The Shamanic Way of the Bee

SHAMANISM / SELF-HELP ." . . brings radiant life to an ancient shamanic path." --Sandra Ingerman, author of Soul Retrieval and Medicine for the Earth Bee shamanism may well be the most ancient and enigmatic form of shamanism. It exists throughout the world--wherever in fact the honeybee is exists. Its medicinal tools--such as honey, pollen, propolis, and royal jelly--are now in common use, and even the origins of Chinese acupuncture can be traced to the ancient practice of applying bee stings to the body's meridians. In this authoritative ethnography and spiritual memoir, Simon Buxton, an elder of the Path of Pollen, reveals for the first time the richness of this tradition: its subtle intelligence; its sights, sounds, and smells; and its unique ceremonies, which until now have been known only to initiates. Buxton unknowingly took his first steps on the Path of Pollen at age nine, when a neighbor--an Austrian bee shaman--cured him of a near-fatal bout of encephalitis. This early contact prepared him for a later meeting with an elder of the tradition who took him on as an apprentice. Following an intense initiation that opened him to the mysteries of the hive mind, Buxton learned over the next thirteen years the practices, rituals, and tools of bee shamanism. He experienced the healing and spiritual powers of honey and other bee products, including a "flying ointment" used by medieval witches, as well as ritual initiations with the female members of the tradition--the Melissae--and the application of magico-sexual "nektars" that promote longevity and ecstasy. The Shamanic Way of the Bee is a rare view into the secret wisdom of this age-old tradition. SIMON BUXTON is a beekeeper, the British faculty for Dr. Michael Harner's Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and the founder/ director of The Sacred Trust, a U.K.-based educational organization dedicated to the teaching of practical shamanism for the modern world. He lives in England and teaches internationally.