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 Astrain bee shaman--cured him of a near-fatal bout of encephalitis. This early contact prepared him for his 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 hives 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 the "flying ointment" once 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 unique 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."
  Winner of 2005 Canizares Book Award for non-fiction "No matter where we live, there is a hidden world going on all around us, full of magic, mystery and adventure. Quite literally what we perceive as ordinary reality is far, far more than this, containing secret knowledge which was understood by an ancient, arcane tradition that still exists quietly in our midst. This knowledge, hidden and carefully preserved over thousands of years is revealed for the first time in this book by Simon Buxton - where magic is only a wing flutter away and reality is seen through compound eyes.
In The Shamanic Way of the Bee the intriguing world of bee shamanism - the Path of Pollen - is revealed and explained as both a vital part of our heritage and a practical system of healing, wisdom and spiritual development. It is written as a marriage of ethnography and autobiographical memoir, detailing the true adventure story of his initiation into this ancient tradition. As with all new and unusual experiences, his immersion in a new world order and way of being was sometimes terrifying, sometimes exquisitely beautiful, and readers everywhere will be enchanted as they share his journey." |