Ayahuasca vine in bloom. Photo by Tom Newmark
Tripping with your partner can be a profound experience. It’s possible to learn things about yourself and your significant other that might never come up in the sober light of day. For many “psychonauts,” it’s the dissolution of ego that helps them empathize with their lover like never before. “These psychedelics dissolve boundaries, they open up kind of inter-dimensional thought and experience. When you have this together, it kind of erases the borders, where you begin and where I end,” says Chris Kilham, “Medicine Hunter,” author, and regular psychonaut. “You're just in the same energy and that total bleeding together and kind of leaning together and no real sense of separateness - that's really the gift of them [psychedelics] as far as togetherness is concerned.”
Playboy caught up with Kilham and his wife Zoe Helene, cultural activist, psychedelic feminist, and Founder of Cosmic Sister, before they flew down to Peru to participate in one of their favorite rituals as a couple: a series of ayahuasca ceremonies. “What we do with ayahuasca is stop looking at our external selves and start working on the things inside that we don't have normally have access to,” says Helene. “Being able to do that with your life partner... and sharing those visions with him… that degree of sharing what's deep inside you can be a powerful bonding experience.”
Tripping together will not only help you and your partner share your deepest, darkest secrets, but it can also put relationship issues into perspective. When thinking back on a fight or other disagreement while tripping, it can seem stupid, petty or selfish, especially in comparison to the “grand scheme of things” that will become much clearer on a drug-fueled journey. There is a significant chance it can take relationships to the next level, or make you realize how lucky you are to have found someone you want to spend every day with. When Helene and Kilham tripped on ayahuasca for their first anniversary, it was just that. “The very first thing I got [when the ayahuasca kicked in] was about how safe and happy I was there with my husband,” says Helene. “I recall seeing his face and that ayahuasca vision type…grin on his face, all shiny and bright and it was really loving and happy. So that was my very, very first psychedelic vision.”
“That just wound up being a remarkable bonding experience for us,” adds Kilham.
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