Gathered together under the light of a Full Flower Moon a circle of bloggers has come together to share their stories and impressions on May Flowers and the release of Vera solid natural perfume. At the bottom of this post please follow the links to each of the participating blogs, although some may be posting late due to a variety of conflicting events.
{Honey Bees}
Friday, May 14th, while I was working on the Nasturtiums post for Perfume Illuminated a gift from Aphrodite flew into our lives.
The gift was a swarm of winged alchemists, honey bees, which arrived at our compost bin looking for a home. If you are a regular reader of this blog then you may recall last August upon finding my bee guru, Kirk Anderson, I intended to eventually start a hive. To my hearts delight a group of very sweet, friendly honey bees came to us, thus adding a bee bonnet to my ever expanding hat rack.
Expert bee mentor John Lyons came to help us transfer the bees from the compost bin to a temporary nuc box. Read and see pictures of that event here. Regrettably that swarm choose to depart, but left me a bit of beeswax for my new solid perfumes. Meanwhile a fellow member of my Backwards Beekeeping group said I could have her "bird house" bees if I came to get them. The "bird house" bees are now cheerfully residing in a periwinkle bee hive while we quickly learn the art of beekeeping.
The book The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall states "The bee is sacred to the goddess Venus and, according to mystics, it is one of several life forms of life which came to earth from the planet Venus millions of years ago."1 The Greek Goddess of beauty Aphrodite is also associated with the planet Venus which governs Friday, the day the bees arrived.
Sometimes May flowers bring us more than just floral bouquets. Under the luminous light of this Flower Full Moon I have prepared three intoxicating golden elixirs from the sweet aroma of flowers. The new set of perfumes entices us into an “illuminated state of floral consciousness”, as Tom Robbins so eloquently states in Jitterbug Perfume.
Aligned with the arrival of the bees this new trio takes a step further into authenticity by incorporating beeswax from my own bees and Rivendell Aromatics in Ojai. I introduce to you Vera, Rosa and Page 47, each with it's own unique imprint of flowers.
Vera is rich with blooms of lavender and white sage while Rosa drips of sweet rose blossoms saturated in wood and oud. Page 47 returns with a heart of jasmine laced with underpinnings of amber evoking flowers on a hot sandy beach.
He who with health would live at ease,
Should cultivate both fruit and bees;
Much labor though the first demands,
The second's for more feeble hands.
~ Quote from The Beekeepers Textbook, King, N. H. , King, Homer A.
Please visit the following blogs in the next few days for impressions of Vera solid perfume:
Tom at Perfume Posse VERA GIVEAWAY!
Portland Examiner
The Windsphere Witch
Indie Perfumes
Should cultivate both fruit and bees;
Much labor though the first demands,
The second's for more feeble hands.
~ Quote from The Beekeepers Textbook, King, N. H. , King, Homer A.
Please visit the following blogs in the next few days for impressions of Vera solid perfume:
Tom at Perfume Posse VERA GIVEAWAY!
Portland Examiner
The Windsphere Witch
Indie Perfumes
References:
[1] Manly P. Hall (1988) The Secret Teachings of All Ages, The Philosophical Research Society.
Images: HoneyComb and Sage Photos ©Roxana Villa, Bees on Postcard, Beekeeper and Rose image are collages created by Roxana with old engravings.
2 comments:
Nice shot of the honey comb
Thanks Ben. I figured out to hold the honey comb up to the light AFTER I have taken most of the photos.
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