NOVEMBER 17TH, 5:00 - 6:30PM PST

Zoe Helene is an artist and cultural activist who founded the environmental feminism collective, Cosmic Sister, in 2007, to advocate for women, wilderness and wildlife, and for our natural right to work with nature’s psychedelic medicines—our “co-evolutionary allies.” She believes that a true balance of power across the gender spectrum—globally—is the only way humans (and non-humans) will survive.

Zoe coined the term “Psychedelic Feminism” to describe a sub-genre of feminism that embraces intentional work with sacred psychedelic plants and fungi—such as ayahuasca, peyote, iboga, psilocybin mushrooms and cannabis—and encourages women to explore the wilderness within, where they can learn more deeply about themselves, in part to revisit core feminist issues in fresh and exciting ways.

In her TEMENO talking circles, Zoe welcomes all respectful, open-hearted truth-seekers who wish to explore the damaging effects of late-stage patriarchy, including the wounds, harmful social conditioning and emotional burdens we each carry from surviving an abusive culture. Her loving, hopeful methods for “evoking intentions” in preparation for medicine work follow a “character is action” approach to improving relationship dynamics—with ourselves, each other, and all living beings.

Zoe is a spiritual agnostic with a passion for cultural and biological diversity and archetypal psychology as the “Language of Psyche.” Her ancestors were tribal people who developed sophisticated nature-based spiritualities that included psychedelic ceremonies. Her medicine work around ancestral trauma addresses loss of cultural diversity and identity through dominator religions, xenophobia-driven genocide, persecution, and oppression, and diaspora and assimilation.

Zoe travels the globe with her ethnobotanist husband, Chris Kilham, promoting plant medicine, indigenous rights, and environmental protection. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Professional Theatre from Brandeis University, where she was closely mentored by legendary costume designer Patricia Zipprodt.

Her work has been featured in Forbes, BBC, Bust, Playboy, VICE, Broadly, Tonic, Outside Magazine, New York Magazine, Boston Magazine, Huffington Post, AlterNet, Sensi, Civilized, DoubleBlind, Psychedelics Today, Psychedelic Times, The Journal for the Study of Radicalism, ABC Australia, Radio New Zealand, and many other top-tier media venues.

Psychedelic Feminism—Ancestor Medicine

Exploring ancestry with the help of sacred plant allies can be empowering in surprising ways. Delving deeply into our individual and collective past can help inform choices we make in the present—for ourselves as individuals, for the people we love, and for the future of life on earth. All of our backstories brought us to where we are today, as a collective. This is classic psychedelic journeying work. It’s about truth-seeking and treasure hunting. Discovering, reconnecting, recreating for a better future. Who are you? Where do you come from? How did you get to where you are today? The paths of our ancestors all lead to the present. You. Me. Us. Where will we go together, tomorrow?

IMAGE: Zoe Helene's maternal ancestors burned Cannabis, Greek sage (Salvia fruticosa), Cedar (Cedrus libani) and Lavender (Lavandula) in spiritual healing ceremonies. Photo by Tracey Eller.