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bee amulet necklace

A wire-wrapped fragment of a Tibetan "beeswax" amber bead hangs from a little copper bee.

Very worrisome - the disappearance of honeybees.  Since the beginnings of humankind, we have regarded honey as a miraculous substance and the makers of honey as divine beings.  In ancient Greece, the Melissae were the priestesses of the Bee Goddess.  This necklace is my humble offering to the Bees.  Please forgive us for poisoning you.  Please come back and pollinate our crops and make sweet honey for us to steal from you.  Please teach us how to live in community and work together for the good of all.  (I don't think any bees are Republicans.)

Here is a link to an article in the Vancouver Sun on the subject::
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Endangered%20species%20vanishing%20without%20explanation/7114265/story.html

Greek amulets of the Bee Goddess, 6th century BCE

photo by Doris Diamond, copyright 2012
bees at Hofstra University bee project

And a couple more pieces with dangly things hanging off them.  I'm not tired of making them yet and I'm not tired of wearing them yet (the dangly things are fun to play with when you're waiting for someone).  When I'm ready, I'll move on to other things.  Or not.  They're actually kind of like a hamsa - usually five dangles hanging down like the fingers of a hand.

amethyst necklace variation

close-up, revisited amethyst necklace

abalone shell with protective amulets