Hot and Dry

     The BEE in this Arizona Desert is surviving the hottest and driest July in the history of Arizona. I'm glad I live in Tucson, because it was only 108 today, not the 110 of Phoenix.

     Bees have water gatherers that bring back moisture. Some of the workers start flapping their wings, some in the doorway. These bees are smart, they work together for the benefit of the whole hive to keep it cool.

     Did you know that bees recognize colors and that they recognize their hive if it's a certain color and oriented in a particular direction? 

     Now these cute bee houses/hives are in England, I believe. But if you look closely you will see many at the door/slit of the nearest house. 

    Now here's a comment from me that is just out of left field. My last name is Field and I saw a blogger post with the name Left Field. So that thought took me to Right Field. If I posted under that name would I be unabashedly saying I'm right? No, that wouldn't do. What about Middle Field? Would I then be walking down the median of mediocrity or as another LDS blogger says "That's Adequate!" their slogan. LOL.

Here's signing off:

BEEField 

BEEgining a New Year

     Each year in December I review my journal pages, where I keep my current goals, and then ponder and pray while rereading my patriarchal blessing. Phrases stand out as I am inspired to select a theme and then slowly, the Holy Ghost reveals a pathway that I should follow during the upcoming year.
     I've repeated this process over the past twenty+ years. It is sort of like starting a new hive. Here is a wonderful ten minute video about how to start a new hive that I found while simply clicking on my computer's Word template page's "how to" selection. Amazing what you can find with just a little curiosity.

How is this post like Dan making a new hive?

     First I have done this before and I have all of the equipment I need for my new posts including my 2013 journal (new hive box), my patriarchal blessing (the honeycomb sheets) and a pound or two of bees with their queen mailed straight from California (lots of ideas and a new list of goals for 2014.) And yes, I am from California; no I am not a beekeeper. But as I have explained in earlier posts the name of my post,
BEE in the Desert,  is taken from my maiden name: Beverly Elaine Eckles AND the fact that I live in Tucson, Arizona at the edge of Saguaro National Monument a state park located on the west side of Tucson about seven miles from I-10 on Picture Rocks Road, a classic desert location. Also, when I wanted to name my blog Malachi 3:16, the program didn't like the colon and wouldn't accept that as the name of my blog.

So begins a new year of posts 2014

     Will I be more regular in posting this year? That is the big question. I've pondered why I haven't posted too much in 2013 and have decided that it was still of year of mourning for me. My goals for this year are quite simple and writing my personal history, working on finding family through descendant research in FamilySearch Family Tree using Puzzilla.org to discover new relatives that I can take to the temple, and getting into the best of health are the main categories. Blogging will help keep me on track with these and perhaps my interests will be of some value to others.

Finding Balance

Spiritual Growth               Selfless Service

     Self Improvement

Jackpot! Our own Treasure Chest

JACKPOT!!!

             This weekend, some three people or more will win big in the National Lotto Mega Power Ball Jackpot sharing over half a billion dollars. As a Latter-day Saint I do not buy lottery tickets because it is a form of gambling.

            I’ve got my own jackpot, my own treasure and so do we all.. “What?” You say.

As bees go in search of their “treasure” each day, they return to the “treasure house” or “hive” and communicate the source of the pollen to others. Now the other bees in the hive can go directly to that same treasure of pollen. That initial bee returns and reports about the treasure using their God-given gift of quantum physics and angles via its waggle dance upon the hive. We have a treasure to share with others also and it is seen in the grand design of our skies and we are in communication with the Grand Designer just as the bees are.

            As stated in the Bible Dictionary, the light of Christ fills the "immensity of space" and is the means by which Christ is able to be "in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things." It "giveth life to all things" and is "the law by which all things are governed." It is also "the light that quickeneth" man's understanding.

SCRIPTURE: “Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—the light which is in all things…even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.”

--Doctrine and Covenants 88: 6-13.

THE LIGHT VS THE DARKNESS    

This BEE now lives in the desert near the city of Tucson. When I first moved here, I thought it was really dark at night. There were few streetlights. Was this safe? I started asking around and found the answer. For years, in order to comply with requests of local astronomers and the Kitt Peak Observatory, Tucson's outdoor lighting code has called for the use of lights that are dim compared to the fluorescent bulbs that illuminate some cities. Then there are the areas that have virtually no streetlights at all.

Tucson  located in Southern Arizona is one of the best places to get up close to major observatories, where mountain ranges lift huge telescopes closer to the sky, and the arid climate offers many clear nights.

One of Arizona's best known astronomical sites, more than 60 miles west of the city is Kitt Peak National Observatory, the world's largest collection of research telescopes: 23 optical telescopes, including the world's largest solar telescope, and two radio telescopes.

[National Optical Astronomy Observatory]

Kitt Peak National Observatory, part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, hosts a diverse collection of astronomical observatories for nighttime optical and infrared astronomy and daytime sun studies. Kitt Peak is 56 miles southwest of Tucson in the Schuk Toak District on the Tohono O’odham Reservation

A part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, the site was chosen in the late 1950s, when light pollution from Tucson, with a population of around 200,000, was limited. Now the city has expanded to more than a million people, but astronomers still come from all over the world for Kitt Peak's facilities. For the public, it's one of the most accessible observatories — visitors can drop in any day of the year except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Another nearby location features the observatories on Mount Lemmon. At 9,157 feet, it's the highest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountains, which stretch across the north side of Tucson includes SkyCenter, one of several sites operated by the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The SkyCenter complex, formerly an Air Force radar base, now is home to half a dozen large telescopes.

Mount Lemmon SkyCenter

“Unspeakable beauty and unimaginable bedlam can be found together,” in Trifid Nebula, says NASA on its Astronomy Picture of the Day Web site. Mount Lemmon SkyCenter staffer Adam Block took this photo using the 24-inch telescope in the photo at bottom. 

 Two more observatories a few miles away on Mount Bigelow. (The largest, which has a 61-inch mirror, was used to survey the moon for the lunar landings.)

Mount Graham International Observatory

[Photo courtesy of University of Arizona]

Mount Graham International Observatory, northeast of Tucson, is the site of the Large Binocular Telescope, named for its two 8.4-meter mirrors, visible here with the telescope’s housing, about eight stories high, open.

MY LIFE ON KWAJALEIN - PERFECT FOR VIEWING THE STARS

          In the early 1990's my family lived on Kwajalein Island, in the Marshall Islands, where my husband was the head of department overseeing the IT portion of the non-military mission of the US Army base located there. Below is a map showing the location of this tiny island the southern most island of the world's largest atoll, Kwajalein Atoll. The atoll lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100 nautical miles (3900 km) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, at 8°43′N 167°44′E.

Located midway between Japan, Los Angeles and Australia

         The island is only a 1/2 mile wide and just two and a half miles long. The ocean just one mile off the western coast is over two miles deep. It is the perfect place for star gazing because of the clear nights with no nearby light pollution. This is a photo at sunset of some missiles entering the skies north of the Kwaj Atoll where major radar tracking stations are located on many islands. No we weren't in any danger. The atoll is over 100 miles long and it really is not close to anything large just the small islands of Micronesia.

Our "quarters" on the island were located on the lagoon side and just a few hundred feet  from it. We would watch the most gorgeous sunsets I've ever seen. When it was the time of the full moon we could go out the front door walk about twenty feet and look to the right to see it rising and look to the left to see the sun setting. This was because of the long distances involved over the ocean with an unobstructed view. It was always a sacred experience even though I was thousands of miles from the temple.
The Cosmos and the Temple
          In Hugh Nibley's "An Intellectual Autobiography" an introductory chapter from  1978 book "Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless" he shows us the path he has taken among the ancient scrolls and texts that have recently come into our lives. He says that these writings , ancient and forgotten legends and traditions of Abraham match the Joseph Smith version very closely. Other learned divines for 60 generations have argued that the scriptures just don't seem to put it all together...the mysteries of Who we Are and What We are Doing Here. Nibley says this, This is where the Temple comes in. Without the Temple any civilization is an empty shell, a structure of custom and convenience only." ..."For thousands of years the stars have gone on sending us their hints, broadcasting unlimited information if we only knew it; now at least we are reacting to a narrow band on the informational spectrum, putting clues together in a way the Ancients never did. But also we are beginning to suspect that there were times when the Ancients reacted to another band of the spectrum which is completely  lost on us. THE TEMPLE, AS THE VERY NAME PROCLAIMS, IS A PLACE WHERE ONE TAKES ONE'S BEARINGS ON THE UNIVERSE." --page xxvii
          "There was one thing every student of the past has overlooked: here at our doorsteps among the Arizona Indians lies the world's best clue to the spiritual history of the race; nowhere else on earth will one find the old cycle of the Year Rites still observed in full force and unbroken continuity form the beginning." He was referring to the Hopi people who have kept alive a language and culture which preserved the practices and beliefs of our own ancestors from prehistoric times until the nineteenth-century industrialism severed the umbilical cord. Here the clues are both exhilarating and depressing, hopeful and sinister as nowhere else." --page xxv

     The other day on PBS I watched a special on the ancient Anasazi ruins in Chaco Canyon, Arizona.
The amazing conclusions were so perfectly understandable when viewed as a temple oriented experience that it took my breath away. The intimate and exact alignment to the sun at the equinox, and the various stages of the moon's path were reflected in the concrete structures and walls of many buildings over many miles.

Anasazi Pueblo Bonito ruins at Chaco Canyon

Several nights ago I watched another documentary on the observatories of the ancient Mayan people in the Yucatan. Orientation to the skies and to the stars is found in the ruins of temples in Egypt, Machu Pichu in CuscoPeru pictured below:

(The Intihuatana stone is one of many ritual stones in South America. These stones are arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstic) 

Stonehenge and other stone circles in England also telling the story of  the sun and moon and other planets in our universe. These remnants of temple ruins and annual year stories are found all over the world. 

Abraham learns about the sun, moon, and stars in Chapter 3 of the Book of Abraham in our Pearl of Great Price.

SCRIPTURE: "It is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God." --Abraham 3:10 

          Then God tells the story of His plan of Creation to Abraham in Chapter 4 with the explanation of man's part in it. This is such a treasure for the understanding of our place in the universe.

SCRIPTURE: "And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years; And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so."

--Abraham 4:14-15

          We have been promised that in the latter days that all things will be restored and hidden things will be revealed. The prophets have all focused on the temple and the message that they specifically were supposed to impart as part of their earthly mission. They wrote these things down and we have them as our scriptures. They have hidden treasures of knowledge within them, but we must dig for these treasures. We must desire that God will open the understanding of our minds with the Light of Christ.

          This BEE is returning to the important book of Isaiah as a genealogist to report where you can look to find the hidden treasures in his writing that I have found. I hope you can stay with me as we wander from one pollen laden flower to another in search of the light and truth there. I will dance my heart out at the hive to communicate where the sources of this treasure are buried within the scriptures.

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.

           

The Righteous Shall Speak Often to One Another

          My Malachi 3:16 scripture above in the title part of this page, is the essence of this blog. It also is the center of my goals this year and is found several places in scripture. As I studied Isaiah and quoted Doctrine and Covenants 133:3 in my last blog, the footnote there is for Isaiah 52:10 that quotes that verse exactly.  Then a verse or down is this quote of scripture about speaking often one to another:

"Call your solemn assemblies, and speak often one to another. 

And let every man call upon the name of the Lord." --D & C 133:6

          Jesus Christ is the author of these books of scripture and he is consistently the same, using the same language and the same key words. As the pre-mortal Jehovah, he taught his ancient prophets how to use words and other literary devices such as chiasm. These become a flag of divine authorship to us. He tells us "Great are the Word of Isaiah," because Isaiah was the very best. He earned the title among the ancient Hebrews as THE PROPHET. Isaiah uses types as one of these literary devices. A type foreshadows a person, event or thing that comes again. He uses the meaning of names to help us better understand what he is trying to say. I've used my maiden name initials here, BEE, to stand not only for myself in this blog, but as a type for what I see my mission in life being. 

BEE in the Desert

          In my childhood I was fascinated with bees and used the Native American symbol of a bee in my Camp Fire Girl headband that was made from beads. I always thought of myself as a busy bee. Later, as I became aware of the danger of bee stings, my thoughts about bees turned away from good things and I viewed bees as enemies. They could indeed sting me, leaving their stinger in me pulsating and injecting venom into my soft flesh. Luckily, I was not allergic to bee stings, no was I stung very often. The one or two times I can remember, I simply stepped on a bee and got stung.

          When I joined the Church of Jesus Christ about the age of 21, my first calling was as a Beehive teacher in the Young Women organization of the church. This calling was very similar to what I was doing as a professional field director for the Camp Fire Girls at this time. Yes, my first job out of college hearkened back to my childhood in Camp Fire. (I worked again with this organization in 2002-4 at the other end of my life) It was amazing how the Law of Camp Fire paralleled the gospel. Not having been raised in the church, it was a very subtle yet strong influence on me at a very young age. 

      The funny thing about this Law of Camp Fire is that I never knew I was following anything. We just recited it each meeting. But the reality of it was that I have placed Worshiping God first. I majored in art thus did seek beauty. I've always worked for non-profit organizations and been oriented to giving service, even though as a child I didn't like going to nursing homes, or other service projects, but I did them; somehow I grew up doing this and now love to give service. I was the first in my family to receive a college degree, thus I did and still do pursue knowledge. I am and have always valued being trustworthy; I wanted to work in a bank and kept myself worthy to do that. I don't lie nor cheat. Hmmm there's a pattern here. I do hold tenaciously to health. I love to work and always give full value to an employer, but more than that I have a strong work ethic in anything that I pursue. And Last but not least you will always find me smiling. I am indeed a happy person, upbeat and positive. Well, most of the time.

    

          When I got a little older and began to enjoy symbols in scripture and church history, I found that the beehive is the symbol of Latter-day Saint society and organization.

QUOTE: "The Latter-day Saints, ever settling and ever on the move, adopted the bee symbol from the beginning. It caught their imagination, and they saw in it exactly what the ancients did, the example of a society in which "men lived together like bees," of the authority and order by which they were ruled, and of the industry and organization with which they gathered the sweets of the field and enhanced their growth: in the State of Deseret, "our lovely Deseret," the beehive symbol was everywhere." 

-- Abraham in Egypt, By Hugh Nibley ©1981 Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City,UT

          When I taught the Beehive girls (ages 12 to 14) later in life, I always showed them the various ways bee lore played a part in the life of early peoples. For example: the bee's wax made candles, "Let your light so shine" "Don't hide your light under a bushel," etc. The bee's honey was unique, too, I'd tell them about queen bee jelly and it's medicinal qualities, as well as the fact honey that coming from different sources tasted different (we'd taste some from orange blossoms, from sage,etc.), and so on. 

          In the 1980s I realized that Deborah, a prophetess in the bible, was also called Deborah the Bee. Here is were the symbolism of the bee as an image of war appears. Usually it was used in reference to a migration. Well, think about Noah when the ark landed, it was the bees that led the way to the land where flowers were blooming, indicating fruit and fertile land. This is why early migrating peoples carried bees with them in hives. They needed the sweetener to make bread rise, and so many other things to live an abundant life. 

        This is where I hope that my BEE in the Desert name may mean that I, too, might lead others to discover something that will bring fruit and I fly from one study to another and post my remarks on this blog. My current passion is Isaiah. He mentions bees, too. My next blog will probably give you more about Bee Symbolism than you ever wanted to know, but you might just think it's interesting and lead you into deeper studies of the scriptures, especially Isaiah.