ZOE HELENE QUOTES
QUOTES ABOUT ZOE HELENE
The following quotes about Zoe Helene were published in various media venues
“Zoe Helene advocates for what she calls psychedelic feminism... that one woman's deep dive inward through ayahuasca can trigger radical potential in their own lives and radiate outward toward.” - VICE | Broadly
“Zoe Helene is generous in her interpretation of wisdom. She praises the Shipibo healers; these women teach and support her and she gives back by encouraging sustainable plant medicine trade and promoting interest in their indigenous cultural arts and traditions. It is an exchange built on deep respect and a commitment that took time to forge into important relationships.” - Zoe Helene, The Wisdom Daily
“It’s with that empowerment in mind that Helene began her (Cosmic Sister Plant Spirit grant program, and it’s something she says could address a much larger problem: allowing women to express themselves and begin to overtake sexism.” - Boston Magazine
“Zoe Helene… writes about the environmental devastation, most notably about the plight of New Zealand’s critically endangered Maui’s dolphin, of which a mere 55 survive.” - Outside Magazine
“Like many of her peers, Zoe Helene smoked marijuana in her early 20s but gave it up as her career in the digital world took off in the 1990s. Today the multidisciplinary artist and environmental activist lives in Amherst, Mass., and is building a global network of trailblazers called Cosmic Sister. Since she married an ethnobotanist in 2007, she has returned to using cannabis occasionally — “as a tool for evolving and expanding my psyche.” - Forbes
“Zoe Helene is a cultural activist and wildlife advocate. This talented, passionate trailblazer is also a multidisciplinary artist and describes herself as a "psychedelic feminist." She had no plans to marry until she was 42, when she had a change of heart. She is now celebrating 10 years of happy marriage and describes her married life as "so very blessed." The pair both run businesses that Zoe says are "interconnected in beautiful, supportive ways and are also distinctly unique and standalone." The couple travels extensively, and they hold a shared vision and mission for their lives together.” - BRIDES
“Zoe Helene... chief creative officer, spends her time designing interactive media campaigns that draw inspiration from the arts as well as from artificial intelligence.” - Fast Company Magazine
“Zoe Helene saw Kilham's boar tusk in 2007, and in addition to marrying him, she became his partner in keeping the Medicine Hunter enterprises on the rails.” - The Valley Advocate
“Zoe Helene’s success with corporate work gives her leverage to work also on such causes for which she feels so much passion.” - Newsday
“The day I’m there, we download their renderings of Little Red Riding Hood and the “big bad wolf.” It’s that negative stereotype of wolves that this new campaign is being designed to eliminate. On the drawing boards as a project for the Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C., it is envisioned to help save the Yellowstone National Park wolves.” - Newsday
“Zoe Helene, a Huffington Post blogger who turns 50 later this year, started using marijuana in her 20s and then mostly stopped during the 1990s, finding herself with a high-powered career plus a partner who was strictly against it. She said she has seen similar patterns with her peers… in Massachusetts, where possession of small amounts of the drug has been decriminalized, Helene and her husband, ethnobotanist Chris Kilham, rarely smoke marijuana but will eat it on occasion. At a typical dinner party in their social circle, she said, it’s not unusual for one person to bring a bottle of wine and another a basket of fresh-baked pot brownies.” - Huffington Post 50, 2014
“Zoe Helene, a scholar of online communities, has traced the first signs of a mythology of the online community. Speaking at a conference held at MIT, entitled "Collective E-Consciousness: Ancient Archetypes in the Digital Age," Helene invited us to rediscover the archetypes of Athena, Hermes and Hestia alive and well in the culture of the digital revolution.” - Innovation
“(Zoe) Helene's nurturing nature was honored (by the Shibibo tribe) when the name Little Bear was bestowed on her.” - The Valley Advocate
“Zoe Helene, who answers most questions through sketching and storytelling, see Hermes, the messenger god, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, weaving and strategy as the patron saints of the Internet.” - Newsday
ZOE HELENE: AS QUOTED
In various published venues, Zoe Helene was quoted as saying the following:
SACRED PSYCHEDELICS PLANTS
“Ayahuasca is a transformational journey experience and an integrated mind-body-spirit approach to wellness wisdom. It’s a truth serum and a profoundly positive mirror, and it’s as much a guided experience as it is a psychedelic substance.” – Zoe Helene, Bust Magazine
“I’m more interested in journeying and exploring the wilderness within and learning about ourselves and moving forward, which often means letting things go in the past.” – Zoe Helene, Playboy Magazine
“The conversation should be about defending the rights of indigenous people while supporting them to champion the environment they steward.” – Zoe Helene, ABC News, Australia
“One of most important things to keep in mind is that plants can be at risk of being over-harvested to extinction just like animals can. If a plant becomes popular, people can go crazy trying to harvest as much as they can without consideration to the nature of the plant kingdom — it is abundant but not infinite.” – Zoe Helene, Revelist
“Psychedelic sacred plant spirit journeying is inherently about breaking through self-destructive narratives, letting go of behavioral programming that no longer serves us (and maybe never did), forgiving others and ourselves, experiencing life-changing paradigm shifts, and working through issues such as trauma, depression, anxiety, anger, fear, addictions, and low self-esteemits also about the positive human experiences of inspiration, insight, revelation, and reconnection with love, nature, and community.” – Zoe Helene, MassRoots
“Cannabis weddings are more than a trend – they’re part of the movement. Men still get the lion’s share of the media, even when it’s about a female plant called the green goddess. Doubly ironic when dealing with wedding industry business and media, which traditionally caters to a primarily female demographic.” - Zoe Helene, Lift (lift.co)
“Plants—especially sacred plants like ayahuasca, cannabis, and peyote—have helped humans grow throughout the ages and continue to help us steward our spiritual evolution.” – Zoe Helene, Reset.Me
“In the world of sacred plants and psychedelics, ceremonial visions and messages often come to us in the universal language of the soul.” - Zoe Helene, LA Yoga
“The conversation should be about defending the rights of indigenous people while supporting them to champion the environment they steward.” – Zoe Helene, ABC News, Australia
“Our work is about a mindful relationship with a sacred plant or fungi. We ‘work with’ or ‘journey with’ or ‘commune with’ but we would never ‘use’.” – Zoe Helene, New Zealand Radio
“I meet people who use the term ‘plant spirit’ as a matter of course. Initially I thought they were all rather woo-woo, but as I met more brilliant, accomplished plant spirit thought leaders, my thoughts started to shift to, “What am I missing here?”” - Zoe Helene, NAILED Magazine
“This cocktail may be virgin, but you won’t be after drinking it. Schisandra is a superberry, an adaptogen and… an aphrodisiac.” – Zoe Helene, Organic Spa Magazine
“I’ve learned that ayahuasca works in levels, a little like peeling an onion. It is complex and something you really have to experience to understand.” – Zoe Helene, Boston Magazine
“A lot of people think medicine hunting is all Chris trekking through the jungle. Or, for that matter, the chiefs and (male) elders he works with. The men get the headlines, but it’s the women behind the scenes who are doing the planting and harvesting and chopping.” - Zoe Helene, Outside Magazine, 2014
PSYCHEDELIC FEMINISM
“We women need to rise to the occasion. The ayahuasca experience rebirths, inspires, empowers, and ignites us to do that. The Cosmic Sister Plant Spirit Grant is just one small way women can encourage and support women to take that journey and shine as they were born to do.” - Zoe Helene, Boston Magazine
“Psychedelic sacred plant spirit journeying is inherently about breaking through deep programming and self-destructive narratives. It's about love and compassion and forgiving others and ourselves.” - Zoe Helene, VICE | Broadly
“If you help one woman, who is the right type of woman, and she becomes more empowered, she will be free to do something new. Then she goes back to her own home, integrates those learnings and those visions in her own life, and then helps other women. It's a paying-it-forward model. I'm not in control of the process and I don't want to be in control of it; that's a patriarchal idea. These women do their own thing.” - Zoe Helene, VICE | Broadly
“Many of us in the ‘full moon’ phase of our lives, or beyond, are compelled to step up to the plate for younger women and girls, as well as for men and boys, because we understand how they too are hurt by archaic gender clichés and cultural limitations.” - Zoe Helene, Utne Reader
“Imbalanced systems are inherently unhealthy, and this work is about wellness. Sexism is a chronic, systemic problem and has no place in the psychedelic renaissance and cannabis liberation arenas. This is our last chance to evolve ethically, so we’d better get it right.” - Zoe Helene, Utne Reader
“Humans are natural beings, and nature has our best interests at heart. She wants us to thrive, in exquisite harmony with other beings of the natural world. Ayahuasca, too, comes from nature. She’s a wild, sentient plant spirit ally that helps us listen to our own natural inner wisdom so we can help ourselves in ways no one else can and empower others—not just humans—to thrive. When our spirits are well, we do no harm to ourselves, others or our home.” - Zoe Helene, Boston Magazine
WOMEN + WILDERNESS + WILDLIFE
“Love deeply and courageously. Compassion, respect, humility and a sense of wonder remain key drivers in creating positive change.” - Zoe Helene, Coco Eco Magazine
“The Maui’s dolphin population has plummeted from 2,000 in 1970 to 55 today. The species has become a poster child for “bycatch”—sea life that gets caught and drowns in fishing nets.” - Zoe Helene, Organic Spa Magazine, 2014
“Wherever wolves run free, indigenous cultures have revered them as symbols of loyalty, free will, fearlessness and unity. But wolves haven’t had it easy in North America, where negative myths prevail. Fear-based stereotypes and use of public lands for cattle ranching have resulted in Mother Nature’s dogs being aggressively persecuted to the point of near extinction.” – Zoe Helene, Organic Spa Magazine
“America's remaining wild horses are under aggressive attack and rapidly disappearing from government-managed, citizen-owned wilderness spaces.” - Zoe Helene, Huffington Post
“Unless we save our seas from the ever-increasing mounds of discarded pop bottles and plastic bags, there won’t be much living ocean left. Hundreds of thousands of sea animals die each year because of discarded grocery bags, straws, water and soda bottles, lids, and other trash carelessly tossed aside. That includes turtles, seals, seabirds, sperm whales, and at least 267 marine species; including thousands of species that are classified as “Endangered”. Marine animals mistake plastic for food, and ingesting plastic is eventually fatal. Entanglement in plastic debris, especially ropes, monofilament lines and packing bands, is another killer.” - Zoe Helene, Huffington Post
“The health of life on Earth depends on its oceans. But unless we save our seas from the growing mounds of pop bottles, cigarette butts and plastic trash, soon there won’t be much healthy sea left.” - Zoe Helene, Organic Spa Magazine
“Wildlife needs wilderness--not just to survive, but also to live freely. Sadly, many species struggle to survive due to increased human activity and expansion into habitats they call home.” – Zoe Helene, Huffington Post
“I can't relate to the people who shoot wolves. I'm guessing the person who shot Wolf 06 wouldn't relate much to me either. You let people go out and shoot hundreds of wolves and watch violent movies, and then you're surprised when they go on a rampage shooting other humans. You can't separate violence like that.” – Zoe Helene, Reality Sandwich
“Arcitc Harp seal pup populations are declining as they are commercially hunted for oil and fur and global warming causes the ice where pups are born to break up and melt. Now these sweet and adorable pups face yet another human threat: oil spills.” - Zoe Helene, Organic Spa Magazine
“New Zealand already ranks high in the extinction conversation. The Moa and Hast Eagle are one of the most infamous examples of “co-extinction” by human cause. Extinction of the Maui’s dolphin would only strengthen New Zealand’s existing reputation, and it isn’t reversible infamy. You would think they’d take this more seriously.” - Zoe Helene, EcoSalon
RAINFOREST
“There are dangers, because we’re going to the heart of the jungle... but that’s part of what makes this an adventure.” - Zoe Helene, Daily Collegian
“A growing number of people are willing to face the facts, but against the sheer power and magnitude of destructive forces, it is easy to feel helpless. We're grieving.” - Zoe Helene, Reality Sandwich (on deforestation and the Amazon)
“Love deeply and courageously. Compassion, respect, humility and a sense of wonder remain key drivers in creating positive change.” - Zoe Helene, Coco Eco Magazine (on fighting for the Amazon)
LIFESTYLE + SUSTAINABILITY
“Yes, your jewelry choices make a difference. When you invest in ethical, heirloom-quality jewelry, you’re also investing in the future. Your purchase supports a creative community of like-minded humanitarians, out there doing important work.” - Zoe Helene, Organic Spa Magazine
Eco-friendly and ethical (jewelry) standards include reclaimed or recycled precious metals and other salvaged and repurposed material. Jewelry professionals around the world are working together to create systems that promote positive change.” - Zoe Helene, Organic Spa Magazine
