Frederica Helmiere
Frederica Helmiere on Transformation, Sacred Activism, and the Power of Not Knowing
Frederica Helmiere
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
2025
What does it mean to transform in a time of collapse? Frederica Helmiere—educator, activist, plant medicine guide, and Head of Programs at Esalen Institute—invites us into a conversation about sacred disruption, animism, and the deep rewiring of Western worldviews.
From building gardens at Yale Divinity School to planting mangroves in Cambodia, Frederica has always moved between the practical and the mystical. In this wide-ranging interview, she speaks about psychedelics as tools for healing dualism, the wisdom of Jack Turner and Bayo Akomolafe, and the slow, relational work of consciousness shift. Whether in the classroom or the cosmos, Frederica believes transformation begins with asking better questions—and being willing to listen for answers beyond the self.
Frederica Helmiere on Psychedelics and Healing Dualism
Frederica Helmiere
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
2025
Frederica Helmiere opens up about the role psychedelics can play in transforming rigid ways of thinking. In this clip, she discusses how plant medicine and sacred ceremony offer a path toward dissolving dualism and embracing complexity, ambiguity, and interconnection.
She speaks with grounded wisdom about what it means to truly see again—beyond Western binaries—and to reclaim awe as a catalyst for ecological and personal repair.
Frederica Helmiere on Animism and Communion with All Beings
Frederica Helmiere
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
2025
What if the Earth was not a resource, but a relative? In this powerful clip, Frederica Helmiere reflects on animism—not as an abstract belief, but as a daily relationship with the more-than-human world.
She shares what it means to live with reverence, speak with trees, and belong to a web of beings. It’s a re-sacralizing of life that challenges Western detachment and invites us back into communion.
Frederica Helmiere on Creating Change from the Streets to the Classroom
Frederica Helmiere
Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology
2025
In this clip, Frederica Helmiere reflects on the many spaces where transformation can occur—from direct action to deep learning. Whether she’s organizing protests or teaching theology, she believes change is a layered process that must involve both outer systems and inner narratives. With experience as a peacebuilder, professor, and program director, Frederica reminds us that the real work of justice requires flexible strategy and spiritual stamina.