A Bee's Flight of Fantasy - It's all in the Name

In 1992, I wrote a letter to my friend in which I said that because of her anxious feelings about a political power from the East or Asia invading California (today's political scene creates an entirely different feeling of possibility now), that I wanted to share some thoughts about the bee as symbolized in Isaiah’s last days scenario.

            “You mentioned the type and shadow of flies and then bees as orderly, militaristic, etc. Well, the bee has been a favored symobl of mine since childhood because it was my initials. But, recently, like in March, the bee came up significantly again in my studies. Let me share.

            “I love (Hugh) Nibley’s books. Often, I will try to find his comments on a favored subject. I became fascinated with the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. Nibley has written a marvelous book called Abraham in Egypt” 1981, Deseret Book Co. We could spend many delightful hours in a study group on this book, however the discourse I wish  you to consider is on deseret the honeybee, about page 241.(Chapter VII The Deseret Connection pp 225-245)

“The very earliest myths of antiquity hold up the bee to be sacred. So sacred, in fact, that the visual or image of the bee itself is never used as it would profane it. Interestingly, it appears that bee keeping (apiculture) was found nowhere else in the world and was kept as a “trade secret” or monopoly of the kings or Pharoah of Egypt. The bee was translated from hieroglyphics as Dšr and has the basic meaning of “opening the way for someone be it God’s way to the temple or a migration through the desert. [ie. The Lord’s Way] Now when in Egyptian it is written Dš·t it is a name applied to sacred books (the sealed portions?) the secret archives, but especially to the holy land, the land of the gods; as an intransitive verb it means to be holy or glorious; it designates places as “set apart” or “removed to a sacred place.” In this connection it means to honor, praise, exalt, adorn, protect, purify. Of temples it means to make glorious, and beautiful, to sanctify, dedicate.

“ ‘Essene’ means leader of the bees or ‘king bee [ie queen bee]. Legends speak of bee-led migrations at the dawn of history, seeking not commerce but refuge from storm, and starvation – survival. What ties all this together is the story of Asenath, the Eqyptian princess or Queen of the Desert Hive who became Joseph’s wife, the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh. She was married to Joseph in the midst of a swarm of bees, bringing her honey and covering her person to do her reverence.”

Is this Ancient Story the Beginning of the Bridal Veil Custom?”

I was surprised to discover that “There was never any real apiculture” in Mosopaotamia, according to J.R. Forbes’ study, and “wild honey or apiculture do not form a part of ancient Chinese civilization.”(376:79).  Something so basic and elementary as the fact that bee culture should be found in such a limited area of the world, concludes Nibley, is a “definite indication that we are dealing with a single religious tradition and not with a universal primitive expression of biological necessity.” (p 242)

Since the discover of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the name Essene has come into common usage. These were pious communities living in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine and Greece that had the common requirements of chastity and charity in service to God and man. Nibley says, “The word Essene first appears in the works of a poet who served at the court of a Ptolemid Pharaoh, who remarks in his Hymn to Zeus that the god did not become the “Essene” or supreme ruler of the gods by chance, but by merit.”

Nibley, after going through quite a detailed review of historic studies of the bee by various scholars, draws a conclusion that I wanted my friend Karen to read about and draw her own conclusions. Although reading the story of Deborah (her name means bee) in the Old Testament, one might rightly conclude that because she led the troops to victory, that the bee might be a militaristic symbol. Here is what Nibley concludes:

Why has the Bee Been Brought Back into the Restored Gospel?

“Repeated echoes from the remote past keep reminding us that the office and calling of the bee was to bring about the stirrings of life, reviving the biological cycle in a world that had been totally ravaged by cosmic forces of destruction. Is, then, Deseret waiting in the wings, held in reserve against the day, soon to come, when its salutary services will be required again?”

“From the first the symbol of the bee captivated the imagination of the Latter-day Saints in their migrations and their settlements; the emblematic hive became the seal of the Territory and State and adorned every important edifice within the vast expanse of “our lovely Deseret.” Finally, by what strange coincidence does the History of the Church end with the sign of the bee? After the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, “the bodies…were removed…at Emma’s request, to near the Mansion house, and buried side by side, and the bee house was then moved and placed over their graves.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church 6:628f.)

This BEE will see whether Isaiah's bee is militaristic or migratory or if after a universal/national destruction, it is salvation in the desert. How on earth is one to "see" what Isaiah is really telling us about today's world. I hope you will keep up with my blog about A Genealogist Looks at Isaiah and ponder along with me as I search the scriptures.

Why are the Bees Dying Today?

There has been a recent mysterious decline or dying off of bees within the United States. Interestingly, the study of this phenomenon is centered right here in Tucson, Arizona at the University of Arizona, located right smack dab in the middle of  MY DESERT. More on this in later blogs.