Closing the BEES, DREAMS & MEDICINE series, Hanifa Nayo Washington dives into a controversial side of sacred healing that has recently exploded onto the mainstream: the use of psychedelics. We’ll learn about the science, medicine, and psychological effects of this potent healing tool, and how to best integrate experiences for personal growth and stable mental health.

Ancient followers of Dionysus ran amok atop mountains, gyrating to the rhythm of the frame drum, sometimes induced by mind-altering concoctions. Dionysian scholar Chiara Baldini takes us there, relaying the rituals and significance of those who worshipped the Greek god of fertility, wine, and pleasure.

Queen whisperer Melanie Kirby approaches apiculture through an interdisciplinarian lens that weaves together science, indigenous cultures, art, land stewardship, biodiversity, conservation, and more. Her storytelling introduces us to the past and present of beekeeping as well as paints a future vision of inspired reciprocity between bees, humans, and Nature as a whole.

Starhawk‘s seminal book, The Fifth Sacred Thing, envisioned an ecotopian world in harmony with Nature, where human diversity is valued, and art, fun, and life embedded in the day to day. Not merely fiction, Starhawk has endeavored in real life to realize such a paradise through her work and teachings in permaculture, ecofeminism, activism, community-building, and empowerment for all. Awaken your inner courage and imagination!

Members of TreeSisters have contributed to the planting of more than 26 million trees throughout the tropics. Its founder Clare Dubois had a vision to transform our behavior from consumers to restorers, leaders, and doers, and on Sep 15 she’ll share observations and gained wisdom along this 12-year, Earth-loving journey of self-discovery, leadership, and reforestation.

Herstorian extraordinaire Max Dashu drops us into the world of the seer, dreamer, oracle, prophetess, taking us on a visual journey through the ages and across continents, where we’ll meet and hear powerful messages from women who do more than “predict the future,” but rather speak sacred truths and communicate profound insights about the realities around us.

Matthew Shepherd from Xerces Society has been working towards invertebrate conservation for decades. We’ll learn about the diversity of bees, some issues clouding their future, and steps we can take to ensure they have a safe environment. Along the way, we’ll also hear about monarch butterflies in North America.

In celebration of World Bee Day, The Melissae (May 19) bee priestesses offer a glimpse into their personal discoveries, spiritual studies, and ritualistic practices surrounding the honey bee. As a group we’ll have an opportunity to join in on a ceremony of offering, forgiveness, and love to and for our pollinator family.

Capitalism and other patriarchal systems have brought us to the brink of environmental collapse. Dr. Elsa María Cardona Santos sees hope in metaphorically “calculating” the economic value of Nature and advocates for “rewilding” to connect us deeper to the non-human world around us.

The world’s foremost expert and practitioner of apitherapy, Dr. Stefan Stângaciu, launches the BEES, DREAMS & MEDICINE 2022 series on Apr 7. Using honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, bee stings, and even beehive air to prevent and cure thousands of patients’ ailments, he has amassed countless personal and professional stories of bees’ intelligence, communications, and medicine. Join us to hear an insider’s scientific and mystical perspectives on bees.

Concluding the year, Michael Joshin Thiele leads us on a spiritual journey into the inner wisdom of the apian being, where intimacy, interconnectivity, and the oracular open hearts and minds, and whereby we gain stillness and gratitude grows.

We trek to the High Andes to learn about the mystical practice of “illumination,” a wisdom carried by the elders of Incan descendants. Dr. Gabrielle Francis regales us with stories of these mountaintop shamans and demonstrates how we can practice a chakra-cleansing ritual in the comfort of home.

Priestesses of the College of Melissae share rituals and practices that honor and celebrate the bee, and which help to deepen one’s connection to these venerated creatures, ourselves, and society at large.

Ancient Rome, Anatolia, and the route to Mecca all share an incredible, albeit controversial, storyline: a meteor that fell from the sky became one of the most widely worshipped deities of all time. Andrew Gough weaves a fanciful tale through these lands that also includes the Holy Grail and Great Mother.

In ancient times, women frame drummers thrummed the rhythms central to ceremony and ritual. Inheriting that pedigree, Miranda Rondeau shares her journey with this special percussive instrument, inviting attendees to play and sing along if so compelled.

Anna Breytenbach is gifted with the ability to communicate with nonhumans large and small. During a special talk with Laura Bee of the College of the Melissae, the two will muse on deepening our connectivity with bees, the circle of life, as well as ourselves, in the process teaching us how to hone heart-based intuition.

Valerie Solheim received a literal and figurative call from bees, a story that led her to the Yucatán Peninsula and along a lineage of uninterrupted spiritual communion between Mayan descendants and the stingless Melipona bee.

Jungian philosopher Gary Bobroff dives deep into our collective psyche, showing how masculine archetypes have hurled us into an existential technology-vs-Nature crisis, and how balancing it with the Feminine can lead to greater harmony.

Max Dashu leads us on a tour of the East Mediterranean and other lands, where the voices and powerful messages of bee goddesses, oracles, and other mythological women will no longer be suppressed.

Marla Bull Bear cultivates Lakota heritage, culture, and spirituality among today’s youth through education and activism. She’ll share how (re)connecting to Nature through bees can inspire and motivate the next generation.

Rabbi Dahlia Shaham recounts biblical lore about Devorah (bee in Hebrew), who was revered as an enlightened prophetess, high priestess, just judge, and visionary in the Land of Milk and Honey, who led her people to freedom and 40 years of peace.

Inspired by the melissae (ancient bee priestesses and oracles), meet select luminaries, who share insights, visions, and dreams for a new tomorrow. During this yearlong series, we will meander through a labyrinth of science, sacred, his-/herstory, mystery, art, medicine, and activism — the pillars that comprise the College of the Melissae.

Amid troubled times, together we ask: Who are we? Where did we come from? And how can we recreate our cosmology?

(This series is a co-production of The Ambeessadors and the College of the Melissae.)

Les Crowder, a 40-year treatment-free veteran, shares insights, experiences, and advice on how we can slow down, breathe deeper, and learn about bees and ourselves while discovering new ways to interact with our winged friends.