Oh Honey!

Sweet, Sugared Candyman!

So in the weird ways I do, I was researching Human Taxidermy (yes it was…IS a thing) The Installation Bodies in Las Vegas has been a hit for years and I highly recommend it. However what if the idea of preservation wasn't for art or even spiritual beliefs but for….candy?

Imagine a body completely encased in honey, preserved not for eternity but for consumption. This isn’t some twisted, modern horror story, it’s the legend of the Mellified Man, an ancient and unsettling practice where human remains were transformed into a macabre medicinal delicacy. The very thought sends chills down the spine, yet for centuries, this terrifying form of body preservation was believed to exist in certain corners of the ancient worldThe story of this candied man dates back to ancient Chinese and Arabic texts, particularly the 16th-century writings of Li Shizhen, a renowned Chinese pharmacologist.

According to these sources, elderly men nearing the end of their lives would willingly offer themselves to be "mellified" essentially transformed into a honey-soaked human remedy.The process was as bizarre as it was gruesome. The man would begin by eating nothing but honey, consuming it until honey filled his veins and even his sweat and bodily fluids became sticky and sweet. Once the man had essentially mummified himself from the inside out, he would die, either from the effects of the diet or other natural causes. This was only the beginning of his transformation into the Mellified Man.After death, the body would be submerged in honey, sealed in a stone coffin or jar, and left to ferment for decades, sometimes up to a century. The honey, known for its antibacterial and preservative properties, would prevent decay, slowly turning the body into a bizarre mixture of mummy and syrup. After years of fermentation, the body was said to break down into a strange, medicinal substance.And here’s the truly chilling part: this mixture was consumed. Believed to have miraculous healing powers, pieces of the Mellified Man were used to treat wounds, broken bones, and internal ailments. Those desperate for a cure would ingest or apply this gruesome concoction, believing it to be a powerful elixir.Imagine willingly allowing your body to be preserved not for burial, but to become some twisted, sticky medicine for others. Was it an ultimate act of sacrifice or a sinister ritual born out of desperate times?Some speculate that the practice was nothing more than folklore, a grim tale concocted to illustrate the lengths to which people would go for healing in ancient times. Yet others point to the numerous uses of honey in ancient medicine, which could lend credence to the idea that mellification might have been an actual, if exceedingly rare, practice.

Honey was revered in the ancient world not just as a food, but as a substance with almost magical properties. It could preserve the dead, Egyptians used it in their mummification processes, and heal the living, with its antibacterial effects being known even thousands of years ago.

There there is the the act of consumption. Unlike traditional mummies, whose remains are revered and preserved in tombs, the Mellified Man’s body was meant to be ingested—eaten by those desperate for relief. It turns the entire process of death and preservation into something nightmarish and unnatural.

Some dismiss the story as nothing more than an ancient myth, a disturbing tale passed down through generations to fascinate and horrify. Yet, the fact that it’s recorded in respected pharmacological texts suggests that, at the very least, some believed it could be real.Regardless of its authenticity, the story of the Mellified Man lingers in the darkest corners of history, a chilling reminder of how death, medicine, and ritual often collide in unsettling ways. Even now! We often can be heard saying try some honey, Manuka Honey, honey in tea. Honey is nature's cure-all. Could this be far off, or even where it actually originated?

So, the next time you dip into a jar of golden honey, sweet and harmless because, in the shadows of history, honey was once not just a treat for the living—but a final resting place for the dead.