Goddess of Bees

[Xois]

is there one?

I am thinking of starting a hive.

[Mairwen]

Do a search on "The Melisae" ((or "The Melissa")).

One of my students is researching the same thing ~ she's got a personal "flock" of astral bees. 8O

[Dria El]

Does it have to be a goddess?

Dria El

[Mairwen]

I've never heard of a God of Bees. All male bees are drones ~ it's the Queen who rules the hive.

[Dria El]

The reason I ask is that when I was reading this morning I found a Greek god that is said to have invented bee-keeping so I thought it might be something for her to look into.

Dria El

(this would be the second time i've tried to post this)

[Mairwen]

Never heard of that. How interesting!

[Dria El]

I guess I'll go ahead and throw it out there and if she decides to look into it, she can.

ARISTAEUS: ('The Very Good') Greek. Son of APOLLO and the nymph Cyrene, or of URANUS and Gaia. Originally an important PAN-type god of Thessaly. Like Apollo, was brought up by the centaur CHIRON, who taught him medicine and soothsaying. Protector of flocks and agriculture, especially of the vine and olive. Said to have invented bee-keeping.

Taken from 'The Witches God by Janet and Stewart Farrar'.

Dria El

[Amethyst Rose]

While doing research for the current goddess trivia question, I came across another bee goddess....

The Roman Goddess Cybele! Here's what the Encyclopedia Mythica has to say:

Also known as Kybele and Magna Mater and the Mother of the Gods, the worship of this goddess spread throughout the Roman Empire. Originally Phrygian, she was a goddess of caverns, of the Earth in its primitive state; worshipped on mountain tops. She ruled over wild beasts, and was also a bee goddess. Her festival came first on the Roman calender. Along with her consort, the vegitation god Attis, Cybele was worshipped in wild, emotional, bloody, orgiastic, cathartic ceremonies.

[Emy]

aaha I knew I had read of a bee goddess somewhere, and now I know that it is true, I read about Cybele a few weeks ago on encyclopedia mythica :)

Blessed be

[Emy]

Oh I found some more goddesses who are protectors of bees... well there is the greek Mistress of wild animals, she goes under the names Potnia and Britomartis, and there is also the roman divinity Mellona she is said to be the protectress of bees. Her name derives from honey.

Bright blessings

[zemblin]

beezlebub is the death aspect of the caanite god Baal.he's supposed to be a lord of flies.If any one wants to start a fly hive of a sort ;)