Naming things is awfully hard.
When trying to name the publisher, I spent a long time thinking about the work I do and the sort of work I’m trying to promote and encourage.
I kept coming back to bees.
Not only is bee symbolism a part of my personal practice, the bee has intense relevance to the world of folklore, of religion, and the living ecosystem. The bee is a hard worker, and part of a collective – and any religion is a collective experience, any book a product of hard work that is brought into a community, that thrives as part of community.
The bee is also, in some cultures, seen as a divine messenger, always going about her business conveying the words of the gods to where they need to be heard. As a religious press seeking to bring more holiness out into the world, through necessary hard work, the bee is entirely worth honoring in the name.
The bee is a part of ecosystems, is part of fertile growth and the process of nourishing; that energy is essential, as well, to spiritual growth and health.
Wine, meanwhile, is a tool of ecstasy and transformation, madness and poetry; to balance hard work with the wildness of the frenzy of touching the divine lies at the heart of many mysteries.
Combine these two, and one has Beewine – the Mead of Poetry.
The logo is based on a combination of the hieroglyphic symbols for ‘bee’ and ‘wine/vineyard’.