Plagiarism of Modern or Living Authors + Articles
The Shamanic Way of the Bee contains the plagiarized material word-for-word passages from the writers Darell Posey, PL Travers, Rudolph Steiner, Alan Bleakley, and Kabbalistic scholar Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi. The defunct mead website for Sky River Mead was also heavily plagiarized. All of that is featured below, along with links. A 2004 10 page editorial by Timothy White for Shaman's Drum from before the plagiarism came to light is also included and makes a lot of comparisons of the book to other literature. There is also a deer ritual featured in his book, where a stag is suffocated with bee pollen, that is identical to a Navajo ritual, except it uses corn pollen (please see the post on indigenous appropriation to read about that). The rest is below.
Buxton claims Travers' was his mentor. If we find any proof of this, we will post it. If you have some, please comment below with contact.
Alan Bleakley has confirmed that he did not give permission and does not look kindly upon the unaccredited use of his intellectual property.
Below are the side by sides of the aforementioned passages.
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SWOTB |
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p. 71 – “Indeed, our life as human beings is dependent on the fact that the body continuously wants to form six-sided crystals.” |
p. 50/Rudolf Steiner, Bees – “Our life as human beings is depending on the fact that we continuously want to form six-sided crystals.” |
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p. 71 – “The bee is the creature that can best create this six-sided effect on other things, because the bee collects from nature the very form of nourishment that can carry over into our bodies this same hexagonally acting form, a force that produces a six-sided effect.” |
p. 51 – “And since the bee is that creature that can best of all create this force of having a six-sided effect on other things, the bee collects from everything available in nature the very form of nourishment that can carry over into our bodies this same hexagonally acting force, a force that produces a six-sided effect.” |
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p. 30-31 The Shamanic Way of the Bee (closing paragraphs of Bridge's first knowledge lecture): "The Bee Master knows the bee as the most remarkable of creatures, a social alchemist and truly nature's most astonishing being," he reflected before displaying his discreet passion for language and linguistics. It has at all times and places been the symbol of life - life as immortality. In the Celtic language, the Cornish 'beu' the Irish 'beo' and the Welsh 'byw', can all be translated as 'alive' or 'living'. The Greek word bios should also be mentioned. So, the Bee stands for - or is a manifestation of - the fundamental verb 'to be'. 'I am, thou art, he is', it declares, as it goes humming by.. if we look to myth the bee is the ritual creature of a host of lordly ones. To anyone capable for a moment of suspending the cavortings of the rational mind, of accepting myth for what it is - not a story or a lie or a corruption of the facts, but the very essence of truth - it should need no great inward effort to access their significance." His eyes bore into me, testing to see if I had yet understood. Then he spoke again, very slowly: "It is a matter, merely, of listening." |
P.L. Travers, What The Bee Knows (WTBK) (from the essay entitled What The Bee Knows) page 81: "For the Bee has at all times and places been the symbol of life - life as immortality. In the Celtic languages, the Cornish 'beu' the Irish 'beo', the Welsh 'byw', can all be translated as 'alive' or 'living'; the Greek 'bios' has been mentioned above and is the French 'abeille' not akin to these? So, the Bee stands for - or is a manifestation of - the fundamental verb 'to be'. 'I am, thou art, he is', it declares, as it goes humming past. ... No wonder then that mythologically the bee is a ritual creature of a host of lordly ones... To anyone capable of suspending for a moment the cavortings of the rational mind, of accepting myth for what it is - not lie but the very veritable truth - it needs no great inward effort to act upon such advice. It's a matter, merely, of listening." |
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p35-36: "The end of the year falls exactly at the beginning of the first stroke of midnight on December 31, and the new year begins as the last stroke ends. But what happens in between?... ... In answer to Bridge's question, I told him a story I had heard as a child that had stayed with me over the years. A correspondent for the BBC World Service was describing the ceremonies of an African tribal people at the end of their lunar cycle. At a given moment, the chanting and drumming ceased as the gods and deities invisibly withdrew from the world... ... For just a few moments, absolute silence reigned in Africa as the gods withdrew. Then the drums broke out again in triumph as the spirits invisibly returned, cradling the new year in their arms. The reason I had recalled the story was that the reporter, a modern western man, had added that though he did not expect his listeners to believe him, he would vouch that during the few moments of sacred silence, his tape recorder had completely stopped working." |
P.L. Travers, (WTBK) p86: "When does the old year end?" asks a child. "On the first stroke of midnight", he is told. "And the new year - when does it begin?" "On the last stroke of midnight." " Well then, what happens in between?" The question, once asked, required an answer from those who know what the Druids knew. Long after I had written down this story, I listened to a radio reporter who was describing the ceremonies of an African tribe at the end of their lunar - or solar? -year. At a given moment, it appeared, the chanting and the drumming ceased as the gods invisibly withdrew. For a few seconds - twelve perhaps - absolute silence reigned. Then the drums broke out again in triumph as the gods as the gods invisibly returned with the new year in their arms. 'And' the reporter added 'though I do not ask you to believe it, I can vouch for the fact that my tape recorder, for those few moments of sacred silence, without a touch of my hand, stopped spinning" |
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p37 - "... the Bee Master continued. He reminded me that in meditation working with the breath, there is usually a ritual pause between the outgoing and incoming breath. "Between one breath and the next, between one lifetime and the next, something waits for a moment...." |
P.L.Travers WTBK p86: "Anyone used to yoga practice experiences the ritual pause between the outgoing and the indrawn breath. Between one breathtime and the next, between one lifetime and the next, something waits for a moment." |
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p102. TSWOTB "Early next morning, I wandered into the garden and found an austere presence dressed in black, awaiting my arrival before the Gate of Transition. She was as the Thirteenth Wise Woman who stands as guardian of the threshold, the paradoxical adversary without whose presence no threshold may be passed" |
P.L. Travers WTBK P267 From the essay "About The Sleeping Beauty" "The Thirteenth Wise Woman stands as a guardian of the threshold, the paradoxical adversary without whose presence no threshold can be passed." |
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p. 99 – SWOTB: “I allowed my fantasies to shape these women as members of an ancient tradition of committed people able to work in ways that were outside the known laws of science, so that their activities were transformed into cosmic events that could influence the world around them and nourish the inner life of each generation.” |
From Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi, School of the Soul, Preface: “Moreover, by the creation of such a vehicle a company of committed people can not only enter the upper realms safely, but draw down the Holy Spirit so as to transform their activities into cosmic events that influence the world around them. This order of manifestation is the Work of every esoteric operation, which is a link in the chain of Teaching. As part of a Line, a school of Kabbalah not only belongs to an ancient tradition, but is a section in worldwide network of spiritual organisations whose task it is to nourish the inner life of each generation, so that it may grow and bloom in the Garden of the Holy One. |
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p.188 – The Bee Master: “Our True Mother the Earth has extraordinary patience for her children. After all, she births everything in order that all experiences may be had. But her patience does have its limits. Sometimes she cleanses herself through what we call natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, radical weather conditions, and so forth. These are the rumblings of an upset gut, the straining and flexing of tired muscles, the renewals and revitalizations of her body. In the modern world, this has been forgotten; modern man and woman no longer feel and know Earth as a whole living being, as a teacher, as our Mother.” |
p. 50 – Alan Bleakley, Fruits of the Moon Tree: “The Mother Earth has extraordinary patience for her children – after all, she births everything, in order that all experiences may be had. But her patience does have its limits. Sometimes she cleanses herself through what we call natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, radical weather conditions and so forth. These are rumblings of an upset gut; straining and flexing of tired and bruised muscles; readjustment of an aura, or atmosphere – renewals and revitalisations of her body.” Next paragraph: “In the industrialized world especially, we tend to forget to feel and know the Earth as a whole living being; as a teacher.” |
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p. 188 – “The Bee Master knows death as the Changer…” |
p. 52 – Bleakley quoting Joan Halifax from her book Shaman: The Wounded Healer: “The Shaman knows that Death is the Changer.” |
Also:
PL Travers WTBK pg 11
"The homeland of myth, the country which in the old Russian stories is called East of the sun and West of the moon, and for which there is no known map"
TSWOTB pg 98
"To my surprise and delight, on this occasion Bridge continued to elaborate: 'The Melissae are women who live in a country that is east of the sun and west of the moon for which there is no known map'"
He initially had claimed the Travers' material was an homage, and that a
footnote was left out of the book when it was given to the publishing
company (Inner Traditions customerservice@innertraditions.com) without his consent and that he
gained permission from her estate after publishing. At the time the
Travers plagiarism surfaced, he did not admit to or offer the rest. He has
recently said that he did not get permission from anyone before or
after, but that his publishing company knows. Inner Traditions was not aware of this.
Simon sent a blind copied email "statement" to participants of the Pythoness curriculum, which we will post and address in another post, as well as a collection of stories and explanations that have been given to women over the years.
A Brief History of Mead
he history of Mead is as long and rich and captivating as the beverage itself. Mead is thought to be the oldest alcoholic beverages know to man. It was most likely discovered quite by accident, when some thirsty hunter-gathers discovered an upturned beehive, filled up with rainwater. They drank the sweet water completely unaware of what fermentation and alcohol were and experienced the first intoxication. In a quest to replicate this experience the art of mead-making was begun. Unfortunately, fermentation was not understood until the mid 1800’s. Consequently, two things occurred: First, fermentation was very unpredictable. And second, fermentation took on mystical and religious qualities. The ancient Greeks called mead, Ambrosia, or Nectar (click Here for more about ancient names and varietals). It was believed to be the drink of the gods, and was thought to descend from the Heavens as dew, before being gathered in by the bees. Because of the believed ties to the gods, it is easy to see why the ancient Greeks believed mead to have magical and sacred properties. The Greeks believed that mead would prolong life, and bestow health, strength, virility, re-creative powers, wit and poetry. The bees themselves, we are told by Virgil’s Georgics are driven to the sky to honor the goddess Aphrodite. And, the prophetess’ at Delphi are suspected of drinking mead made from a honey from slightly toxic plants in order to induce their prophetic states, and visions of the future. Mead declined in production in the south of Europe, where grapes were discovered as a less expensive, more predictable source of wine production. But, in the north where vine fruits were less available the popularity of mead continued. In Norse/Aryan mythology a draught of mead, delivered by the beautiful divine maidens, was the reward for warriors that reached Valhalla. And, the Norse god of poetry, Brage, is said to have drunk mead from a Brage-beaker, later called the bragging cup. While the great Norse god, Odin, was said to have gained his strength but suckling Mead from a goats’ udder as an infant. Celtic mythology tells of a river of mead running through paradise, while the Anglo-Saxon culture held mead up as the bestower of immortality, poetry and knowledge. In fact the mythology of mead exists in our culture today, unnoticed by most. The very term “honeymoon” comes from the ancient tradition of giving bridal couples a moons worth of honey-wine. This was long ago thought to ensure a fruitful union. In fact the payment to the meadmaker was often increased, dependent on the promptness and the male-gender of the first-born child. Bees were thought, by most European cultures, to be the messengers of the gods. Therefore, even as mead production declined it was still used for the temples rites, and the grand ceremonies, while ales were used for every day life. The same mystic properties that kept mead in the temples, made mead a natural adjunct to early ideas of western medicine. In England there were a number of meads, flavored with specific herbs that were used to cure any number of ailments. For example, mead made with balm was thought to aid digestion and expel melancholy, and mead made with borage was used to revive hypochondriacs and the chronically ill. The name for these spiced meads is Metheglin, and comes for the Welsh word “medcyglin”, meaning medicine. The middle ages took mead to different heights. The stature afforded to mead can be seen in the fact that the King’s mead cellar was under the direct care of the Steward of the household, who was the chief officer of the court. And, payment for meadmakers was as high as one third of the mead made for the customer. Unfortunately, during this same time the demand by the church for bees wax candles helped the decline of mead-making by creating an economic incentive to rob the bee hives of their honey laden wax. The tapestry of mead history is rich and wonderful. References are littered throughout history and literature. Chaucer speaks of making Claret sweeter with the addition of honey. In 1771 Smollett writes that knowledge of mead-making is considered one of the arts of a true country gentleman. Queen Elizabeth was known to have her own favorite recipe, including rosemary, bay leaves, sweet briar and thyme. But perhaps Howell, Clerk to the Privy Council, said it best in 1640 when he wrote, “The juice of bees, not Bacchus, here behold, Which British Bards were wont to quaff of old; The berries of the grape with Furies swell, But in the honey comb the Graces dwell.”
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