You, Me & The Priestess of the Bee

You, Me & The Priestess of the Bee

• Thursday, February 22, 2018

I'm not a bee shaman or priestess.  I'm not a sacred mellisae or honey covered dancer of Oshun.  I'm just a a humble animist who talks to the bees.  I talk to them when they're crawling over the California lilacs, I talk to them when they bounce from sunflower to sunflower.  I keep close to the bees because they keep my flowers happy.  They balance my world and deliver messages.

I use fresh raw honeycombs and bee pollen a lot in my confectionery work, and I keep a lot of bee fetishes around, but it's usually secondary to a deity who rules bee hives or to different floral spirits. It used to be very simple and disconnected, a content respect for a spirit I'd rather not keep constant company with.  Then, like with so many things in life, I had an ah-ha moment, an epiphany in the world of dreams that caused a great change in my perception of the Bee Priestess archetype.  I wont go into details because silence is magic, but what I can say for sure is I felt compelled beyond reason to do a thanks giving ritual which led to a very intense trance which led to spending a day sinking my inspiration into clay on the new moon.

The Honey Summoner

Inside this lovely lady is a heart made from a sunflower seed grown in my partner's family garden, baked by the sun and blessed by the bees.  In her head, where her mind rests, is a small chunk of amber covered in beeswax.  The paint I used for this one had some floral matter mixed in, and she was blessed by the sun on a bed of powdered honey and dandelion heads.  Her duties are to summon the sacred honey from the hive, to pay praises to the bees and the harvester through song and prayer and offerings.  In her hands she carries a bottle of rose-infused honey from a local apiary, or, she can hold a jar of poppy seeds from my family house, or a jar of powdered honey and goldenrod. She is the earthly aspect while her sister is the heavenly one.  The Summoner is a vessel for the spirit of honey collectors, floral landscapers and bee keepers who keep hives for production of consumables; keep her on the altar to personify honey's magic and the power of workers and drones.

Now that this series is complete (until next summer), I can focus on my Sisterhood of the Traveling Mind Series.  So far, I've completed Camellia, Sativa, Salvia and Theobroma.  In the current work to completion: Vinifera, Nicotiana, Coffea, Amanita and Papaver.  I also hope and my Indigenous Mother Series later in the year when my personification series winds down.  I don't think I'll be taking commissions yet, but I do think I'll sell off the series once the Gallery reception they will be featured in passes.

So, here's to following your dreams, creating something from nothing and honoring the messengers who brought you down your path.