One summer day a few years ago, three bumblebees flew into either the house or the Beyond the Rainbow office in a single day. I managed to return the wayward bees back to the outside world in undamaged condition by opening doors (hoping more wouldn't fly in). The last visitor conveniently fell asleep on a piece of paper near the door. I lifted the paper, opened the door, and placed the bumblebee outside, where it continued to sleep in the sun.

While I believe these bumblebee messengers were reminding me how successfully I'd shed my stinging insect phobia, bees in general are universal symbols: in Hinduism relating to various deities, in Egypt, representing royalty.

The Druids saw the bees' social structure and productive and efficient community, centered on the Queen Bee was seen as the model of an ideal society focused on the Goddess. The ancient word for the Sun was also the name of the Goddess, and bees were considered solar messengers. Mead, the fermented drink made from their golden honey, was consumed at sacred festivals.

The hive symbolized the ideal community, and this image was echoed in the beehive tombs of Newgrange and Dowth in Ireland. In later Christian times monks lived in beehive-shaped huts, symbolizing both community and meditation -- for the humming of bees was believed to lull one into a mystical, meditate state.

The bumblebee, in addition, has a special meaning. According to the laws of aerodynamics, it shouldn't be able to fly. While scientists have now learned that the extraordinary speed of its wing motion allows it to do, the bumblebee continues to be a symbol for achieving the impossible.

In this spirit, we can believe that when we are in harmony with our own inner sun -- a powerful sense of well-being and self-appreciation -- and when we are attuned to the goddess within, our lives can be as sweet as a taste of honey and as intoxicating as a drink of mead.