Melissa – Goddess of the Bees by Cat Stone 2012
Prismacolor, fine liners, acrylic paint.
Melissa is a given name for a female
child. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (melissa),
"honey bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (meli),
"honey"...... Melissa also refers to the plant known as
lemon balm (family Lamiaceae; genus and species Melissa officinalis).
Bees are sacred to Venus, they are the
symbol of the Goddess and the Sacred Feminine. Venus is the ultimate
feminine energy. Venus rules Fridays, beauty, harmony and nectar of
life. She is the Goddess of Love. She represents joy, rapture, art,
music, food, indulgence, attraction, desire. In Greek mythology
Venus is Aphrodite from whose name comes the word "aphrodisiac,"
that which induces desire. From Venus' name comes the word
"venereal," which literally means "of lust."
Albert Einstein, once said that "if
the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, man would have only
four years to live".
It is estimated that one third of the
human food supply is down to insect pollination, most of which is
done by the honeybee. Bees are being affected by Colony Collapse
disorder, which is when a hive suddenly lose all it's worker bees.
The hive suffers and dies. The bee population in the United Kingdom
dropped by around 30% between 2007 and 2008. Pesticides are also
killing our bees. Seeds sown with pesticide results in contaminated
nectar.
After six weeks, colonies exposed to the pesticide were
lighter than the others, suggesting that workers had brought back
less food to the hive. But the most dramatic effect was on queen
production. The naturally-fed hives produced around 14 queens each -
those exposed to the pesticide, just two
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17535769)
Bee's are truly important to human
life. As a feminine symbol, they conjure up images of millions of
dedicated Melissae, working for Gaia, Mother Earth, keeping it alive.
Their pollinations brings us fruit, flowers, plants.. the world
would be very different without bees. The queen bee gives life to
all the other bees. Far from being in control, she is their main
life source. She will populate the hive. A good queen bee can lay
2000 eggs per day in the spring.
The symbol in the centre is the symbol
of the sacral chakra. The sacral chakra is located below the navel
in the area of the womb. It is the centre for creativity, for
emotions, feelings, sexuality, manifestation, balance, honouring
relationships and learning to let go. It is coloured orange, and
it's element is water. Water is mutable, flowing, and feminine.
Honey is one of the foods connected to helping cleanse and open up
the sacral chakra.
The mandala features the Flower if Life pattern:
The Flower of Life is the modern name
given to a geometrical figure composed of multiple evenly-spaced,
overlapping circles. It is considered by some to be a symbol of
sacred geometry, said to contain ancient, religious value depicting
the fundamental forms of space and time.
There are many
spiritual beliefs associated with the Flower of Life; for example,
depictions of the five Platonic solids are found within the symbol of
Metatron's Cube, which may be derived from the Flower of Life
pattern. These Platonic solids are geometrical forms which are said
to act as a template from which all life springs.
The basic symmetry of the Flower of
Life - radiating hexagonally outward from the centre and branching
off into more hexagonally radiating structures - is also the basic
shape of a snowflake. Life originally evolved in water, and all life
on Earth requires water as the essential compound of life. Therefore,
an additional aspect to the symbolism is to be found in the fact that
the geometrical structure of crystallized water is also the basic
structure of the Flower of Life
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_of_Life).
To find out more about helping preserve
our bees, follow some of these links!
All artwork
© Cat Stone 2012
Blessed Bee xx
