Monday, April 16, 2007

Out of the Strong




When I was growing up we always had a tin of Lyle's Golden Syrup in the house. I love the packaging, today I read that it is considered to be the world's oldest brand.

I remember once laughing at the picture on the label because it looked a bit like the lion is dead, and has flies hovering over it. I thought this must have been a pretty bad mistake by the manufacturers. My father explained to me that the lion is actually dead, but the insects were not flies but a swarm of bees that are nesting in the rotting carcass:

In Book of Judges, Chapter 14, Samson the Israelite was travelling to the land of the Philistines in search of a wife. During the journey he killed a lion, and on his return past the same spot he noticed that a swarm of bees had formed a comb of honey in the carcass. Samson later turned this into a riddle at a wedding: "Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong came forth sweetness".

Some kind of allegory on resurrection/love/the devil.

In both of my dreams it seemed that the bees were not just nesting, I think they were actively linked to the decay or eating-away of the house, like termites. I thought this was strange because that's not something bees do.

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