Last week, on a beautiful warm sunny day, the smell from rendering beeswax wafted outside and two bees found their way inside the house. I could hear their buzz, and soon found them at our south-facing picture window helplessly trying to find a way out.
The temperature was dropping, and rain was about to greet us. I needed to get them outside again so they could find their way back to the hive. In attempts to move them outside, I tried to entice them to walk onto my fingers, but they were reluctant to do so.
Then I remembered the local honey on our shelves, and so like a fairy I pranced over to put a tiny bit on my finger. When I came back into their presence I placed my finger again in one of the bee’s pathway and immediately she took to my finger. The second one too.
The bees stayed on my fingers as we got outside, then I brought my finger up to my face to look at them closely. One felt my breath and leapt off my finger and flew in circles around me. A bit of fear still twinged within me of being stung, mostly due to my uncertainty of how my body would react; would I go into shock? Or with a little plantain would I emerge with just a bit of local swelling and slight sting?
This reminds me now of the fear that can arise when we are in a time of darkness not knowing what is ahead. This is when we too can easily become trapped by following a system that appears to be a guiding light rather than meeting within our own darkness to find our light of true guidance.
The bees seem to share an antidote when we need to find our way through the darkest moments. This became apparent to me as I was watching a video of bees within their dark hive buzzing along their golden comb. I noticed how their black and yellow stripes symbolize so clearly that they represent both: the darkness and the rays of light.
The bees being stuck in the window signify this darkest time of year. A time to question what is within ourselves that pulls out our light. This inner light will help remove us from where we are stuck, and need to let go, to follow that which is most beneficial for us.
Sometimes when we feel stuck and can’t find our way out, we must wait for those rays of honey to find us and guide us. Perhaps it isn’t the right time and eventually the energy will align for all to fall into place.
Other moments we must use discernment between what is pleasurable to our inner light and what may trick and trap us, such as the bees desperately trying to return back to their hive via the window that was letting in the light, but yet this seemingly lit way was not the way through.
We often follow the wrong path because we are taught a structure to move through life, whether or not it aligns to our soul’s purpose and organic way of being here on the planet at this time. Due to this structure, many of us have been conditioned to follow the authority of another rather than our inner guide which holds a creative well of inspiration and an abundance of possibilities.
The other night, I dreamt that men from many different cultural backgrounds came to visit us. They were so joyful to be with; there was laughter and smiles. One of the memorable parts of this dream was that they were deeply filled with gratitude for the food we had creatively made for them. They had this energy about them that told me they were living in such a way that was for the greater whole. And in doing so they could offer their deepest creative inspirations as well as their deepest joys. They did not have to hold themselves back in any way from fully expressing and living out their purest nature. For their purest nature was for the greatness of the whole. They reminded me of the bees.
Then a different sort of man came in. He demanded much, and I was so nervous to feed him food. I was worried that he wouldn’t like it. We fed him plain food due to his restrictive pallet and we came up short and didn’t have enough food. There was this energy of unease, with the constant pressure to please this one man. A communal sense of well-being was vacant.
The bees shared with me a feeling of their own work. It was light and joyful. There wasn’t someone to please, but rather they worked to their divine essence which inherently supported the whole.
During this dark time of year, as we shift back into the light, can you feel any places within you that hold the sweetness to carry you into the light? When you feel into this, how does it feel within your body? (Perhaps listen to the humming of bees while connecting with your inner guidance.)
Feel how your being resonates with this before you begin to understand how to practically make it happen. For the light of inspiration and the imagination must come before any type of arrangement may be made.
It is quite fantastical when we begin to move in such a way - noticing what lights us up inside - and follow these breadcrumbs. In this way we too can flourish in a wholesome life-honoring way.
With love,
Louise and the Bees.