All day I’ve been wanting to get outside and speak to the bees. As the afternoon passes I find myself distracted sweeping the floor, tending to the constant urge to maintain a clean home. A honeybee flies in and circles me, and seems to look me in my eyes saying, it’s time.
I finally allow myself to let go of household duties and go sit with them. I share about my friend’s beautiful healthy baby who was born at home, the kitten drama, and that it’s almost Aurora’s second birthday. As I’m sharing, a bee lands on me and another seems to be flying around me. I have sat with them many times now, and they have yet to land on me like this.
I feel residual moments of fear, as I did when one of our kittens earlier this week seemed to be touching death.
I stay calm, and feel a loving sensation for this bee that also reminds me of my love for our kittens. I like to imagine that my relationship with the bees have entered a new layer as they felt my readiness for them to walk on my skin, though it could also be a sweetness left over on me from cleaning in the kitchen.
This fear and loving calm reminds me of my episode with our affectionate fluffy grey kitten, named Pinky by Aurora.
Last week, Pinky was on our floor, barely able to lift her head up. She was so weak her back legs wouldn’t hold her up. This came on suddenly, and there were many moments I thought we were going to lose her. In my panic I’d go to my phone and try to figure out an emergency vet situation. In my calm I gave her medicine, broth, and water, her licking it off my finger. It was in those moments of calm when my intuition knew what to do.
Pinky stayed under our bed all night and the next morning she was still not moving, and barely drinking any water. Still, I felt calm. I was feeling completely at peace with the action I took, and had accepted her death if she was ready to go.
That morning as her sister came bounding in the room, and Aurora was waking up, she began to move some more. She eventually came out to the porch, and began to eat again. She decided to stay, and we were overjoyed to see these kittens playing together shortly thereafter.
I am reminded of this oscillating sensation between fear and love as I sit with these bees crawling on me. By moving through these fears with the kitten, I have bonded more deeply with Pinky, and with my own abilities to care for our felines. I came through with greater clarity and inspiration to feed them and our family nourishing foods and herbs that naturally support our bodies.
Learning how to support the body with plants has been so important to my journey for the last decade or so. This relationship with the plants is calling us all back together as more and more people are creating a lifestyle that is intertwined with our plant kin.
This ties in beautifully with the bee messages for this New Moon in Leo.
“Look at the way we enter and leave our hive. Imagine what it must be like for a bee to take her first flight, never having seen outside the darkness of the hive. The ones who have gone before assist in leading the younger bees in the light and into their first flight. Leaving the comfort of all you’ve known can be scary, but it’s much easier to move into the light and find yourself flying when you have others there to support you. So if you are ready to step on a new path and fly into the unknown, seek support from those who have flown before you. In this way you too may prepare yourself to fly.”
I too relish in appreciation for my first herbal teachers, and I feel a deep gratitude towards the Berea Urban Farm for supporting my journey with the bees.
For me I’m about to begin weaving together my years of teaching in South Korea with my herbal training by supporting children in their growth and fascination with plants.
For my first public kids’ herbal workshop, I’ll be setting up an Herbal Scavenger Hunt at the Goldenrod Gathering. This will be held in this valley at Sylvatica Farm on Saturday, August 26th. This is a free event with herbal workshops, vendors, dinner, cordials, and plant loving folk.
With a high impact retrograde season currently underway, many of us are going to feel beckoned towards something new that shifts our life. So I wonder, what are you feeling an excitement to fly towards?
With love and gratitude,
Sacha Louise and the Bees