Page 24 - The Flickering Cauldron Magazine - June 2022

Bees Working Natures Magic!
Recent news articles have really adjusted our way of thinking about the humble bee and its significance in our daily lives. Yes, we all know that bees are the superpower behind pollination and the production of yummy honey. However, beyond that, we hadn’t really thought much about them. Recent scientific scenarios suggest that if humans cease to exist on our planet, that the Earth would flourish. Whilst if bees were to become extinct the planet would perish. That’s kind of extreme, so we thought we should do a little research into if and how bees feature in practices that are beyond the simple pollination process. We were most surprised to find that bees are not just mentioned in many folklore legends, but are also featured in many points throughout history. The bee was used as a symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt.
There’s shed loads of stuff we’ve found about bees like, If a bee lands on your hand, it means money is coming your way. We didn’t know that worker bees (the ones that produce the honey) are historically symbolic of purity, as they never mate. Nor did we know that a bee may visit over two million flowers to gather enough nectar to make just one pound of honey. No wonder they are associated with hard work.
To the ancient Druids, the bee was symbolic of the Sun, goodness, purity, celebration, and probably most importantly, community. Fermented honey played a major part in all of the sabbat celebrations as it’s the main ingredient of mead which would have been consumed in copious quantities...
Magically, we can certainly learn from the bee. The first lesson is that all life is not simply just connected, it’s interdependent. Remember this when spell casting. Ensure your actions will not create a knock-on effect that may be beyond your control. More importantly, they teach us to be totally focused. Success in our endeavours will be achieved only when we are fully engaged and one-track-minded on our intentions.
An afternoon in the library at Flickering HQ revealed that bees have, for longer than we know, been associated by many ancient cultures with both wealth and health. Bees and honey feature in Norse mythology and we found that the ancient Celts saw the bee as a messenger between the spirit world and the living. We also discovered why these lovely creatures have a sting. It was Jupiter, the king of the Roman Gods’ fault. He gave the honeybees a sting to protect the nectar of the Gods which he saw as his honey. His ever interfering wife Juno however, insisted that in return for this gift a price must be paid - and it was the ultimate price - when a bee uses its sting it will die.
Finally, we will say ‘Dumbledore’. Now we’ve got back your interest.... It’s an old English word for bumblebee. Apparently, J. K. Rowling envisaged the headmaster of Hogwarts as "wandering around the castle humming to himself" and proceeded to very aptly name her character accordingly.
24 | The Flickering Cauldron® Magazine - Bee Magical