The symbol of the three systems in spiders, ants, and bees
Bees make food for humans
‘There are three systems in life: egocentric, biocentric and theocentric.
These three systems are found everywhere in nature: in stones, plants, animals, stars…
Let’s take a quick look at the movement of comets, planets and suns. Comets have an interrupted trajectory, and planets move along a spiral. As for the trajectory of suns, it can be described as a circle whose centre is at infinity.
If we now look for these three systems among insects, we find that the spider is the symbol of the egocentric system, the ant of the biocentric system, and the bee of the theocentric system.
The spider lives alone, it attracts flies, and when one of them gets caught in its web, it hurries to take it to the centre of its ‘system’, the web, to eat it.
Ants, although they still belong to the egocentric system, have already entered the biocentric system: they live in groups organized into societies. But bees go beyond them, because the purpose of their work is to give something valuable to other beings who are more evolved than they are.
Spiders and ants work only for themselves, while bees make food for people.
You see, the word ‘theocentric’ does not mean that everything converges solely towards God, but that every manifestation of being goes beyond the personality. And the activity of bees goes beyond the personality because they prepare honey for human beings.
They do not do it ‘for God’, but the honey is not for themselves only. It is a selfless act, which belongs in the theocentric system.
Some will object that the bees prepare the honey for themselves and that humans steal it from them.
Of course, but nature encourages them to prepare honey for people as well, just as it pushes trees to bear fruit for other creatures.
“The friend of bees”
Hans Thoma (1863)
(click to zoom)
‘There are three systems in life: egocentric, biocentric and theocentric.
These three systems are found everywhere in nature: in stones, plants, animals, stars…
Let’s take a quick look at the movement of comets, planets and suns. Comets have an interrupted trajectory, and planets move along a spiral. As for the trajectory of suns, it can be described as a circle whose centre is at infinity.
If we now look for these three systems among insects, we find that the spider is the symbol of the egocentric system, the ant of the biocentric system, and the bee of the theocentric system.
The spider lives alone, it attracts flies, and when one of them gets caught in its web, it hurries to take it to the centre of its ‘system’, the web, to eat it.
Ants, although they still belong to the egocentric system, have already entered the biocentric system: they live in groups organized into societies. But bees go beyond them, because the purpose of their work is to give something valuable to other beings who are more evolved than they are.
Spiders and ants work only for themselves, while bees make food for people.
You see, the word ‘theocentric’ does not mean that everything converges solely towards God, but that every manifestation of being goes beyond the personality. And the activity of bees goes beyond the personality because they prepare honey for human beings.
They do not do it ‘for God’, but the honey is not for themselves only. It is a selfless act, which belongs in the theocentric system.
Some will object that the bees prepare the honey for themselves and that humans steal it from them.
Of course, but nature encourages them to prepare honey for people as well, just as it pushes trees to bear fruit for other creatures.
“The friend of bees”
Hans Thoma (1863)
(click to zoom)
Text taken from the book "The two trees of Paradise", chap. I "Theocentric, biocentric and egocentric systems" ".
The two trees of Paradise (eBook)