Praying for Honeybees
by Ruby Sara
(Many thanks to Hecate for the link)
Honeybees are dying in huge numbers from a mysterious ailment known as Colony Collapse Disorder
I wish there were words for the shot of pure, devastating, icy, desperate, soul-deep horror, sadness and fear that rocked through me as I read this article.
When pieces of the web begin to break down, it all breaks down. When we spend years ignoring the inevitable consequences of our civilized hubris, it all breaks down. And whole pieces of the world, of richness and beauty, of perfect workings, of honey and fruit, are all lost. And the scramblings of scientists, asking themselves ridiculous fucking questions (“maybe pesticides affect honeybees?”), and telling us to self-pollinate pumpkin flowers by incestuously knocking their own pollen back into themselves with special sprays (this is something the garden store told my intrepid partner two years ago), all are merely the disjointed, ugly dances of bandaid “solutions,” ignorance, denial and distraction.
What am I supposed to do with this despair?
Prayer for the Honeybees
Golden Sisters - do not leave us
I am sorry, I am sorry
I am so sorry -
The pumpkin vines and apple boughs
are heavy with sweetness, their empty blossoms,
pouring out their hearts to you,
as I pour out my soul.
Sister Messengers, Soothsayers,
Beloved Ones of the Mother.
Sacred Cousins – through you
we eat light – we taste joy.
Do not leave us.
Do not leave us.
I am so sorry.
Mother – protect the Sisters.
Mother – I come to you with my hands open.
Mother – protect the Sisters.
With my voice and my heart and my body,
I say here: this is me speaking
I say here: this is me praying
I say here: this is me fighting
We have not received their gifts
and we have not heard their voices.
I am so sorry.
Mother, protect the Sisters.
Sisters, do not leave us.
I am only one voice,
mourning the empty flowers,
and breaking my heart
for the tongues of bees.
-sigh-
I’m sending a link to this post to everyone I know who will say this prayer, or one of their own.
Your prayer made me tear up. This is so, so sad, and we humans are so, so stupid.
That prayer is so touching.
wow….
A truly beautiful prayer. It seems like things get bleaker and bleaker everyday. Makes me fear for what the future will bring. Whats the point of flowers without bees?
Funny. I blogged the same story. This impels me to my altar and terrifies me, just as it does you. Meanwhile, here in the patriarchy, we distract ourselves with games of war.
A beautiful prayer for a beautiful part of our world.
I join in your prayers for the honey bees.
Thank you, Sara-your poem also brought tears to my eyes .(Drat-at work, too!).
Colony Collapse disorder sounds like something we’ve been going through in Africa for years now-and yes, I also felt that chill wind when I first read about it, on Hecate’s blog.
Love,
Terri in Joburg
my,my,my-what a fucking mess we have made. Shame on us. What to do, what to do.
Dearest Dark and Bright Ones,
I add my prayers to yours.
In Shadow and in Flame,
Blessed Be.
Michael/BrightCrow
The Melissa goddess — One who most neopagans have ignored for a long time.
Rather than a word-based prayer, may I suggest a moving prayer? Provide habitat for bees. Get a mason bee colony as a way to get started. There are plenty of resources available, such as: http://www.knoxcellars.com. Then, move up to Honeybees.
Prayer in action.
West
West,
Yes, indeed, thank you for commenting – action is one of the crucial myriad ways we as Pagans should pray in the face of such heartbreaking devastation as this. As word-based prayers function to give us an outlet for our pain, so too do action-based prayers help us to place our bodies on the path of doing and being. It takes all tactics and methods to fight and pray in this messed up worldview we live in. Thank you for the link! Pollinators of all kinds are so critical, and Orchard Mason Bees, as native pollinators, are vastly important to our native ecosystems in America!
-S
Hi,
A note to let you know about this article, a current issue being addressed by the Earth Vision project -
“Why the Bees Are Dying”
Using spiritual ecology to bring environmentalism to the next level, the EV project has several current newsworthy items.
To access them, visit:
Current Environmental Issues (on the Earth Vision site)
Thanks for your attention,
Josef Graf
Earth Vision + Insight21
answers for the 21st Century
http://www.evsite.net + http://www.insight21.net
Beautiful Poem Great Post,
thought you might enjoy my machinima film about bees and permaculture
Bright Blessings
elf ~