Melissa – Goddess of the Bees 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).
- Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa)
The Melissae - At the temple of Aphrodite at Eryx, priestesses were called “melissae”, which means “bees,” and Aphrodite herself was called Melissa, the queen bee. To read more http://beelore.com/2008/01/20/the-melissae-and-aphrodite-in-ancient-greece/
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!
British Beekeepers Association http://www.bbka.org.uk/
Help save Bees http://www.helpsavebees.co.uk/index.html
Save our Bees.org http://www.saveourbees.org.uk/
Vanishing of the Bees http://vanishingbees.co.uk/
Bees for development http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/
Bumblebee Conservation Trust http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/
Bees Abroad http://www.beesabroad.org.uk/
]]>
