The priestesses of the ancient Greek goddess Demeter were called Melissae. The ancient Greek word, Melissa, means bee. The job of the priestess was to open access to the goddess and to preside over her rituals and festivities. The greatest of her rituals were The Eleusinian Mysteries, a nine day festival that took place at the harvest to deliver Demeter's secrets of agriculture. 

Each year, thousands of people flocked to Eleusis, a small town just outside Athens, to be initiated into the Mysteries which also promised a  better experience in this life and after death. 

Historians will tell you that people only began to understand pollination around the 19th century...but how can that be true? When Demeter's festival of agriculture was run by shapeshifting shamans who called themselves bees? 

"Meeting The Melissae" is more than just a book to me. It took four long years to write, much of which…