyes fell on the ground and turned into a Bee. The Bee made and busied himself with the flowers of every plant; and so wax was made and also honey out of the tears of Re."
Immediately after his tears turn into Honey Bees, a chain reaction starts, first the wax and honey destroy the enemies of the cosmic order, then the bees immediately start to rebuild a new world. With the enemy melted and the body healed, Osiris is awakened from the dead. He ascends to become the king of the Field of Reeds (Aaru: Ancient Egyptian Golden Age), opening the gates of paradise for the gods and righteous mortals.
In the Funerary Text known as the Book of the Am-Duat (which translates to the Book of the Underworld), the Honey Bee acts as an acoustic messenger bridging the physical and aethereal realms. The text explicitly describes the weeping and crying out of the gods waiting for the return of Ra's Sun boat, comparing it directly to the "humming of bees."
"...the sound of their voices is as the roaring of savage Bulls, as the cry of birds of Prey, as the wail of mourners, as the murmur of Bees."
Note the wild Bull is mentioned also. The ancient Text also relays that the gods are inert (referred to in some lines as "the corpses in the sand", "the dead gods on the banks" or "The gods who are in this cavern...") because they are trapped in the Underworld's darkness until Ra's Light boat passes by.
So while this story from Book of the Am-Duat about Ra's tears and the crying Bulls and Honey Bees does not end with Ra's solar boat returning, in Salt 825 Papyrus it details what the return of Ra's solar boat results in for the gods in the Underworld.
As Ra’s solar boat navigates the final hours of the Underworld, it reaches the hidden chamber where Osiris’s body lies, preserved by the honey. The Text describes a union of Light and flesh. The text of the Amduat describes at the exact moment of contact, Ra casts his bright, piercing rays onto the corpse.
The text states that Ra and Osiris literally fuse together into a single soul. Infused with the returning celestial Light, Osiris is reanimated and takes his permanent throne as the ruler of Aaru (the Golden Age).
The Mayan Myths relate that the universe could not exist as an open space without structural support. To prevent this, the Ah Muzen Cab placed four giant brother gods—the Bacabs—at the four cardinal corners (North, South, East, and West) to hold the sky aloft with their upraised arms.
The world quarters were anchored by sacred Ceiba trees and the supernatural Bees living in these four world trees, would fly out to the corners of the Earth to gather nectar before reporting back to the center of the world. This is where the World Tree is located, the god Nohyumcab lives in this realm, his name literally translates to "Great Lord of the Hive" (or Great Lord of the Earth). We see the archetype of a divine messenger strongly connected to the Honey Bee in this myth.
In the Navajo mythos regarding the cycle of the Great Year they have utilized the Epochs of descent as the different "Worlds". It is often called a "creation myth" because it contains similar divine operations as when the earth is in a state of renewal.
The subsequent Worlds from the 1st World are then describing the descent of the divine and humans as the move into the Lower Ages and then they finally emerge back up into the Glittering World.
They have even applied a different stinging insect to each Epoch.
1st: The humble Bee (bumblebee) - Golden Age
2nd: The Honey Bee - Silver Age
3rd World: The Yellowjacket - Bronze Age
4th World: The Black Wasp - Iron Age
Note in the 4th world, described by Navajo elders as (Tuwagachi), a period they describe as a time of great testing, confusion, chaos and imbalance, it's symbolised by the Black Wasp. Tarantula Hawk Wasps are found in the region where the Navajo reside, they have jet black bodies and one of the most painful stings in the entire animal kingdom.
The well studied student will note that there is no stinging insect for the 5th World, this is because the 5th World, according to the Navajo, is the Glittering World, ie, Golden Age.
The Navajo say the 5th world is the when the ancestors emerge from the dark Underworld through the sacred reed, they stepped into a place filled with brilliant, shimmering light, which they call the Glittering World. The Holy People (Diyin Dinéʼé) then immediately set out to organize this new world.
The Hopi also have a similar structure in their mythos however they say the 5th World cannot begin until the Day of Purification takes place. This is a profound global cleansing that removes the greed, warfare, and environmental destruction of the current era.
The Hindu describe their god Kalki helping in this divine operation, he is literally called the Destroyer of Filth, and he returns on a white Horse with three brothers who also ride Horses. Where have I heard about Four Horseman returning for divine justice before?
They say before we enter in to the 5th world of abundance and peace, the "True White Brother" has to return and reunite the sacred stone tablets to restore the natural law.
However, if we return back to the Navajo, they say a deity named Begochiddy was tasked with organizing the world. Begochiddy took the soil from the lower worlds and used it to build the mountains of the four sacred directions. He then planted different colours of cotton in each direction (white, blue, yellow, and black), this is denoting the Four Divine Races within humanity.
Now let's take a look to our Hindu story tellers, they can always be relied upon for a well written allegorical story, let's see how they've woven a Fable about our little Honey Bee.
The story begins with Arunasura, a malicious demon who gained a powerful boon making him immune to attacks by two-legged or four-legged creatures. Protected by this blessing, he terrorized the heavens, enslaved the gods, and disrupted the cosmic order.
The distressed gods prayed to the the goddess Adi Shakti for salvation from the tyrant. The goddess answered their prayers by taking the celestial form of Bhramari Devi, the Goddess of Bees.
She stationed innumerable black bees, hornets, and wasps—creatures with six legs, (bypassing his two-and-four-legged immunity), from all around the cosmos and from within her own divine body. The swarming bees descended upon Arunasura, piercing him with countless stings until he was utterly destroyed, restoring cosmic order and peace to the world.
I do not think the well studied student needs a commentary about this myth, we see the usual narrative of the Underworld being defeated by the gods with divine help from their Creator. It seems our archetype of a symbolic messenger and conduit for divine power is continuing to be evident in our cross culture mythos.
We also have the Legend of Bhramar Geet. The story begins that years after the playful days in the forests of Vrindavan, Krishna had to leave his village to assume his duties in the distant city of Mathura. He left behind his devoted goddess Radha and the Gopis (Hindu Nymphs), who were thrown into an endless ocean of grief, completely consumed by the pain of separation.
The goddess Rahdha is described in the Hindu Texts as being exceptionally beautiful, with a radiant, golden complexion (often compared to molten gold). Because of this, she is also called Gaurangi.
"Gaurangi" (गौरंगी) is a classical Sanskrit name and devotional epithet that translates literally to "one with a golden body". Gauranga (गौरांग): This is the masculine form of the name.
It is a compound of two Sanskrit words:
Gaura (गौर): meaning golden, fair, shining, or brilliant.
Angi (अङ्गी): meaning form, body, or limbs.
The story continues that back in the city, Krishna noticed his dear friend Uddhava, a brilliant scholar who believed that spiritual realization could only be achieved through cold logic, philosophy, and intellectual detachment. Krishna wanted to teach Uddhava the true power of unconditional, pure love (Bhakti), so sent him to Vrindavan with a scroll of philosophical messages to comfort Radha and the Gopis.
When Uddhava arrived, the Gopis gathered around him. But as he began to lecture them on the "formless, detached divine," the Gopis wept, explaining that they could not meditate on a formless god because their minds were already permanently filled with memories of Krishna.
Suddenly, a large, black bumblebee flew into the assembly and began to buzz around the goddess Radha's lotus-like feet. Still deep in her trance of divine love, Radha looked at the shiny black Bee and was instantly reminded of Krishna. Turning her back on Uddhava, she began to speak directly to the Bee as if it were a messenger sent by Krishna himself.
"O black bee, friend of the cheat!" Radha cried out. "Do not dare touch my feet with your whiskers! I see the red dust on your face from the flowers you have visited. You are exactly like your master Krishna. You flit from one flower to another, drinking a little honey, and then you fly away without a second thought, completely forgetting the blossom that gave you everything."
The Bee continued to buzz, circling her as if trying to apologize on behalf of its master. Radha looked at it with tears streaming down her face and softened.
"Why do you sing his praises to me? Go back to him in the city. Sing his glories to the sophisticated queens of Mathura whose hearts he has now stolen. Why should we trust his words again? We are simple village girls who gave up everything for his song, only to be left behind."
Uddhava stood frozen in absolute awe. He had studied the highest scriptures for decades, yet he had never witnessed such raw, profound, and elevated devotion. He realized that while he had spent his life trying to understand God through intellect, these simple girls had entirely bound the divine within their hearts through pure love.
The Bee finally flew off into the afternoon sky, leaving Uddhava changed forever. He threw away his pride, bowed down to the Radha and the Gopis, and prayed to be reborn as a simple blade of grass in the groves of Vrindavan, just so his head might be blessed by the dust of their feet.
Again we see the re-occuring message of the Lower Ages of materialism, acknowledging only the cold hard logic of information. The true sacredness of this divine wisdom is forgotten and it is treated just like all other knowledge. There is no longer a reverence or love for this divine knowledge, the scholar sees only words on a page.
Our Irish story tellers have given us, The Voyage of Máel Dúin (Immram Curaig Maíle Dúin). It begins after being guided by a druid's prophecy, Máel Dúin sets sail to avenge his father's murder. However, after his three foster brothers break a sacred taboo by sneaking onto the boat, a fierce storm blows them completely off course and into the Underworld.
Weeks into their journey, when the crew is entirely exhausted, starving, and losing hope, a thick, sweet fragrance drifts across the ocean. Following the scent, they spy a massive, mountainous island covered in blindingly bright foliage and sweeping orchards. Looking up, they realize the noise is actually the collective hum of monstrously large, crimson-headed Bees.
The Bees are so active that the excess nectar and honey they harvest continuously drips from the massive trees, forming a golden river that flows directly down the cliffs and empties straight into the sea. The entire island is blanketed in a heavy, golden mist made of evaporated honey and pollen. The air itself is intoxicating.
Desperate for food, Máel Dúin's men take great risk by stepping onto the shore. However, the giant crimson Bees pay the humans no mind. They are entirely focused on their divine work, completely peaceful and indifferent to the human intrusion. Máel Dúin and his crew scoop up the honey from the river.
The moment the starving sailors taste the honey, they experience an intense rush of vitality and divine joy, followed immediately by an overwhelming wave of drowsiness.The honey forces the entire crew into a deep, dreamless, ageless sleep right there on the grass. While they sleep under the protective hum of the bees, time stands still for them; their wounds heal, their exhaustion vanishes, and they do not age a single day.
When they finally awaken—feeling completely refreshed and strong enough to continue their epic journey—they pack their boat full of the magical, solid honey blocks left by the water. This divine nourishment sustains them through forty more days of rough sailing across the supernatural seas.
Again we see the little Bee is the divine messenger and also embodies the divine operation of aiding them in their journey throughout the Underworld.
Then we have the Celtic Myth of Saint Gobnait also known as Saint Abagail). It was said, to escape a family feud, she fled to the remote Inis Oírr, where she built a small church. However, one night an angel appeared to her in a vision and told her that this island was not the place of her resurrection. The angel instructed her to travel south until she found a spot where 9 White Deer were grazing together. That exact location would be her true home and the site of her monastery.
Saint Gobnait traveled for miles through the rugged terrain of southern Ireland, keeping a watchful eye out for the sign. First, she saw 3 White Deer at Clondrohid, next, she saw 6 White Deer at Ballymakeera. Finally, she arrived at a secluded, wooded valley in Ballyvourney, where she beheld 9 White Deer resting together. She settled there, founded her convent.
One day, a fierce band of cattle-rustlers and raiders invaded the valley of Ballyvourney to plunder the village. With no soldiers to defend the locals, Gobnait walked out to her hives. She commanded her Bees to swarm.
The Bees flew out in a massive, roaring cloud, relentlessly stinging the invaders and driving them completely out of the territory. The myth ends with Saint Gobnait successfully securing the valley, spending the rest of her days in peace, and achieving her "resurrection" exactly where the angel promised.
So again our archetype remains on point in this Legend of St Gobnait, not only is the Bee a spiritual messenger but also a divine aid who helps her defeat the enemy. We see this theme of the Bee as a divine saving grace continue strongly in all these cross culture stories.
Now let's look to our Indonesian story tellers, they like the Hopi and Navajo have done an impressive job keeping the Flame of Knowledge alight.
In this classic Indonesian shapeshifting folklore tale it begins with a man named Rakian going into the jungle to harvest wild honey. High up in a Mangis tree, he discovers an unusual hive belonging to rare White Bees.
Intrigued by its beauty, he carefully takes the nest home with him. When he returns home, the nest miraculously transforms into a beautiful Orang Bunian, Indonesian name for Divine Human. She agrees to marry Rakian under one strict condition, he must never reveal her true nature as a Bee to anyone in their village.
They live happily for a time, but the myth follows a classic narrative, the goddess is betrayed. One evening, Rakian gets drunk with his friends and accidentally boasts about his wife's secret origin. Heartbroken that her secret has been exposed, the Orang Bunian immediately flees, transforming back into her Bee form and returning to her hive deep in the forest.
Rakian is wracked with guilt for his behavior and searches the jungle for weeks to find her. Upon locating her hive, he deeply apologizes to her and the "Bee-people." The hive accepts his heartfelf apology and allows Rakian to live out his days peacefully among them in the jungle, raising their half-human, half-bee children.
I think we shall leave our Essay with this last myth from the Indonesians when it comes to weaving a story around the Cycles of the Divine Soul, into the archetype of the Honey Bee. They have even managed to insert the symbolic "shape shifting" and "secret identity" of the gods into this Fable as well.
I think the well studied student can easily identify the characteristics our little buzzing friend embodies and is communicating to us. We have the "divine messenger" and "divine aid" usually accompanied by the Divine Soul, often repeated throughout these fables involving this archetype.
Also there is a connection to Knowledge but on an internal, instinctual and practical level, rather than the intellectual Knowledge of the Philosopher.
Figures at a beehive, Jan Punt, 1732
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