This month's altar honours Magna Mater ("Great Mother"), the Roman version of the goddess originally known as Cybele. Among her many attributes, Magna Mater was revered as a Bee Goddess. Bees have been sacred to the Divine Feminine for thousands of years in many civilizations. Bees were seen as magical by our forebears because they produce the Divine gift of honey, which can both nourish and heal. In the ancient world, honey was the only anti-bacterial healing agent available for use in wound care to prevent infection and death.
Fittingly, this bee candle is made of beeswax. The flower candle is standard paraffin wax. My goddess statue came from Sacred Source about 15 years ago and has previously appeared in my Cybele full moon altar post. The centre bee-themed altar cloth is a 2009 souvenir from Glastonbury's Goddess Temple.
The main altar cloth is a tea towel given to me a couple of years ago by Mistress Maddie of A Day With The Mistress Boghese, along with "Bee Happy." The buzzing bee beside it was a charming gift from an Edmonton friend.
This lovely art glass hive with honeybee is by an Alberta artist whose name I can't remember now. It's one of the first things I bought when I moved to Edmonton 27 years ago. The bee jewelry was all bought in Alberta too.
This brass representation of a traditional straw bee skep is half of a very heavy pair of bookends found at an antique sale in Winnipeg about 40 years ago. Love it!
And finally, the piece of laser-engraved driftwood was created by a crafter in Maui. Since bees spend their lives seeking pollen to turn into honey, I think the driftwood's spiritual message is perfect for this altar!
[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2024]
This is a lovely altar, perfect choices. I like how you relate the people and places it brings together.
ReplyDeleteit's so pretty! i love the bookend. i am always attracted to bee things. i found one sleeping on a daisy a few days ago and my daughter gave it a drink which revitalized it and it flew away.
ReplyDelete...yes, bee happy!
ReplyDeleteLove the glass hive! Bees are so brilliant!
ReplyDeleteWe’d be in a sad state without bees! Love that altar.
ReplyDeleteMy garden is just buzzing with pollinators so I think your alter is perfect for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteHoney is magical, and as its producer bees are worthy of worship.
ReplyDeleteYour altar is bee-utifully put together!
ReplyDeletebobbie
Very interesting and so appropriate. People are waking up now and realizing how important bees are. Love the glass hive........very cool.
ReplyDeleteI love that beehive egg. So cute. Your alter rocks.
ReplyDeleteI was sad to hear Brother #3's bees did not make it and he wouldn't be trying again anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! I LOVE the Bee jewelry. I always kept a bee skep in my gardens over the years. My uncle, farm next to our own, kept bees and had absolutely no fear of them and never got stung. He put bees on our farm next to the clover fields so I grew up eating clover honey. There is nothing like it in the world.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful Sunday- xo Diana
Although I love and appreciate bees, while being severely allergic to bee stings, I have a kind of panic reaction at close-ups of real bees (which is better than I used to be; I didn’t even like cartoon bees at one time). This post didn’t cause any panic. Beautiful items. I especially love the art glass, but also love the other pieces.
ReplyDeleteThis month's full moon falls on the 55th annniversary of the Moon landing...
ReplyDeleteAnd on a bee note: of course the Divine Feminine considers bees to be sacred; after all they are all her sisters doing the work.
And here is a photo of some of those sacred workers on some Saguaro blooms earlier this spring.
I love this particular plant; it has a couple arms that swoop right down to a convenient height for photographs, and it's right on my bike ride into work, so I get to see it every day.
@ NanaDiana -- Oh yes, clover honey is the BEST! That's what I grew up eating too!
ReplyDelete@ Moving with Mitchell -- I'm glad this post didn't cause you stress.
ReplyDelete@ bruce.desertrat -- Thanks for the link to your photo of the bees on the Saguano flowers. I've never seen that beautiful flower before!
ReplyDeleteLove the glass hive...Clover honey is great..nice alter!!
ReplyDeleteSummer reruns already? I was wondering when you would run out of goddesses. Fortunately I adore bees, so this altar is quite appealing.
ReplyDeleteAs usual a beautiful alter. And perfect for now. We definitely need some mother love in the world right now
ReplyDeleteBlessed be )0(
Did not know bees were ever considered spiritual, but it all makes sense now.
ReplyDeleteThat art glass hive is stunning!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're surrounded by beautiful, meaningful treasures.
Bees should be worshiped before anything else. They are the givers of food.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't realized the importance of bees in history. The reverence for bees should never diminish, so vital are they to our survival.
ReplyDeleteHello Debra, No surprise that some of your best items went into this altar. I especially like the glass hive and brass bookend(s)--truly beautiful treasures.
ReplyDelete--Jim
For me, full moons mean one thing: werewolf time!
ReplyDeleteWhat a BEE-UTIFUL altar this month! From an aeronautical standpoint, bees should not be able to fly and yet they do... My bee pins remind me to have the courage to do difficult things too!
ReplyDeleteI love your July alter. Bees are a big favourite of mine in the insect kingdom. Without them we are in big trouble. I managed to do my affirmations during the Full Moon but really need to make more effort with an alter.
ReplyDeletethe lady in white looks phenomenal wow
ReplyDeletei loved how you shared about her ,your purchases are too old yet really neat you look after things with intense love i bet :)
the antique brass is truly amazing ,majestic piece undoubtedly
bees are considered sacred and mentioned in holy book as well
thanks for beautiful sharing
What a gorgeous and perfect altar. Of course you have plenty of bee themed treasures to decorate with. The Magna Mater is serene on her throne, surrounded by her divine symbols. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteKudos, you've collected a wonderful display of bee art/crafts.
ReplyDeleteYes people are starting to wake up the role of bees in our very survival, but all the attention is on honeybees, there are dozens of other types of bees who pollinate flowers/plants making the pretty world go round. Be nice to all of them... but don't be fooled by those asshole yellow jackets.
xoxoxoBruce