Honeybees, Ritual + Sustainable Beeswax Candles — Alysia Mazzella

Traditional beeswax candlemaker, Alysia Mazzella, talks with us about how honeybees collaborate, the importance of local economies and knowing where your honey (and your candles!) come from.  We share about using candles as a way to mark sacred time and what bees can teach us about what sustainable work looks like.

we discuss

• Candle making as a vehicle for sacred time and being close to nature
• A historical narrative on human relating with bees and honey
• How bees model working relationships for social sustainability 
• Finding ethical, respectful, reciprocal ways of working with nature
• How bees teach her how to run her business and work with others
• Why local economy + purchasing from people you know is important for sustainability
• The benefits of beeswax candles
•  Why most store-bought candles are bad for your health + the environment
• Why buying soy candles is supporting climate change
• Alysia’s personal practices with candles to hold ritual
• The special spectrum of light from beeswax candles + how it interacts with our bodies

Learn More + Sign Up for Threshold on September 20 w— Alysia Mazzella, Jamesa Hawthorne + Zaneta Sykes

LINKS —

If you enjoyed the episode, check out —
Episode w/ Ang Roell
Episode on the 3 Landscapes of Purpose

More about our guest —

Alysia's website
Alysia's IG

Mentioned in the episode —

Mapping our Roles in Social Change Ecosystems (.pdf)
Honeyland documentary. Watch on Hulu.
Rotten episode on fraudulent honey importation . You can also read this article.
More about pesticides + honeybee health
Conflict is not Abuse, book by Sara Schulman
Bliss, book by Peter Carey
Farming While Black, book by Leah Penniman

Free Resources —
free pesticide education tool for easy learning + distribution

Stay Connected —
Mary Grace's website
join the free home—body portal and talk about the episode!

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thanks for listening. peace, be well. 🙏