Honey has a very long use in history as well as magic so this will be a 2 part post. Part 1 will be its history and Part 2 will be its medical and metaphysical uses. Enjoy!
Gender: Feminine
Element: Fire
Planet: Sun, Venus
Zodiac Sign: N/A
Celtic Zodiac/ Date: N/A
Lunar Month: N/A
Tarot: The Sun
Rune: N/A
Ogham: N/A
Crystal: Gold
Deities: Ra, Anubis, Osiris, Min, Zeus, Apollo, Demeter, Aphrodite, Melissa, the prophet Mohammad
Angels, Fairies,
Associated Festival: N/A
Chakras: Sacral, Third Eye
Birth Month: N/A
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Type: Bee Vomit
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Plant for Bees?: N/A
Natural pesticide?: No
Poisonous/ Toxic: No
Honey is a sweet, viscous food substance made by honey bees and some related insects. Bees produce honey from the sugary secretions of plants (floral nectar) or from secretions of other insects (such as honeydew), by regurgitation, enzymatic activity, and water evaporation. Honey is produced by bees collecting nectar for use as sugars consumed to support metabolism of muscle activity during foraging or to be stored as a long-term food supply. They have to fly over 50.000 miles in order to “produce” about 1lb of Honey. Bees store honey in wax structures called honeycombs. In cold weather or when other food sources are scarce, adult and larval bees use stored honey as food. Honey is collected from wild bee colonies, or from hives of domesticated bees, a practice known as beekeeping or apiculture.
Honey gets its sweetness from the monosaccharides fructose and glucose, and has about the same relative sweetness as sucrose (table sugar). Most microorganisms do not grow in honey, so sealed honey does not spoil, even after thousands of years.
Generally, honey is bottled in its familiar liquid form, but it is sold in other forms, and can be subjected to a variety of processing methods.
~Raw Honey
~Crystallized honey
~Pasteurized Honey
~Strained Honey
~Filtered Honey
~Ultrasonicated honey
~Creamed honey
~Dried honey
~Comb honey
~Chunk honey
~Honey decoctions
~Baker’s honey
Indicators of quality
Many countries grade honey by grade A, B, C, or less than C. Grade is the best but what does that mean? High-quality honey can be distinguished by fragrance, taste, and consistency. Ripe, freshly collected, high-quality honey at 68 °F should flow from a knife in a straight stream, without breaking into separate drops. After falling down, the honey should form a bead. The honey, when poured, should form small, temporary layers that disappear fairly quickly, indicating high viscosity. If not, it indicates honey with excessive water content of over 20%, not suitable for long-term preservation.
Honey use and production have a long and varied history as an ancient activity still in effect today. In 2018, global production of honey was 1.9 million tons, led by China with 24% of the world total. Other major producers were Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, United States, India, and Russia. Over its history as a food, the main uses of honey are in cooking, baking, desserts, as a spread on bread, as an addition to various beverages such as tea, and as a sweetener in some commercial beverages. The flavor of a particular type of honey will vary based on the types of flower from which the nectar was harvested.
Possibly the world’s oldest fermented beverage, dating from 9,000 years ago, mead (“honey wine”) is the alcoholic product made by adding yeast to honey-water must and fermenting it for weeks or months. Primary fermentation usually takes 28 to 56 days, after which the must is placed in a secondary fermentation vessel for 6 to 9 months of aging. Mead varieties include drinks called metheglin (with spices or herbs), melomel (with fruit juices, such as grape, specifically called pyment), hippocras (with cinnamon), and sack mead (high concentration of honey). Honey is also used to make mead beer, called “braggot”.
For much of history, honey was humanity’s main source of sweetness, as well as our first vehicle for getting drunk. Unlike table sugar, honey also comes in an infinite variety of textures and flavors, influenced by the two million blossoms from which each jar is made. And, from ancient Egypt to modern medicine, honey has been valued for its healing powers. Honey is the second-sweetest substance found in nature (only dates are sweeter).
Honey collection is an ancient activity. Humans have been using bee products, like honey and wax, for at least 9,000 years. Analyzed pottery from prehistoric vessels at a Neolithic site called Ctalhoyuk in southern Anatolia in modern Turkey, and found evidence of early farmers using beeswax as far back as the Stone Age. Beeswax was used continuously from the seventh millennium BCE, probably as an integral part in different tools, in rituals, cosmetics, medicine, as a fuel or to make receptacles waterproof. This means that people established a working relationship with bees very soon after the rise of settled farming in the region.
Several cave paintings in Cuevas de la Araña in Spain depict humans foraging for honey at least 8,000 years ago. A Mesolithic rock painting the cave in Valencia, Spain, also dating back at least 8,000 years, depicts two honey foragers collecting honey and honeycomb from a wild bees’ nest. The figures are depicted carrying baskets or gourds, and using a ladder or series of ropes to reach the nest.
Honey is the only food that will not rot. The oldest known honey remains were found in the Caucuses of the Republic of Georgia during the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline: archaeologists found honey remains on the inner surface of clay vessels unearthed in an ancient tomb belonging to the Martkopi and Bedeni people from the farming Araxes-Kura culture., dating back between 4,700 and 5,500 years.
In ancient Georgia, several types of honey were buried with a person for their journey into the afterlife, including linden, berry, and meadow-flower varieties. The tomb belonged to an important chief or leader, and he had several other people buried with him. Inside his Bronze Age burial site, called Ananauri 3, were wild berry offerings to the dead. They were still red and incredibly well preserved, despite being 4,300 years old, because they were cured with ancient honey. Even their scent was still sweet and intense with musky undertones. Many other magnificent ancient and precious burial objects were buried with the chief to accompany him to the afterlife. They were all masterfully embalmed with honey, and are therefore surprisingly well preserved.
It’s always appropriate to leave offerings of honey at a grave site. This has been done in all ancient cultures.
The ancient Egyptians used honey for a multitude of purposes including as a sweetener for cakes and biscuits in many other dishes, was considered a sacred offering for the gods and an ingredient in embalming fluid. The fertility god of Egypt, Min, was offered honey. Honey was used for healing wounds, paying taxes, and in trade. While excavating Egypt’s famous pyramids, archaeologists have found pots of honey as offerings the dead, to give them something to eat in the afterlife in multiple ancient tombs. The honey, dating back approximately 3,000 years, is the world’s oldest sample – and still perfectly edible. Mummies were sometimes embalmed in honey, and often sarcophagi were sealed up with beeswax. Thanks to Egyptian drawings depicting ancient beekeeping, we’ve long known that humans have worked with bees for thousands of years.
From mythology to medicine, the honey bee practically reigned over Egyptian society. Egyptians considered bees sacred. It was written in the “Salt Magical Papyrus”, that bees were created from the tears of the sun-god Ra himself, whom the Egyptians believed to be the creator of the earth and the sea. Ra’s right eye was the sun, his left eye was the moon, and he caused the Nile to flood. “When Ra weeps again the water which flows from his eyes upon the ground turns into working bees. They work in flowers and trees of every kind and wax and honey come into being.”
This spiritual connection led people to believe that some spirits took the form of a bee after death, and bees’ buzzing was often thought to be the voices of souls. Because of this association with the afterlife, bees and honey were beloved by Pharaohs. So beloved, in fact, they would even be taken to the grave.
The Egyptians cherished honey so much, jars of the liquid gold were buried with deceased royalty to give them a sweet transition into the afterlife. Among wine, jewelry and weapons, honey was also valuable enough to be stashed in King Tutankhamen’s golden tomb—still edible after 3,000 long years.
Bees were associated with royalty in Egypt; indeed, as early as 3500 BC, the bee was the symbol of the King of Lower Egypt! (The symbol of the King of Upper Egypt was a reed). There are many examples of bee hieroglyphs to be found in the records, as well as hieroglyphs for honey and beekeeper.
Beekeeping has been practiced for thousands of years in Egypt. For at least four thousand five hundred years, the Egyptians have been making hives in the same way, out of pipes of clay or Nile mud, often stacked one on top of another. These hives were moved up and down the Nile depending on the time of year, allowing the bees to pollinate any and all flowers which were in season. Special rafts were built for moving these hives, which were stacked in pyramids. At each new location, the hives were carried to the nearby flowers and released. When the flowers died, the bees were taken a few miles further down the Nile and released again. Thus the bees traveled the whole length of Egypt.
Honey was used by all classes in Ancient Egypt, indicating that it must have been produced on a large scale. It was used for everything from sweetening food, to preventing infection by being placed on wounds, to paying taxes. One marriage contract has been found which states, “I take thee to wife… and promise to deliver to thee yearly twelve jars of honey.” Honey was exacted as tribute from conquered countries; for instance, many jars of honey were paid each year by the Retenu tribe of Syria to their Egyptian conqueror, Thutmoses II.
Honey and wax were used for religious as well as practical purposes. Sacred animals were fed cakes sweetened with honey. These animals included the sacred bull at Memphis, the sacred lion at Leontopolis, and the sacred crocodile at Crocodilopolis.
In ancient Greece, honey was produced from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods. In 594 BC beekeeping around Athens was so widespread that Solon passed a law about it: “He who sets up hives of bees must put them 300 feet away from those already installed by another”. Greek archaeological excavations of pottery located ancient hives. According to Columella, Greek beekeepers of the Hellenistic period did not hesitate to move their hives over rather long distances to maximize production, taking advantage of the different vegetative cycles in different regions.
The Bee, an insect so sacred that Zeus Himself, the All-mighty Olympian King of Gods, blessed them by granting their sting to be protected from Men. In ancient Greek religion, the food of Zeus and the twelve Gods of Olympus was honey in the form of nectar and ambrosia. There are many important stories in the Greek Pantheon which underline the importance of the bee. Apollo, God of Magical & Medicinal Arts along with Divination, was believed to have Mastered the Art of Prophecy with the help of three Primordial Nymphs who were also identified as Bee Goddesses, known as Thriae (θριαί). Those Nymphs nurtured Apollo as an infant and later became his powerful Priestesses. This is also why the Priestesses of Apollo were also called “Bees”.
Honey was a powerful offering to the Greek Gods as well. The hexagonal shape of a typical honeycomb relates to the Number 6, a number sacred to Aphrodite (Venus) as Pythagoras proclaimed in his doctrine of Numerology. In addition, the folklore of a number of societies indicates that a blend of honey and milk is an acceptable offering to a deity. In particular, honey is sacred to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. In Ancient Greece, the high priestess of Aphrodite was “Melissa” which translates to “bee”. She tended to the sacred beehives at Aphrodite’s temple on Mount Eryx.
The Persian Empire had another use for honey that was much darker. scaphism, a torture method also known as “the boats” that originated in the Persian Empire, around the 5th century B.C. It was devised to inflict as much pain and discomfort as possible for as long as the victim remained alive, and it was reserved only for people guilty of the worst crimes (for instance, murder and treason). The method consisted of trapping the victim in the space between two small boats or two hollowed-out tree trunks and force-feeding them milk and honey over the course of a few days until the person died.
In order for the method to work, it had to take place in a swamp or somewhere where the boats could lie exposed to the sun. The victim would be tied inside the space between the boats in a way that left their head, hands, and feet outside. Then, the person in charge of the process would feed the victim a mixture of milk and honey, forcing them to swallow against their will, so the mixture dripped everywhere, covering their eyes, face, and neck. This same mixture was then spread all over the exposed body parts, and the idea was that it would attract every insect, vermin, and wild animal in the area. Very soon afterwards, flies and rats, for instance, would show up and start attacking the victim, eating the mixture of milk and honey, but also eating the person alive along the process.
There was also the severe diarrhea that left them feeling weak and dehydrated. This symptom was the intended consequence of their enforced milk-and-honey diet. The more they were fed this mixture, the more they would defecate inside the boats, but also, the longer they stayed alive. This point was the cruelest yet most effective aspect of scaphism: the victims couldn’t die from the diarrhea-induced dehydration because they were fed milk and honey every day. As a result, the victims could survive for days and even weeks in a small hell of bugs, feces, milk, and honey.
Finally, because the victim would have no choice but to empty their bowels inside the boats, the feces would accumulate and breed maggots and other vermin that slowly made their way into the victim’s body and ate them from the inside. This is what killed them, ultimately, as was confirmed when the victim died and the boats would be separated, revealing their half-eaten body.
The most famous victim of “the boats” was a young Persian soldier by the name of Mithridates who died around 401 B.C. He was sentenced to die because he accidentally killed Cyrus the Younger, a nobleman who wanted the throne. The actual king, Artaxerxes, was actually grateful to him for killing the young threat, and had secretly covered for him, but when Mithridates forgot about the deal and started bragging about having killed Cyrus, he was immediately sentenced. According to the records written by Plutarch, the Greek essayist and biographer, he was unlucky enough to survive 17 days in “the boats.” The historian Plutarch outlined the seventeen-day-long death of the Persian soldier Mithridates by scaphism in detail: Taking two boats framed exactly to fit and answer each other, they lay down in one of them the malefactor that suffers, upon his back; then, covering it with the other, and so setting them together that the head, hands, and feet of him are left outside, and the rest of his body lies shut up within, they offer him food, and if he refuse to eat it, they force him to do it by pricking his eyes; then, after he has eaten, they drench him with a mixture of milk and honey, pouring it not only into his mouth, but all over his face. They then keep his face continually turned towards the sun; and it becomes completely covered up and hidden by the multitude of flies that settle on it. And as within the boats he does what those that eat and drink must needs do, creeping things and vermin spring out of the corruption and rottenness of the excrement, and these entering into the bowels of him, his body is consumed. When the man is manifestly dead, the uppermost boat being taken off, they find his flesh devoured, and swarms of such noisome creatures preying upon and, as it were, growing to his inwards.
In Jewish tradition, honey is a symbol for the new year, Rosh Hashanah. At the traditional meal for that holiday, apple slices are dipped in honey and eaten to bring a sweet new year. Some Rosh Hashanah greetings show honey and an apple, symbolizing the feast. In some congregations, small straws of honey are given out to usher in the new year. In 2005 an apiary dating from the 10th century B.C. was found in Tel Rehov, Israel that contained 100 hives, estimated to produce half a ton of honey annually. Pure honey is considered kosher (permitted to be eaten by religious Jews), though it is produced by a flying insect, a non-kosher creature; eating other products of non-kosher animals is forbidden.
The Hebrew Bible contains many references to honey. In the Book of Judges, Samson found a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of a lion (14:8). Biblical law covered offerings made in the temple to God. The Book of Leviticus says that “Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast, for you are not to burn any yeast or honey in a food offering presented to the Lord” (2:11). In the Books of Samuel, Jonathan is forced into a confrontation with his father King Saul after eating honey in violation of a rash oath Saul has made. Proverbs 16:24 in the JPS Tanakh 1917 version says “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.” Book of Exodus famously describes the Promised Land as a “land flowing with milk and honey” (33:3). However, most Biblical commentators write that the original Hebrew in the Bible (דבש devash) refers to the sweet syrup produced from the juice of dates (silan).
The Christian New Testament (Matthew 3:4) says that John the Baptist lived for a long of time in the wilderness on a diet of locusts and honey. the growth of Christianity led to an increased demand for beeswax for church candles.
In Islam, an entire chapter (Surah) in the Qur’an is called an-Nahl (the Bees). According to his teachings (hadith), Muhammad strongly recommended honey for healing purposes. The Qur’an promotes honey as a nutritious and healthy food, saying: “And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men’s) habitations; Then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colors, wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought” [Al-Quran 16:68–69]
In Buddhism, honey plays an important role in the festival of Madhu Purnima, celebrated in India and Bangladesh. The day commemorates Buddha’s making peace among his disciples by retreating into the wilderness. According to legend, while he was there a monkey brought him honey to eat. On Madhu Purnima, Buddhists remember this act by giving honey to monks. The monkey’s gift is frequently depicted in Buddhist art.
The spiritual and supposed therapeutic use of honey in ancient India was documented in both the Vedas and the Ayurveda texts. In Hinduism, honey (Madhu) is one of the five elixirs of life (Panchamrita). In temples, honey is poured over the deities in a ritual called Madhu abhisheka. The Vedas and other ancient literature mention the use of honey as a great medicinal and health food.
As a general rule, use ¾ cup of honey for every one cup of sugar, reduce the liquid in the recipe by 2 tablespoons and lower the oven temperature by 25º Fahrenheit. Drizzle it on top of fruits, yogurts, and more! Also tastes great on bread and on a charcuterie board
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From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
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