It’s one of my favorite secular days of the year. It’s a day to educate oneself about the world’s pollinators and their importance—I don’t just focus on honey bees, they have another day on August 17th (the others probably have their own days, too). I also celebrate Honey Bees on August 1st.
Today is a great day to:
Learn about all of the different pollinators in the world—bees, wasps, bats, moths, butterflies, etc.
Plant some pollinator friendly plants, preferably plants that are local to your area.
Eat some honey foods and beverages, fruits, and edible flowers. A favorite kid friendly beverage my family has is Fairy Milk—the recipe I use is warm milk, cinnamon, and honey. Favorite adult bev is mead. Or we may just have a simple piece of bread with honey on it, or something more elaborate like honey cake.
Learn about the history and medicinal properties of honey.
Read. There’s a lot of books about pollinators, from childrens to scholarly; scientific and spiritual. Some books that I’ve read are (albeit most are about honey bees):
Ashley, Elizabeth. Meeting the Melissae: The Ancient Greek Bee Priestesses of Demeter. Has spiritual, historical, and scientific facts.
Barton, Bethany. Give Bees a Chance. (Childrens)
Buxton, Simon. The Shamanic Way of the Bee. Just be warned that this book has a lot of drama around it. Claims that although its presented as nonfiction, it is fiction. Claims of plagiarism, too.
Howard, Jules. Encyclopedia of Insects. (Childrens)
Levine, Sara. Flower Talk: How Plants Use Color to Communicate. (Childrens)
Polacco, Patricia. The Bee Tree. (Childrens)
Neye, Emily. Honeybees. (Childrens)
Ransome, Hilda M. The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore. Has spiritual, historical, and scientific facts from different cultures and religions. This is an older book, so some things are outdated.
Watt, Fiona. That’s Not my Bee… (Childrens)
Arts and crafts, especially from recycled materials. In the past, my kids and I have made garlands from cutting bee shapes out of old milk jugs. We’ve also made mobile hives, origami bees, bee plushies, and crocheted hives for gratitude notes (“honeysweets”).
A Hike—especially to parks/places with lots of flowers. Make it better with a camera!
Learn about Ethical Beekeepers and the history.
See about visiting apiaries.
Water stations for thirsty pollinators.
Sugar water station (I’ve read that honey from other hives can make other pollinators sick).
Learn about how bad chemical pesticides and other poisons are for the environment.
Switch to natural pesticides and repellents.
Meditate/Trance with images/figures of bee/pollinators in whatever way is comfortable for you—inside, outside, in a tent.
And more!
Of course, I like to add some spiritual elements, too, especially as a devotee of The Melissae—Bee Spirits, Priestesses, Dancers, Deities. We do the science and the spiritual together, me and the kids. We do a little ritual, doing the Waggle Dance to raise energy for the Bee Spirits and whatever are intention is, and give offerings to the Nature Spirits.
Just a few Entities associated with Bees:
Ariadne (Minoan)
Artemis (Ephesian)
Beyla (Norse)
Demeter (Greek)
Persephone (Greek)
The Melissae (Minoan, Greek)
Nantosuelta (Celtic)
Some Spiritual/Magikal Correspondences of Honey:
Good for sweetening spells—spells meant to make people/situations nicer.
Good for magiks where you have to slow things down or utilize the stickiness of honey.
Honey as a preservative and/or with Death Work. Supposedly honey never goes bad. In The Sacred Bee by Ransom, the ancients used honey to preserve their dead, either indefinitely or until burial.
Also with Death Work, in many cultures and spiritual paths, Bees are seen as Psychopomps guiding the dead to the Spirit World or as souls themselves, either going to the Spirit World or leaving to be reborn.
In my work with The Melissae, when someone (person, pet) dies I make prayers to Bee to guide the spirits home. In the astral, I’ve traveled on the backs of bees to help spirits cross over, too.
Honey as a healer. Honey has many medicinal properties.
On August 1st, my family and I celebrate Honeysweet, which is a day to honor the Bee Entities and celebrate the pollinators. We have a gratitude jar, which is a hive that I’ve crocheted. On this day, we write out things that we’re grateful for and things that make us happy (it can also be things you hope to attract). These things are our Honeysweets. The Honeysweets are what will help us through the dark months ahead, just as bees feed on honey throughout the winter. When we need some joy or reminders, we reach into the hive and pull out a piece of paper/photo (sometimes we turn our paper/photos into origami bees).
I used to suffer from really bad depression and often had suicidal thoughts. My therapist introduced me to Gratitude Jars. I just turned the jar into a hive, inspired by honey bees.
Gratitude Honeysweet Hive Crocheted by Priestess Foxlyn
Whether it’s just me or my family, I also like to do divination using either the Bee Tarot by Kristopher Hughes, Animal Spirit by Kim Krans, Liminal Spirit Oracle by Laura Tempest Zakroff, or the Hedgewitch Botanical Oracle by Siolo Thompson.
Today I’ll do a Collective Reading using the Bee Tarot.
Melissae, what is your message for the Hearth Fox Oracle readers?
“Joy” “Absence of” “Too much fear and doom.” “Unplug” “Reevaluate”
Prince of Pentacles - Stay focused on your immediate goals; avoid distractions. Get your To Do List done first, then focus on other goals later. Be mindful and productive.
3 of Swords - Breathe. Ground and Center. Gather yourself, your strength, resilience, thinking, and emotions. You need self control now to see through the scary and uncertain future. Be present.
8 of Pentacles Reversed - You’ve become a workaholic and neglected other important things and relationships in your life. Take a moment and reevaluate your life. What’s more important and how can you make changes for the better?
Stop. Breathe, ground, and center yourself. You may be burned out and afraid. Be present and self aware. Gather yourself and reevaluate your life. What changes can you make for a happier, healthier, safer life? Focus on the immediate first, deal with the other stuff later.
Melissae, do you have anything else?
“No.”
Melissae, I thank you for your wisdom and guidance on this World Bee Day.
Due to the amount of plant sperm in the air today, I may just do something simple with my family, with limited outdoor time. Have us each write our joys on paper for the hive. Do a little Waggle Dance to help us deal with the immediate first. Give offerings of sugar water to the Nature Spirits. Draw messages from Bee for my kids using one of their favorite animal themed decks. Eat some honey bread, and end the night with Give Bees a Chance.
Happy World Bee Day yall!
Thanks for all of the Hearts, Follows, Subscribing, Purchases, Bookings, and Recommendations. I really do appreciate the support.
Trust in Sunna. Trust in Joy. Follow the Bees…
~ Priestess Foxlyn