On Bees

Despite their humble appearance and the occasional sting, bees have many lessons to share. Being the makers of honey, a central ingredient in mead and honeyed wine, bees have an association with the gods as well as a long standing place in magic and non-magical society. They add sweetness to our lives and rituals and remind us not to work so hard that we forget to taste the 'honey' in our own lives. They tell us that the things of which we dream can be accomplished through perseverance, every day just by flying these wee creatures accomplish a seemingly impossible task.

Bees are most often associated with the qualities of hard work, focus, productivity, cooperation and wealth due to the way that they work in their hive. All aspects of the hive must function properly in order for it to continue to prosper and each individual bee becomes single-minded and sharp focused when performing a task. Due to their instinctive nature to fearlessly defend their home they are also associated with devotion to friends and family. Travel, messages from the gods, connection between the here and the Otherworld, life and death, sexuality and fertility are other traits and phenomena that are sometimes associated with the bee.

In spite of all that, the most important lesson of the bees is a simple one: Don't just take, give back as well. As they gather nectar and travel from flower to flower they help to pollinate the plants thereby giving them the ability to create more flowers or to bear fruit. A healthy population of bees is a gardeners best friend, regardless of the size of their plot. It is this departure from selfishly taking without thought of giving that makes this lesson one which is vitally important to take to heart. Humans seem to have forgotten this cycle, the bees have not.

If bees begin to appear in your life, and not just because it's Spring, take a few moments to sit and think about where your life is at the moment. Are you working so hard that you're forgetting to savor the fruits of your labor? Perhaps you've been in some sort of slump and your time has been anything but productive. What dreams have you been neglecting? Maybe you asked the Universe or the Gods something and the wee winged ones hold the answer you seek. Don't only take to heart the associations listed here; go out and really observe the bees that are around you, for their lessons may differ from these. Be silent and listen.

If you find that the bees move you or you just want to help out a creature that is dwindling despite its significant role in our ecosystems and agriculture, consider doing something for them. Plant a bee garden, filled with plants that are particularly attractive to them. Keep it organic so they don't slurp down chemicals at each meal. If you have a large yard and you won't miss having a chunk of it mowed and clipped allow it to grow tall and sow it with wildflowers and herbs, effectively creating your own mini meadow. Not only will the bees thank you, but birds and other small critters will appreciate it as well.

If you have the money, the space and the patience, consider taking up beekeeping. Yes, you will undoubtedly get stung at some point, but to equalize the hurt you'll have honey, wax and the knowledge that you're helping a thriving bee colony grow.

In nature and in spirituality, bees are truly magical creatures.

Spring In January

Spring seems to be springing extra early this year. I would tell you it was ushered in by the first Robin of Spring but our Robins never flew off, instead they opted to lazily sit in large groups in my back yard while I was camera-less and unable to document their flocking. Instead, it was heralded in by the tulips and honey bees.

Now being from the great white North, this entire space between October and now has felt incredibly off to me. First of all, it's only dropped below 40* two, maybe three, times during the day. I haven't fallen into a state of Seasonal Affective Disorder or a state of deep introspection. Maybe there's been a bit of writer's block, artist block and a few unmotivated days of couch potato-ism, but I'm chalking that up to working 45+ hour weeks strangling the life from my bones. There hasn't been a single snowflake, nor real ice and while there has been frost on my car a few mornings, I haven't had to break out anything heavier than my hoody. My poor wool coat is sitting in the closet sighing sadly as I'm outside weeding the gardens.

Gloves? Who needs stinkin' gloves.

With the lack of deep freezes and it being too dark or chilly when I get home to weed, the vetch, dandelions, crab grasses, etc never died off during the winter and have more or less taken over my back garden. Luckily, it's been gorgeous and I've gotten out twice this week to begin to pluck them away from my strawberries, crocus, roses, sages and lavenders.

With the trees budding, the bees buzzing and the temperature rising, I've been perusing seed catalogs and ordering things for the vegetable garden. We'll be expanding it a wee bit this year, adding another bed and several large ceramic pots to fill in gaps between beds which I plan to fill with herbs and bee attracting flowers. We'll be replacing the musty old mulch with a thick layer of gravel to prevent the return of the great weed takeover and eliminate the moist nastiness that mosquitoes seemed to love last year, as well as building a much more sturdy fence. I plan to actually get some beans this year and not let the rabbits eat all of them.

Still with all this Spring in the air and the fever of it all dancing in my brain, I'm still a bit weirded out that it's only January. I'm a bit weirded out that my birthday will be here in 16 days and it will possibly be classified as a Spring birthday! Not that I'm complaining mind you, I've always hated having a winter birthday since Momma Nature just loves to give me lots of snow every year, but it's definitely taking some getting used to.

P.S. All those extra hours at work were actually good for something (if not my sanity or art). Those photos, right up there? Those were taken with my shiny, new to me camera that I ordered two weeks ago. It feels so good to have one again, I felt like a big part of me was missing the past few months. :)

P.P.S. I'm sad to say, with all that's been going on, I won't be hosting the February Fairies party this year. Perhaps, when things calm down a bit, I can host it in a different month.

Pagan Art Journal: Green Men and Wild Women

It's been a while since I've really sat down to work in any of my art journals. Mostly it's been because I've been feeling burned out; my days have held very little spiritual time lately, consisting primarily of working, eating and sleeping. But like I said in my farewell to 2011 I have a good feeling about 2012 and plan to get into the nitty gritty and really let the essence of me shine through; I'm not letting anything suck the life out of me or send me to the shits anymore.

And so, a return to art and to journaling is in order. While I was planning on working on something in my giant art journal, the wee book I've dedicated to becoming my pagan art journal called out to be used instead. I suppose my spirit wanted time for both art and spirituality, how could I deny it?

This spread was originally the beginning of a background which would house my thoughts on Yule. However, when I looked at the greens and yellows, I saw someone there. And as I looked further, I realized there were two someones. I worked over the areas without conscious thought, in thin layers of white paint and revealed there lords of the green and growing things:

This page was absolutely magical for me to work on, as the faces emerged I felt energized. In my practice, the Lord and Lady of the Greenwood are the two deities with whom I work most frequently and with whom I most connect. They call to me from the deep woods, from the gardens, they reveal themselves to me in the flicker of leaves. It is their cycles and spaces with which I am most in tune and where I am most at peace.

Then this past week, while on my lunch break at work, I had the urge to write a sort of ode to Wild Woman. And so I scribbled on the back of an envelope and once home broke out the journal. I began to sketch and once pleased, inked the line work and painted the pages. I wanted to convey both night and day as well as Earth and Sky in the color work, so the page is colorful and a bit mottled. I've opted to keep the illustrations white for now because I like the contrast with the background:

The text, a reminder and call to all daughters of the Wild Woman:

I am that which dwells in the deep forest, the music of rivers, the scent of moss and mud. I am the glint you recognize in the stars, the changing seasons, the running wolf. I am the soaring hawk and the delicacy of a feather. I am that which tugs at your feet, urging you to dance, to run and the sing your songs from mountain tops. I draw you to bask in sun and to quest by moon. I am Wild Woman, I am all around and within you.

I needed this reminder and somewhere out there, I know someone else will too. Be well, my lovelies.

The Greatest Gift I've Received

Beneath my tree this year, were a variety of wonderful, thoughtful gifts from a wonderful hairy man, who likes to joke about and (to some extent) has a hard time shopping for me. Among my plethora of gifts was a hand carved wooden elephant and turtle from his trip to the Dominican Republic, beautiful wool fingerless gloves/mittens, tasty treats, the brand new set of tavern mouselings from Reaper Miniatures and a gorgeous deck of playing cards from the Ukraine (from whence my paternal grandfather came).

And while these gifts are all wonderful and thoughtful the greatest gifts I received were the ones he was most nervous about giving me. The first, a large box filled to bursting with shredded paper held a partial doe skull (he was nervous that I would be upset that she was jaw-less, I was not.) and a wild card, a complete (and beautiful) badger skull:

He was, again, a bit nervous about this one because he had no reason for choosing a badger, he just did. He felt better when I unwrapped it, squealed in delight and proceeded to go badger, badger, badger at it. What can I say? Sometimes I'm a silly witch. I've never worked with badger before, but this little fellow sent massive voltage up my arm and makes me tingle (in a not unpleasant way) when I hold it so I'll be looking further into the medicine of Badger. I'll post more on this wee skull and the critter inside in the future.

The gift he was most nervous about, and in fact even warned me that it was lame, was the final gift he presented me on Christmas morning. I unwrapped it with my newly mitted hands and was a wee bit confused at first, as it was a box made from corrugated cardboard and duct tape. But then I saw there was a note inside and proceeded to read:

I wanted to get you a very special present but I had some difficulties because it is so personal. So let me tell you what it is not... --->

I picked up the note and behind it, was a second note and this:

It is not a whimsical broom. --->

I picked up the second note:

It is not a fancy knife. --->

I picked up the third note to reveal the final one:
But it could be. It could be whatever you want it to be, just point it out when you find it. This is a promise, not a gift card.

I burst into tears and wrapped my arms around this man who loves every single aspect of me, accepts it all and actually encourages me to be who and what I am. Never before have I had a gift move me to tears. The wee broom that he made with fallen birch branch and twine that he unwound to make the head is sitting on my altar, a beautiful tool for cleansing my space or my head. The knife, while not sharp, is in my cabinet awaiting a use. It turns out, that the gift he thought was the lamest, was actually the best - and one of the best ever. A reminder that no matter what others may say or do, there will always be one bright, shining star of acceptance in my horizons. And that, is the greatest gift I could ever ask to receive.