Man-Made Beehives, Rosslyn Chapel and Colony Collapse Disorder

reply to post by airspoon


I noticed on several sites that Templars often oriented the front of their churches to the south. This is unlike other groups churches which were normally facing the east.

I feel there is a symbolic reason the south spire was closed off and the north was open, but I am still trying to figure out why.

reply to post by Chamberf=6


I would have to agree. I think that every little detail about these hives is symbolic of something. That's usually how such extravagant symbology works out.

--airspoon

The beehive is still a symbol of modern Freemasonry:

THE BEEHIVE
Is an emblem of industry, and recommends the practice of that virtue to all created beings, from the highest seraph in heaven to the lowest reptile of the dust. It teaches us that, as we come into the world rational and intelligent beings, so we should ever be industrious ones; never sitting down contented while our fellow-creatures around us are in want, when it is in our power to relieve them without inconvenience to ourselves.

When we take a survey of nature, we view man, in his infancy, more helpless and indigent than the brute creation; he lies languishing for days, months, and years, totally incapable of providing sustenance for himself, of guarding against the attack of the wild beasts of the forest, or sheltering himself from the in-clemencies of the weather.

It might have pleased the great Creator of heaven and earth to have made man independent of all other beings; but, as dependence is one of the strongest bonds of society, mankind were made dependent on each other for protection and security, as they thereby enjoy better opportunities of fulfilling the duties of reciprocal love and friendship. Thus was man formed for social and active life, the noblest part of the work of God; and he that will so demean himself as not to be endeavoring to add to the common stock of knowledge and understanding, may be deemed a drone In the hive of nature, a useless member of society, and unworthy of our protection as Masons.

From Duncan's Ritual, 1866; also in William Morgan's exposé of 1827 and Sickel's 1868 text, all found at www.sacred-texts.com/mas...

The text is almost identical today.

Here's one interpretation

The Beehive. Both the Bee and the Beehive have been used symbolically from a very old time. In some cases, for what reason it is now hard to guess, the Bee was made the emblem of heaven, as may be seen in certain old Hindoo pictures of the god Krishna wherein Bees hover over the deity's head, and also in similar early pictures of Jesus. Both the Persians and the Egyptians sometimes embalmed their dead in honey because they believed it to possess antiseptic properties; out of this custom, we may believe, arose the latter habit of using the Bee as a symbol of immortality. Alexander the Great, so it is said, was embalmed in this manner; and so, also, were certain of the Merovingian kings. The last fact may explain why the Bee has so often been used symbolically by the French, and why Napoleon, to lend the lustre of age to his upstart dynasty, adopted the insect as his royal emblem. The Bee was used as a symbol of immortality by the Mithraic cult, so popular in the time of the Cæsars, and also by the early Christians, as the catacomb pictures still witness.

The Bee was also used in another order of symbolism. Theocritus tells a charming tale in his Idylls of how Cupid complained to Venus of bee stings and how the goddess archly replied: "Thou too art like a bee, for although a tiny child, yet how terrible are the wounds thou dost inflict!" Anacreon includes the same conceit in his Odes as do other Greek poets, as well as a few of their more modern imitators, such as Manuel de Villegas, the Castilian; Felice Zappi, and even the German, Lessing. Sometimes one will see bees flying about the head of Cupid on old Greek pottery; this is to suggest that as bees steal honey from the rose so does love steal honey from the lips of maidens; and as the stings of the bee are very painful so are the sharp darts of love.

Bees were not domesticated in Europe until the age of the monasteries, when the monks considered a hive an essential part of the equipment, owing to which custom the Beehive came to be used frequently in Christian symbolism. In their exhortations to the monks the church fathers would point to the hive as an example of industry. In the old Ely cathedral of England a woman weeping over a broken beehive evidently represents a home when ravaged by indolence or drunkenness.

The Egyptians called the bees "an obedient people" because of their faithfulness to the rules of the hive and to order. They are a far-sighted people, always preparing for the future, and their industriousness has become proverbial. Alas! as many Masters have learned, in the lodge as in the hive, there are often many drones! The brother who could discover a remedy for the drone evil would lay the whole Fraternity under everlasting indebtedness to his genius. The bees, as we know, kill their drones with scant ceremony; that would be a swift, but unhappy manner of disposing of ours! How to destroy the dronishness without killing the drone, that, as Hamlet would say, is the problem!*

reply to post by JoshNorton


Could this then prove a connection between Rpsslyn Chapel and Freemasonry? Also, I had known of the beehive symbolism of Freemasonry, even though I'm not that familiar with Freemasonry but what could the two opposing hives mean? What is meant to portray?

--airspoon

reply to post by airspoon


To be honest, I'm not sure I'd read that much into the idea that one was open and one was closed. They may have made two for symmetry; they may have made one as a spare if the population of the first got too big. Seems like it would have been as easy as drilling a hole in the base of the second if they decided they needed to, then it was probably eventually forgotten about. *shrug*

Sorry I am a late comer here ,so I hope you get this reply and take a look at this.
I have looked at this sideways to some degree and find that these enclaves for bees may in fact mirror the primal sound .
This primal sound is reflected at many ancient sites particularly standing stones but also a ""hummmming" in churches and cathedrals built over existing ley,or power lines.
Each "buzzing" or more aptly resonance varies and perhaps this was a way to "entice" or replicate this sacred sound using the bee as it is and was revered as one of the most sacred symbols of nature,............peace

Found this explanation for the merovingian bee symbol. It's probably a play on the word dabar which has lost its twin meaning in translation. It can mean both the word/logos or a bee. . The bee obviously produces honey which is sweet as is the logos from a spritual perspective or it can also produce wax which i presume can be used in incense candles. The twin beehives may be referring to the dual role of the messiah as a king and high priest and a secret involving the duality.

Source The Two Babylon’s Alexander Hislop


In this very character was Nimrod worshipped when he was deified. As the Sun-god he
was regarded not only as the illuminator of the material world, but as the enlightener of the
souls of men, for he was recognised as the revealer of "goodness and truth." It is evident,
from the Old Testament, not less than the New, that the proper and personal name of our
Lord Jesus Christ is, "The Word of God," as the Revealer of the heart and counsels of the
Godhead. Now, to identify the Sun-god with the Great Revealer of the Godhead, while under
the name of Mithra, he was exhibited in sculpture as a Lion; that Lion had a Bee represented
between his lips. The bee between the lips of the sun-god was intended to point him out as
"the Word"; for Dabar, the expression which signifies in Chaldee a "Bee," signifies also a
"Word"; and the position of that bee in the mouth leaves no doubt as to the idea intended to
be conveyed. It was intended to impress the belief that Mithra (who, says Plutarch, was
worshipped as Mesites, "The Mediator"), in his character as Ouranos, "The Enlightener," was
no other than that glorious one of whom the Evangelist John says, "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God...In Him was life; and the life was THE LIGHT
OF MEN." The Lord Jesus Christ ever was the revealer of the Godhead, and must have been
known to the patriarchs as such; for the same Evangelist says, "No man hath seen God at
any time: the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared," that
is, He hath revealed "Him." Before the Saviour came, the ancient Jews commonly spoke of
the Messiah, or the Son of God, under the name of Dabar, or the "Word." This will appear

I've said it many times, and ill continue to say it many more!

Pesticide causes CCD!!! 100%