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'''Terence Kemp McKenna''' was an American psychonaut, lecturer, philosopher, and writer.   
Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000) was an American ethnobotanist, mystic, psychonaut, lecturer, and author who spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the "Timothy Leary of the '90s",[1][2] "one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism",[3] and the "intellectual voice of rave culture".[4]
==Thought==
 
===Psychedelics===
Terence McKenna advocated the exploration of altered states of mind via the ingestion of naturally occurring psychedelic substances.<ref name=Jenkins /><ref name=Supernatural>{{cite book |title= Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind |year= 2006 |origyear= 2005 |location= London |publisher= [[Random House|Arrow]] |isbn= 9780099474159 |pages= [http://books.google.com/books?id=FpMhxNgf97YC&lpg=PA1&pg=PT217#v=onepage&q&f=false 556–7] |first= Graham |last= Hancock |author-link= Graham Hancock}}</ref><ref name=NobleSavage /> For example, and in particular, as facilitated by the ingestion of high doses of [[psychedelic mushrooms]],<ref name=shroom /><ref name=StametsPMOTW /> [[ayahuasca]] and [[Dimethyltryptamine|DMT]],<ref name=EsquireJacobson /> which he believed was the [[apotheosis]] of the psychedelic experience.
However he was less enthralled with the synthetic drugs<ref name=EsquireJacobson /> stating that "I think drugs should come from the natural world and be use-tested by shamanically orientated cultures...one cannot predict the long-term effects of a drug produced in a Laboratory."<ref name=Mavericks /> McKenna always stressed the responsible use of psychedelic plants saying: "Experimenters should be very careful. One must build up to the experience. These are bizarre dimensions of extraordinary power and beauty. There is no set rule to avoid being overwhelmed, but move carefully, reflect a great deal, and always try to map experiences back onto the history of the race and the philosophical and religious accomplishments of the species. All the compounds are potentially dangerous, and all compounds, at sufficient doses or repeated over time, involve risks. The library is the first place to go when looking into taking a new compound."{{sfn|McKenna|1992a|p=43}} He also recommended and often spoke of taking, what he called, 'heroic doses,'<ref name=Supernatural /> which he defined as five dried grams of psilocybin mushrooms,<ref name=EsquireJacobson>{{cite news |first= Mark |last= Jacobson |authorlink= Mark Jacobson |title= Terence McKenna the brave prophet of The next psychedelic revolution, or is his cosmic egg just a little bit cracked? |magazine= [[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date= June 1992 |pages= 107–38 |id=ESQ199206 |url= https://archive.org/details/1992TerenceMcKennaEaquire}}</ref> taken alone, on an empty stomach, in silent darkness and with eyes closed.<ref name=shroom /><ref name=Wired /> Stating that when taken this way one could expect a profound visionary experience,<ref name=shroom /> believing it is only when slain by the power of the mushroom that the message becomes clear.<ref name=StametsPMOTW>{{cite book |title= Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide |year= 1996 |location= Berkeley, CA |publisher= [[Ten Speed Press]] |isbn= 9780898158397 |page= 36 |first= Paul |last= Stamets |authorlink= Paul Stamets |chapter= 5. Good Tips For Great Trips}}</ref>
 
Although he avoided giving his allegiance to any one interpretation (part of his rejection of [[monotheism]]), he was open to the idea of psychedelics as being "trans-dimensional travel"; proposing that DMT sent one to a "parallel dimension"<ref name=ScientificAHorgan /> and psychedelics literally, enabled an individual to encounter 'higher dimensional [[entities]]'{{sfn|Pinchbeck|2003|p=193}} or what could be [[ancestor]]s, or [[spirit]]s of the Earth,<ref name=invisible /> saying that if you can trust your own perceptions it appears that you are entering an "ecology of [[souls]]."{{sfn|Pinchbeck|2003|p=247}} McKenna also put forward the idea that psychedelics were "doorways into the [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaian]] mind"<ref name=NobleSavage /><ref name= "Trip1993">{{cite news |last= Trip |first= Gabriel |date= May 2, 1993 |title= Tripping, but not falling |newspaper= [[The New York Times|New York Times]] |page= A6}}</ref> suggesting that "the planet has a kind of intelligence, it can actually open a channel of communication with an individual human being" and that the psychedelic plants were the facilitators of this communication.<ref>{{cite AV media |people= [[The Shamen|Shamen]] |year= 1992 |title= [[Boss Drum]] |accessdate= 2014-04-01 |format= CD and MP3 |time= 4:50 |chapter= Track 10: RE: Evolution |publisher= [[Epic Records|Epic]] |oclc= 27056837}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= The Gaian mind |first= Terence |last= McKenna |url= http://deoxy.org/gaia/g_mind.htm |website= deoxy.org |type= cut-up from the works of Terence McKenna}}</ref> In a more radical version of [[biophysicist]] [[Francis Crick]]'s [[hypothesis]] of directed [[panspermia]]; another idea McKenna speculated on, was that, psilocybin mushrooms are a species of high intelligence,<ref name=Mavericks /> which may have arrived on this planet as spores migrating through space<ref name=ScientificAHorgan />{{sfn|Pinchbeck|2003|p=234}} and are attempting to establish a [[symbiotic]] relationship with human beings. He postulated that "intelligence, not life, but intelligence may have come here [to [[Earth]]] in this spore-bearing life form"  pointing out that "I think that theory will probably be vindicated. I think in a hundred years if people do biology they will think it quite silly that people once thought that [[spores]] could not be blown from one star system to another by cosmic [[radiation pressure]]" and believed that "Few people are in a position to judge its extraterrestrial potential, because few people in the orthodox sciences have ever experienced the full spectrum of psychedelic effects that are unleashed."<ref name=Mavericks /><ref name=HT1992 />{{sfn|McKenna|1992a|pp=204–17}}<ref name=Dery21C />
 
McKenna was opposed to Christianity<ref name= "Rabey1994">{{cite news |last= Rabey |first= Steve |date= August 13, 1994 |title= Instant karma: Psychedelic drug use on the rise as a quick route to spirituality |newspaper= [[The Gazette (Colorado Springs)|Colorado Springs Gazette – Telegraph]] |page= E1}}</ref> and most forms of [[organized religion]] or [[guru]]-based forms of spiritual awakening, favouring [[shamanism]], which he believed was the broadest spiritual paradigm available, stating that: <blockquote>"What I think happened is that in the world of prehistory all religion was experiential, and it was based on the pursuit of ecstasy through plants. And at some time, very early, a group interposed itself between people and direct experience of the 'Other.' This created hierarchies, priesthoods, theological systems, castes, ritual, taboos. Shamanism, on the other hand, is an experiential science that deals with an area where we know nothing. It is important to remember that our epistemological tools have developed very unevenly in the West. We know a tremendous amount about what is going on in the heart of the atom, but we know absolutely nothing about the nature of the mind."<ref>{{cite web |title= Prejudice Against Psychedelics |last= Drury |first= Neville |year= 1990 |url= http://www.salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk/quotes/mckenna/prejudice.htm |website= salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk |type= Extract from a Terence McKenna interview in ''Nature and Health'' magazine}}{{copyvio link}}</ref></blockquote>
 
Either philosophically or religiously, he expressed admiration for: [[Marshall McLuhan]], [[Alfred North Whitehead]], [[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin]], [[Carl Jung]], [[Plato]], [[Gnostic Christianity]] and [[Alchemy]], while regarding the Greek philosopher [[Heraclitus]] as his favorite philosopher.<ref name="Stone2">{{cite AV media |last= McKenna |first= Terence |type= lecture |chapter= Unfolding the Stone 1 |title= Psychedelia: Raw Archives of Terence McKenna Talks |date= 1992 |format= MP3 |time= 17:30 |editor-last= Damer |editor-first= Bruce |url= https://ia700208.us.archive.org/10/items/PsychedeliaRawArchivesOfTerenceMckennaTalks/UnfoldingTheStone1.mp3}}</ref>


He influenced many with his popular lectures and books detailing his thoughts and various theories on a myriad of subjects, including psychonautics, philosophy, shamanism, metaphysics, culture, technology, language, and theoretical origins of human evolution and consciousness.  
He also expressed admiration for the works of [[Aldous Huxley]],<ref name=Mavericks /> [[James Joyce]]; calling ''[[Finnegans Wake]]'' "the quintessential work of art, or at least work of literature of the 20th century,"<ref name="SurfingFW">{{cite AV media |last= McKenna |first= Terence  |type= lecture |chapter= SurfingFinnegansWake |title= Psychedelia: Raw Archives of Terence McKenna Talks |date= 1990–1999 |format= MP3 |time= 0:45 |editor-last= Damer |editor-first= Bruce |url= https://ia700208.us.archive.org/10/items/PsychedeliaRawArchivesOfTerenceMckennaTalks/SurfingFinnegansWake.mp3}}</ref> the science fiction writer [[Philip K. Dick]] who he described as an "incredible genius,"<ref>{{cite book |last= McKenna |first= Terence |chapter= Afterword: I Understand Philip K. Dick |title= In Pursuit of Valis: Selections from the Exegesis |editor-first= Lawrence |editor-last= Sutin |publisher= Underwood-Miller |year= 1991 |isbn= 9780887330919 |pages= }} {{cite web |title= Convenience copy |website= sirbacon.org |url= http://www.sirbacon.org/dick.htm}}{{Verify source|date=January 2014}}{{copyvio link}}</ref> [[fabulist]] [[Jorge Luis Borges]], with whom McKenna shared the belief that; "scattered through the ordinary world there are books and artifacts and perhaps people who are like doorways into impossible realms, of impossible and contradictory truth"<ref name=ScientificAHorgan /> and [[Vladimir Nabokov]]: McKenna once said that he would have become a Nabokov lecturer if he had never encountered psychedelics.


He was a well known advocate of[[psychedelics| psychedelic drugs]] and the [[Psychonautics|exploration of conciousness]].  
During the final years of his life and career, McKenna became very engaged in the theoretical realm of technology. He was an early proponent of the [[technological singularity]]<ref name=ScientificAHorgan /> and in his last recorded public talk, ''Psychedelics in The Age of Intelligent Machines'', he outlined ties between psychedelics, computation technology, and humans.<ref name="Machines">{{cite AV media |last= McKenna |first= Terence  |type= lecture |title= Psychedelics in The Age of Intelligent Machines |year= 1999 |format= Video |url= https://archive.org/details/TerenceMckenna_Seattle199Lecture}}</ref> He also became enamored with the Internet calling it "the birth of [the] global mind",<ref name="NYT Obit" /> believing it to be a place where psychedelic culture could flourish.<ref name=Wired />
==Thought==
====Machine elves====
McKenna spoke of hallucinations while on [[Dimethyltryptamine|DMT]] in which he claims to have met intelligent [[entities]] he described as "self-transforming [[N,N-Dimethyltryptamine#.22Machine Elves.22|machine elves]]".<ref name=Mavericks /><ref name=ScientificAHorgan /><ref name=DMTspirit>{{cite book|title=DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences|year=2001|publisher=Inner Traditions Bear and Company; Later Printing edition|isbn=0892819278|page=187|author=Rick Strassman, M.D.|author-link=Rick Strassman|accessdate=February 5, 2014}}</ref>{{sfn|Pinchbeck|2003|p=213}} {{quote|"So I did it and...there was a something, like a flower, like a [[chrysanthemum]] in orange and yellow that was sort of spinning, spinning, and then it was like I was pushed from behind and I fell through the chrysanthemum into another place that didn't seem like a state of mind, it seemed like another place. And what was going on in this place aside from the tastefully soffited indirect lighting, and the crawling geometric hallucinations along the domed walls, what was happening was that there were a lot of beings in there, what I call self-transforming machine elves. Sort of like jeweled basketballs all dribbling their way toward me. And if they'd had faces they would have been grinning, but they didn't have faces. And they assured me that they loved me and they told me not to be amazed; not to give way to astonishment."<ref>{{cite AV media |author1= Spacetime Continuum |authorlink1= Jonah Sharp |last2= McKenna |first2= Terence |last3= Kent |first3= Stephen |authorlink3= Stephen Kent (musician) |others= Visuals by Rose-X Media House |year= 2003 |origyear= 1993 |title= Alien Dreamtime |url= http://deoxy.org/t_adt.htm#arc |accessdate= 2014-03-18 |format= DVD, CD and MP3 |time= 1:45 |chapter= Alien Love |at= Track 3 |publisher= Magic Carpet Media: [[Astralwerks]] |oclc= 80061092}}</ref>|Terence McKenna|Alien Dreamtime}}
===Novelty theory and Timewave Zero===
===Novelty theory and Timewave Zero===
McKenna formulated a concept about the nature of time based on fractal patterns he claimed to have discovered in the I Ching, which he called novelty theory,[3][5] proposing this predicted the end of time in the year 2012.[5][6][7][8] His promotion of novelty theory and its connection to the Mayan calendar is credited as one of the factors leading to the widespread beliefs about 2012 eschatology.[9] Novelty theory is considered pseudoscience.[10][11]


==="Stoned ape" theory of human evolution===
==="Stoned ape" theory of human evolution===
Terence McKenna was one of the first major proponents to the "stoned ape" theory. This theory, put simply, suggests that one of the many factors that caused our ancestor hominids to develop advanced communication capabilities such as language was the ingestion of what we would now call psychedelics. Specifically, he calls out the use of the mushrooms of the psilocybe genus.
In his book ''Food of the Gods'', McKenna proposed that the transformation from humans' early ancestors ''[[Homo erectus]]'' to the species ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' mainly had to do with the addition of the mushroom ''[[Psilocybe cubensis]]'' in its diet,<ref name=shroom /><ref name=Telegraph8thingsMush />{{sfn|McKenna|1992b|pp=56–60}} an event that according to his theory took place in about 100,000 BCE (this is when he believed that the species diverged from the [[Homo]] genus).<ref name= "LA Times Obit">{{cite news |title= Terence McKenna; Promoter of psychedelic drug use |date= April 7, 2000 |newspaper= ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' |page= B6}}</ref>{{sfn|McKenna|1992b|p=54}} McKenna based his theory on the main effects, or alleged effects, produced by the mushroom<ref name=Mavericks /> while citing studies by [[Roland L. Fischer|Roland Fischer]] et al. from the late 1960s to early 1970s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Fischer |first1= Roland |last2= Hill |first2= Richard |first3= Karen |last3= Thatcher |first4= James |last4= Scheib  |year= 1970 |title= Psilocybin-Induced contraction of nearby visual space |journal= Agents and Actions |volume= 1 |issue= 4 |pages= 190–7 |pmid= 5520365 |doi= 10.1007/BF01965761}}</ref>{{sfn|McKenna|1992b|p=57}}
 
McKenna stated that due to the [[desertification]] of the [[African continent]] at that time, human forerunners were forced from the increasingly shrinking tropical [[canopy (biology)|canopy]] in search of new food sources.<ref name=EsquireJacobson /> He believed they would have been following large herds of wild cattle whose dung harbored the insects that, he proposed, were undoubtedly part of their new diet, and would have spotted and started eating ''[[Psilocybe cubensis]]'', a dung-loving mushroom often found growing out of [[cowpat]].<ref name=EsquireJacobson /><ref name=Dery21C /><ref name=NobleSavage />
 
[[File:Psilocybe Cubensis.JPG|thumb|left|[[Psilocybe cubensis]]: the psilocybin-containing mushroom central to McKenna's "stoned ape" theory of human evolution.]]
 
McKenna's hypothesis was that low doses of psilocybin improve visual acuity, meaning that the presence of psilocybin in the diet of early pack hunting [[primates]] caused the individuals who were consuming psilocybin mushrooms to be better [[hunters]] than those who were not, resulting in an increased food supply and in turn a higher rate of [[reproductive]] success.<ref name=Mavericks /><ref name=Dery21C /><ref name=shroom /><ref name=NobleSavage /> Then at slightly higher doses, he contended, the mushroom acts to sexually arouse, leading to a higher level of attention, more energy in the [[organism]], and potential [[erection]] in the [[males]],<ref name=Mavericks /><ref name=Dery21C /> rendering it even more evolutionarily beneficial, as it would result in more [[offspring]].<ref name=shroom /><ref name=NobleSavage />{{sfn|McKenna|1992b|pp=56–60}} At even higher doses, McKenna proposed that the mushroom would have acted to "dissolve boundaries," promoting community bonding and group sexual activities.<ref name=Pinchbeck2003pp232-5 /><ref name=NobleSavage /> Consequently, there would be a mixing of [[genes]], greater [[genetic diversity]], and a [[communal]] sense of responsibility for the group offspring.{{sfn|McKenna|1992b|p=59}} At these higher doses, McKenna also argued that psilocybin would be triggering activity in the "language-forming region of the brain", manifesting as music and [[vision (spirituality)|visions]]<ref name=Mavericks /> thus catalyzing the emergence of language in early hominids by expanding "their arboreally evolved repertoire of troop signals."<ref name=Dery21C /><ref name=shroom /> Also pointing out that it would dissolve the [[Ego (religion)|ego]] and "religious concerns would be at the forefront of the [[tribe]]'s [[consciousness]], simply because of the power and strangeness of the experience itself."<ref name=NobleSavage />{{sfn|McKenna|1992b|p=59}}
 
Therefore, according to McKenna, access to and [[ingestion]] of mushrooms was an [[evolutionary]] advantage to humans' [[omnivorous]] [[hunter-gatherer]] [[ancestors]],<ref name=shroom />{{sfn|Znamenski|2007|pp=[http://books.google.com/books?id=JFgelrgGSIMC&pg=PA138 138-9]}} also providing humanities first religious impulse.{{sfn|Pinchbeck|2003|p=194}} He believed that psilocybin mushrooms were the "evolutionary catalyst"<ref name=Mavericks /> from which language, projective imagination, the arts, religion, philosophy, science, and all of human culture sprang.<ref name=Dery21C /><ref name=ScientificAHorgan /><ref name=Wired />
 
Later on this idea was given the name "The 'Stoned Ape' Hypothesis."<ref name="NobleSavage">{{cite book |title= War and the Noble Savage: A Critical Inquiry Into Recent Accounts of Violence Amongst Uncivilized Peoples |year= 2009 |location= London |publisher= Dreamflesh |isbn= 0955419611 |pages= [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a9uCXbV90vMC&pg=PA63 63–6] |author= Gyrus|accessdate= 2014-02-07 |chapter= Appendix II: The Stoned Ape Hypothesis}}</ref><ref name=Telegraph8thingsMush />
 
McKenna's "stoned ape" theory has not received attention from the scientific community and has been criticized for a relative lack of [[citation]] to any of the [[Paleoanthropology|paleoanthropological]] evidence informing our understanding of human origins. His ideas regarding psilocybin and visual acuity have been criticized by suggesting he misrepresented Fischer et al., who published studies about [[visual perception]] in terms of various specific [[parameters]], not acuity. Criticism has also been expressed due to the fact that in a separate study on psilocybin induced transformation of [[visual space]] Fischer et al. stated that psilocybin "may not be conducive to the survival of the [[organism]]".<ref name=AkersApes /> There is also a lack of evidence that psilocybin increases sexual arousal, and even if it does, it does not necessarily entail an evolutionary advantage. It may even be a disadvantage in the context of the presumed higher sexual competition in ''Homo Erectus'' as indicated by its higher [[sexual dimorphism]] relative to ''Homo sapiens''.{{r|woolfe}} Others have pointed to civilisations such as the [[Aztecs]], who used psychedelic mushrooms (at least among the Priestly class), that didn't reflect McKenna's model of how psychedelic-using cultures would behave, for example, by carrying out [[human sacrifice]].<ref name=Pinchbeck2003pp232-5 /> Although, it has been noted that psilocybin usage by the Aztec civilisation is far removed from the type of usage on which McKenna was speculating.<ref name=NobleSavage /> There are also examples of Amazonian tribes such as the [[Jivaro]] and the [[Yanomami]] who use [[ayahuasca]] [[Ceremony|ceremoniously]] and who are known to engage in violent behaviour. This, it has been argued, indicates the use of psychedelic plants does not necessarily suppress the ego and create harmonious societies.<ref name=NobleSavage />
 
===Archaic revival===
One of the main themes running through McKenna's work, and the title of his second book, was the idea that [[Western civilization]] was undergoing what he called an "archaic revival".<ref name=Mavericks /><ref name=shroom /><ref>{{cite book |title= Tripping: An Anthology of True-Life Psychedelic Adventures |last= Hayes |first= Charles |chapter=Introduction: The Psychedelic [in] Society: A Brief Cultural History of Tripping |page=14 |year= 2000 |publisher= Penguin |isbn= 9781101157190}}</ref>
 
His notion was that Western society has become "sick" and is undergoing a "healing process", in the same way that the human body begins to produce [[antibodies]] when it feels itself to be sick, humanity as a collective whole (in the [[Jungian]], sense) was creating "strategies for overcoming the condition of dis-ease" and trying to cure itself, by what he termed as "a reversion to archaic values."  McKenna pointed to phenomena including: [[surrealism]], [[abstract expressionism]], [[body piercing]] and [[tattooing]], [[psychedelic drug]] use, sexual permissiveness, [[jazz]], experimental dance, [[rave culture]], [[rock-n-roll]] and [[catastrophe theory]], amongst others, as his evidence that this process was underway.<ref>{{cite AV media |last= McKenna |first= Terence  |type= lecture |chapter= 181-McKennaErosEschatonQA |title= Psychedelia: Psychedelic Salon ALL Episodes |date= 1994 |accessdate= 2014-04-11| format= MP3 |time= 49:10 |editor-last= Hagerty |editor-first= Lorenzo |url= https://archive.org/details/PsychedelicSalon-all-}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= The Importance of Human Beings (a.k.a Eros and the Eschaton) |first= Terence |last= McKenna |url= http://www.matrixmasters.net/podcasts/TRANSCRIPTS/TMcK-ImportanceHumanBeings.html |website= matrixmasters.net}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |author1= Spacetime Continuum |authorlink1= Jonah Sharp |last2= McKenna |first2= Terence |last3= Kent |first3= Stephen |authorlink3= Stephen Kent (musician) |others= Visuals by Rose-X Media House |year= 2003 |origyear= 1993 |title= Alien Dreamtime |url= http://deoxy.org/t_adt.htm#arc |accessdate= 2014-02-01 |format= DVD, CD and MP3 |time= 3:08 |chapter= Archaic Revival |at= Track 1 |publisher= Magic Carpet Media: [[Astralwerks]] |oclc= 80061092}}</ref> This idea is linked to McKenna's "stoned ape" theory of human evolution, with him viewing the "archaic revival" as an impulse to return to the [[symbiotic]] and blissful relationship he believed humanity once had with the psilocybin mushroom.<ref name=shroom />
 
In differentiating his idea from the "[[New Age]]", a term that he felt trivialized the significance of the next phase in human evolution, McKenna stated that: "The New Age is essentially [[humanistic psychology]] '80s-style, with the addition of neo-shamanism, channeling, crystal and herbal healing. The archaic revival is a much larger, more global phenomenon that assumes that we are recovering the social forms of the late [[neolithic]], and reaches far back in the 20th century to [[Freud]], to surrealism, to abstract expressionism, even to a phenomenon like [[National Socialism]] which is a negative force. But the stress on [[ritual]], on organized activity, on race/ancestor-consciousness – these are themes that have been worked out throughout the entire 20th century, and the archaic revival is an expression of that."<ref name=Mavericks /><ref name=HT1992 />{{sfn|McKenna|1992a|pp=204–17}}
==Bibliography==
*McKenna, Dennis; — (1975). The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching. New York: Seabury. ISBN 9780816492497.
*McKenna, Dennis; —; under the pseudonyms OT Oss and ON Oeric (1976). Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide. Berkeley, CA: And/Or Press. ISBN 9780915904136.
*The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco. 1992. ISBN 9780062506139.
*Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge – A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution. New York: Bantam. 1992. ISBN 9780553078688.
*Synesthesia. Illustrated by Ely, Timothy C. New York: Granary Books. 1992. ISBN 9781887123044. OCLC 30473682.
*Abraham, Ralph H.; —; Sheldrake, Rupert (1992). Trialogues at the Edge of the West: Chaos, Creativity, and the Resacralization of the World. Forward by Houston, Jean. Bear & Company. ISBN 9780939680979.
*True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the Author’s Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco. 1993. ISBN 9780062505453.
*Abraham, Ralph H.; —; Sheldrake, Rupert (1998). The Evolutionary Mind: Conversations on Science, Imagination & Spirit. Monkfish Book Publishing. ISBN 0974935972.
 
==Spoken word==
* ''History Ends in Green: Gaia, Psychedelics and the Archaic Revival'', 6 audiocassette set, Mystic Fire audio, 1993, ISBN 1-56176-907-X (recorded at the [[Esalen Institute]], 1989)
* ''TechnoPagans at the End of History'' (transcription of rap with [[Mark Pesce]] from 1998)
* ''Psychedelics in the Age of Intelligent Machines'' (1999) (DVD) HPX/SurrealStudio
* ''Conversations on the Edge of Magic'' (1994) (CD & Cassette) [[Association for Consciousness Exploration|ACE]]
* ''Rap-Dancing into the Third Millennium'' (1994) (Cassette) (Re-issued on CD as ''The Quintessential Hallucinogen'') [[Association for Consciousness Exploration|ACE]]
* ''Packing For the Long Strange Trip'' (1994) (Audio Cassette) [[Association for Consciousness Exploration|ACE]]
* ''Global Perspectives and Psychedelic Poetics'' (1994) (Cassette) Sound Horizons Audio-Video, Inc.
* ''The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge'' (1992) (Cassette) [[Sounds True]]
* ''The Psychedelic Society'' (DVD & Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''True Hallucinations Workshop'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''The Vertigo at History's Edge: Who Are We? Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Going?'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Ethnobotany and Shamanism'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Shamanism, Symbiosis and Psychedelics Workshop'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Shamanology'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Shamanology of the Amazon (w/ Nicole Maxwell)'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Beyond Psychology'' (1983) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Understanding & the Imagination in the Light of Nature Parts 1 & 2'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Ethnobotany (a complete course given at The [[California Institute of Integral Studies]])'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Non-ordinary States of Reality Through Vision Plants'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Mind & Time, Spirit & Matter: The Complete Weekend in Santa Fe'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Forms and Mysteries: Morphogenetic Fields and Psychedelic Experiences (w/ [[Rupert Sheldrake]])'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''UFO: The Inside Outsider'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''A Calendar for The Goddess'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''A Magical Journey: Including Hallucinogens and Culture, Time and The I Ching, and The Human Future'' (Video Cassette) TAP/Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Aliens and Archetypes'' (Video Cassette) TAP/Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Angels, Aliens and Archetypes 1987 Symposium: Shamanic Approaches to the UFO, and Fairmont Banquet Talk'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Botanical Dimensions'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Conference on Botanical Intelligence (w/ [[Joan Halifax]], Andy Weil, & [[Dennis McKenna]])'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Coping With Gaia's Midwife Crisis'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Dreaming Awake at the End of Time'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Evolving Times'' (DVD, CD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Food of the Gods'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Food of the Gods 2: Drugs, Plants and Destiny'' (Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Hallucinogens in Shamanism & Anthropology at Bridge Psychedelic Conf.1991 (w/ [[Ralph Metzner]], Marlene Dobkin De Rios, Allison Kennedy & Thomas Pinkson)'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Finale – Bridge Psychedelic Conf.1991'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Man and Woman at the End of History (w/ [[Riane Eisler]])'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Plants, Consciousness, and Transformation'' (1995) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Metamorphosis (w/ [[Rupert Sheldrake]] & [[Ralph Abraham]])'' (1995) (Video Cassette) Mystic Fire/Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Nature is the Center of the Mandala'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Opening the Doors of Creativity'' (1990) (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Places I Have Been'' (CD & Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Plants, Visions and History Lecture'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Psychedelics Before and After History'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Sacred Plants As Guides: New Dimensions of the Soul (at the Jung Society Clairemont, California)'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Seeking the Stone'' (Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Shamanism: Before and Beyond History – A Weekend at Ojai (w/ [[Ralph Metzner]])'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Shedding the Monkey'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''State of the Stone '95'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''The Ethnobotany of Shamanism Introductory Lecture: The Philosophical Implications of Psychobotony: Past, Present and Future (at [[California Institute of Integral Studies|CIIS]])'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''The Ethnobotany of Shamanism Workshop: Psychedelics Before and After History (at [[California Institute of Integral Studies|CIIS]])'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''The Grammar of Ecstasy – the World Within the Word'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''The Light at the End of History'' (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''The State of the Stone Address: Having Archaic and Eating it Too'' (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''The Taxonomy of Illusion (at [[UC Santa Cruz]])'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''This World ...and Its Double'' (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
* ''Trialogues at the Edge of the Millennium (w/ [[Rupert Sheldrake]] & [[Ralph Abraham]]) (at [[UC Santa Cruz]])'' (1998) (Video Cassette) Trialogue Press


==Notable Works==
==Discography==
===Botanical Dimensions===
* ''Re : Evolution'' with [[The Shamen]] (1992)
* ''Dream Matrix Telemetry'' with Zuvuya (1993)
* ''Alien Dreamtime'' with [[Spacetime Continuum]] & [[Stephen Kent (musician)|Stephen Kent]] (2003)


===Written Books===
==Filmography==
* [[Food of the Gods]] - 1992
* ''Experiment at Petaluma'' (1990)
* [[The Archaic Revival]] - 1991
* ''Prague Gnosis: Terence McKenna Dialogues'' (1992)
* [[Metamorphosis]] Book by [[Rupert Sheldrake]], [[Ralph Abraham]], and [[Terence McKenna]] - 1996
* ''The Hemp Revolution'' (1995)
* Synesthesia, Book by Terence McKenna - 1992
* ''Terence McKenna: The Last Word'' (1999)
* ''Shamans of the Amazon'' (2001)
* ''Alien Dreamtime'' (2003)
* ''2012: The Odyssey'' (2007)
* ''The Alchemical Dream: Rebirth Of The Great Work'' (2008)
* ''Manifesting the Mind'' (2009)
* ''Cognition Factor'' (2009)
* ''DMT: The Spirit Molecule'' (2010)
* ''2012: Time for Change'' (2010)
* ''The Terence McKenna OmniBus 2012'' (2012)


===Public speaking===
*Psychedelics in the Age of Intelligent Machines -  April 22, 1999 - Seattle
*Public audio lectures available digitally - [https://archive.org/details/PsychedeliaRawArchivesOfTerenceMckenna]
==See also==
==See also==
*[[DMT]]
*[[DMT]]
*[[Spokespeople|Spokesperson Portal]]
*[[Spokespeople|Spokesperson Portal]]

Revision as of 21:27, 18 November 2015

Terence McKenna

Terence Mckenna
Born November 16, 1946
Died April 3, 2000 (aged 53)
Fields Psychonautics, Shamanism,

Metaphysics, Philosophy,

Known for
  • Advocacy of DMT and psychedelics
  • Ideas on philosophy and metaphysics
  • The Archaic Revival, Food of the Gods
  • True Hallucinations
  • The Invisible Landscape
Spouse(s) Kathleen Harrison
Relative(s) Dennis McKenna (Brother)

This article is a stub.

As such, it may contain incomplete or wrong information. You can help by expanding it.

Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000) was an American ethnobotanist, mystic, psychonaut, lecturer, and author who spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the "Timothy Leary of the '90s",[1][2] "one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism",[3] and the "intellectual voice of rave culture".[4]

Thought

Psychedelics

Terence McKenna advocated the exploration of altered states of mind via the ingestion of naturally occurring psychedelic substances.[1][2][3] For example, and in particular, as facilitated by the ingestion of high doses of psychedelic mushrooms,[4][5] ayahuasca and DMT,[6] which he believed was the apotheosis of the psychedelic experience. However he was less enthralled with the synthetic drugs[6] stating that "I think drugs should come from the natural world and be use-tested by shamanically orientated cultures...one cannot predict the long-term effects of a drug produced in a Laboratory."[7] McKenna always stressed the responsible use of psychedelic plants saying: "Experimenters should be very careful. One must build up to the experience. These are bizarre dimensions of extraordinary power and beauty. There is no set rule to avoid being overwhelmed, but move carefully, reflect a great deal, and always try to map experiences back onto the history of the race and the philosophical and religious accomplishments of the species. All the compounds are potentially dangerous, and all compounds, at sufficient doses or repeated over time, involve risks. The library is the first place to go when looking into taking a new compound."[8] He also recommended and often spoke of taking, what he called, 'heroic doses,'[2] which he defined as five dried grams of psilocybin mushrooms,[6] taken alone, on an empty stomach, in silent darkness and with eyes closed.[4][9] Stating that when taken this way one could expect a profound visionary experience,[4] believing it is only when slain by the power of the mushroom that the message becomes clear.[5]

Although he avoided giving his allegiance to any one interpretation (part of his rejection of monotheism), he was open to the idea of psychedelics as being "trans-dimensional travel"; proposing that DMT sent one to a "parallel dimension"[10] and psychedelics literally, enabled an individual to encounter 'higher dimensional entities'[11] or what could be ancestors, or spirits of the Earth,[12] saying that if you can trust your own perceptions it appears that you are entering an "ecology of souls."[13] McKenna also put forward the idea that psychedelics were "doorways into the Gaian mind"[3][14] suggesting that "the planet has a kind of intelligence, it can actually open a channel of communication with an individual human being" and that the psychedelic plants were the facilitators of this communication.[15][16] In a more radical version of biophysicist Francis Crick's hypothesis of directed panspermia; another idea McKenna speculated on, was that, psilocybin mushrooms are a species of high intelligence,[7] which may have arrived on this planet as spores migrating through space[10][17] and are attempting to establish a symbiotic relationship with human beings. He postulated that "intelligence, not life, but intelligence may have come here [to Earth] in this spore-bearing life form" pointing out that "I think that theory will probably be vindicated. I think in a hundred years if people do biology they will think it quite silly that people once thought that spores could not be blown from one star system to another by cosmic radiation pressure" and believed that "Few people are in a position to judge its extraterrestrial potential, because few people in the orthodox sciences have ever experienced the full spectrum of psychedelic effects that are unleashed."[7][18][19][20]

McKenna was opposed to Christianity[21] and most forms of organized religion or guru-based forms of spiritual awakening, favouring shamanism, which he believed was the broadest spiritual paradigm available, stating that:

"What I think happened is that in the world of prehistory all religion was experiential, and it was based on the pursuit of ecstasy through plants. And at some time, very early, a group interposed itself between people and direct experience of the 'Other.' This created hierarchies, priesthoods, theological systems, castes, ritual, taboos. Shamanism, on the other hand, is an experiential science that deals with an area where we know nothing. It is important to remember that our epistemological tools have developed very unevenly in the West. We know a tremendous amount about what is going on in the heart of the atom, but we know absolutely nothing about the nature of the mind."[22]

Either philosophically or religiously, he expressed admiration for: Marshall McLuhan, Alfred North Whitehead, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Carl Jung, Plato, Gnostic Christianity and Alchemy, while regarding the Greek philosopher Heraclitus as his favorite philosopher.[23]

He also expressed admiration for the works of Aldous Huxley,[7] James Joyce; calling Finnegans Wake "the quintessential work of art, or at least work of literature of the 20th century,"[24] the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick who he described as an "incredible genius,"[25] fabulist Jorge Luis Borges, with whom McKenna shared the belief that; "scattered through the ordinary world there are books and artifacts and perhaps people who are like doorways into impossible realms, of impossible and contradictory truth"[10] and Vladimir Nabokov: McKenna once said that he would have become a Nabokov lecturer if he had never encountered psychedelics.

During the final years of his life and career, McKenna became very engaged in the theoretical realm of technology. He was an early proponent of the technological singularity[10] and in his last recorded public talk, Psychedelics in The Age of Intelligent Machines, he outlined ties between psychedelics, computation technology, and humans.[26] He also became enamored with the Internet calling it "the birth of [the] global mind",[27] believing it to be a place where psychedelic culture could flourish.[9]

Machine elves

McKenna spoke of hallucinations while on DMT in which he claims to have met intelligent entities he described as "self-transforming machine elves".[7][10][28][29]

"So I did it and...there was a something, like a flower, like a chrysanthemum in orange and yellow that was sort of spinning, spinning, and then it was like I was pushed from behind and I fell through the chrysanthemum into another place that didn't seem like a state of mind, it seemed like another place. And what was going on in this place aside from the tastefully soffited indirect lighting, and the crawling geometric hallucinations along the domed walls, what was happening was that there were a lot of beings in there, what I call self-transforming machine elves. Sort of like jeweled basketballs all dribbling their way toward me. And if they'd had faces they would have been grinning, but they didn't have faces. And they assured me that they loved me and they told me not to be amazed; not to give way to astonishment."[30]
—Terence McKenna, Alien Dreamtime

Novelty theory and Timewave Zero

McKenna formulated a concept about the nature of time based on fractal patterns he claimed to have discovered in the I Ching, which he called novelty theory,[3][5] proposing this predicted the end of time in the year 2012.[5][6][7][8] His promotion of novelty theory and its connection to the Mayan calendar is credited as one of the factors leading to the widespread beliefs about 2012 eschatology.[9] Novelty theory is considered pseudoscience.[10][11]

"Stoned ape" theory of human evolution

In his book Food of the Gods, McKenna proposed that the transformation from humans' early ancestors Homo erectus to the species Homo sapiens mainly had to do with the addition of the mushroom Psilocybe cubensis in its diet,[4][31][32] an event that according to his theory took place in about 100,000 BCE (this is when he believed that the species diverged from the Homo genus).[33][34] McKenna based his theory on the main effects, or alleged effects, produced by the mushroom[7] while citing studies by Roland Fischer et al. from the late 1960s to early 1970s.[35][36]

McKenna stated that due to the desertification of the African continent at that time, human forerunners were forced from the increasingly shrinking tropical canopy in search of new food sources.[6] He believed they would have been following large herds of wild cattle whose dung harbored the insects that, he proposed, were undoubtedly part of their new diet, and would have spotted and started eating Psilocybe cubensis, a dung-loving mushroom often found growing out of cowpat.[6][20][3]

Psilocybe cubensis: the psilocybin-containing mushroom central to McKenna's "stoned ape" theory of human evolution.

McKenna's hypothesis was that low doses of psilocybin improve visual acuity, meaning that the presence of psilocybin in the diet of early pack hunting primates caused the individuals who were consuming psilocybin mushrooms to be better hunters than those who were not, resulting in an increased food supply and in turn a higher rate of reproductive success.[7][20][4][3] Then at slightly higher doses, he contended, the mushroom acts to sexually arouse, leading to a higher level of attention, more energy in the organism, and potential erection in the males,[7][20] rendering it even more evolutionarily beneficial, as it would result in more offspring.[4][3][32] At even higher doses, McKenna proposed that the mushroom would have acted to "dissolve boundaries," promoting community bonding and group sexual activities.[37][3] Consequently, there would be a mixing of genes, greater genetic diversity, and a communal sense of responsibility for the group offspring.[38] At these higher doses, McKenna also argued that psilocybin would be triggering activity in the "language-forming region of the brain", manifesting as music and visions[7] thus catalyzing the emergence of language in early hominids by expanding "their arboreally evolved repertoire of troop signals."[20][4] Also pointing out that it would dissolve the ego and "religious concerns would be at the forefront of the tribe's consciousness, simply because of the power and strangeness of the experience itself."[3][38]

Therefore, according to McKenna, access to and ingestion of mushrooms was an evolutionary advantage to humans' omnivorous hunter-gatherer ancestors,[4][39] also providing humanities first religious impulse.[40] He believed that psilocybin mushrooms were the "evolutionary catalyst"[7] from which language, projective imagination, the arts, religion, philosophy, science, and all of human culture sprang.[20][10][9]

Later on this idea was given the name "The 'Stoned Ape' Hypothesis."[3][31]

McKenna's "stoned ape" theory has not received attention from the scientific community and has been criticized for a relative lack of citation to any of the paleoanthropological evidence informing our understanding of human origins. His ideas regarding psilocybin and visual acuity have been criticized by suggesting he misrepresented Fischer et al., who published studies about visual perception in terms of various specific parameters, not acuity. Criticism has also been expressed due to the fact that in a separate study on psilocybin induced transformation of visual space Fischer et al. stated that psilocybin "may not be conducive to the survival of the organism".[41] There is also a lack of evidence that psilocybin increases sexual arousal, and even if it does, it does not necessarily entail an evolutionary advantage. It may even be a disadvantage in the context of the presumed higher sexual competition in Homo Erectus as indicated by its higher sexual dimorphism relative to Homo sapiens.Template:R Others have pointed to civilisations such as the Aztecs, who used psychedelic mushrooms (at least among the Priestly class), that didn't reflect McKenna's model of how psychedelic-using cultures would behave, for example, by carrying out human sacrifice.[37] Although, it has been noted that psilocybin usage by the Aztec civilisation is far removed from the type of usage on which McKenna was speculating.[3] There are also examples of Amazonian tribes such as the Jivaro and the Yanomami who use ayahuasca ceremoniously and who are known to engage in violent behaviour. This, it has been argued, indicates the use of psychedelic plants does not necessarily suppress the ego and create harmonious societies.[3]

Archaic revival

One of the main themes running through McKenna's work, and the title of his second book, was the idea that Western civilization was undergoing what he called an "archaic revival".[7][4][42]

His notion was that Western society has become "sick" and is undergoing a "healing process", in the same way that the human body begins to produce antibodies when it feels itself to be sick, humanity as a collective whole (in the Jungian, sense) was creating "strategies for overcoming the condition of dis-ease" and trying to cure itself, by what he termed as "a reversion to archaic values." McKenna pointed to phenomena including: surrealism, abstract expressionism, body piercing and tattooing, psychedelic drug use, sexual permissiveness, jazz, experimental dance, rave culture, rock-n-roll and catastrophe theory, amongst others, as his evidence that this process was underway.[43][44][45] This idea is linked to McKenna's "stoned ape" theory of human evolution, with him viewing the "archaic revival" as an impulse to return to the symbiotic and blissful relationship he believed humanity once had with the psilocybin mushroom.[4]

In differentiating his idea from the "New Age", a term that he felt trivialized the significance of the next phase in human evolution, McKenna stated that: "The New Age is essentially humanistic psychology '80s-style, with the addition of neo-shamanism, channeling, crystal and herbal healing. The archaic revival is a much larger, more global phenomenon that assumes that we are recovering the social forms of the late neolithic, and reaches far back in the 20th century to Freud, to surrealism, to abstract expressionism, even to a phenomenon like National Socialism which is a negative force. But the stress on ritual, on organized activity, on race/ancestor-consciousness – these are themes that have been worked out throughout the entire 20th century, and the archaic revival is an expression of that."[7][18][19]

Bibliography

  • McKenna, Dennis; — (1975). The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching. New York: Seabury. ISBN 9780816492497.
  • McKenna, Dennis; —; under the pseudonyms OT Oss and ON Oeric (1976). Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide. Berkeley, CA: And/Or Press. ISBN 9780915904136.
  • The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco. 1992. ISBN 9780062506139.
  • Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge – A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution. New York: Bantam. 1992. ISBN 9780553078688.
  • Synesthesia. Illustrated by Ely, Timothy C. New York: Granary Books. 1992. ISBN 9781887123044. OCLC 30473682.
  • Abraham, Ralph H.; —; Sheldrake, Rupert (1992). Trialogues at the Edge of the West: Chaos, Creativity, and the Resacralization of the World. Forward by Houston, Jean. Bear & Company. ISBN 9780939680979.
  • True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the Author’s Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco. 1993. ISBN 9780062505453.
  • Abraham, Ralph H.; —; Sheldrake, Rupert (1998). The Evolutionary Mind: Conversations on Science, Imagination & Spirit. Monkfish Book Publishing. ISBN 0974935972.

Spoken word

  • History Ends in Green: Gaia, Psychedelics and the Archaic Revival, 6 audiocassette set, Mystic Fire audio, 1993, ISBN 1-56176-907-X (recorded at the Esalen Institute, 1989)
  • TechnoPagans at the End of History (transcription of rap with Mark Pesce from 1998)
  • Psychedelics in the Age of Intelligent Machines (1999) (DVD) HPX/SurrealStudio
  • Conversations on the Edge of Magic (1994) (CD & Cassette) ACE
  • Rap-Dancing into the Third Millennium (1994) (Cassette) (Re-issued on CD as The Quintessential Hallucinogen) ACE
  • Packing For the Long Strange Trip (1994) (Audio Cassette) ACE
  • Global Perspectives and Psychedelic Poetics (1994) (Cassette) Sound Horizons Audio-Video, Inc.
  • The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge (1992) (Cassette) Sounds True
  • The Psychedelic Society (DVD & Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • True Hallucinations Workshop (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • The Vertigo at History's Edge: Who Are We? Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Going? (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Ethnobotany and Shamanism (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Shamanism, Symbiosis and Psychedelics Workshop (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Shamanology (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Shamanology of the Amazon (w/ Nicole Maxwell) (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Beyond Psychology (1983) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Understanding & the Imagination in the Light of Nature Parts 1 & 2 (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Ethnobotany (a complete course given at The California Institute of Integral Studies) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Non-ordinary States of Reality Through Vision Plants (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Mind & Time, Spirit & Matter: The Complete Weekend in Santa Fe (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Forms and Mysteries: Morphogenetic Fields and Psychedelic Experiences (w/ Rupert Sheldrake) (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • UFO: The Inside Outsider (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • A Calendar for The Goddess (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • A Magical Journey: Including Hallucinogens and Culture, Time and The I Ching, and The Human Future (Video Cassette) TAP/Sound Photosynthesis
  • Aliens and Archetypes (Video Cassette) TAP/Sound Photosynthesis
  • Angels, Aliens and Archetypes 1987 Symposium: Shamanic Approaches to the UFO, and Fairmont Banquet Talk (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Botanical Dimensions (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Conference on Botanical Intelligence (w/ Joan Halifax, Andy Weil, & Dennis McKenna) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Coping With Gaia's Midwife Crisis (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Dreaming Awake at the End of Time (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Evolving Times (DVD, CD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Food of the Gods (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Food of the Gods 2: Drugs, Plants and Destiny (Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Hallucinogens in Shamanism & Anthropology at Bridge Psychedelic Conf.1991 (w/ Ralph Metzner, Marlene Dobkin De Rios, Allison Kennedy & Thomas Pinkson) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Finale – Bridge Psychedelic Conf.1991 (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Man and Woman at the End of History (w/ Riane Eisler) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Plants, Consciousness, and Transformation (1995) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Metamorphosis (w/ Rupert Sheldrake & Ralph Abraham) (1995) (Video Cassette) Mystic Fire/Sound Photosynthesis
  • Nature is the Center of the Mandala (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Opening the Doors of Creativity (1990) (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Places I Have Been (CD & Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Plants, Visions and History Lecture (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Psychedelics Before and After History (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Sacred Plants As Guides: New Dimensions of the Soul (at the Jung Society Clairemont, California) (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Seeking the Stone (Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Shamanism: Before and Beyond History – A Weekend at Ojai (w/ Ralph Metzner) (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Shedding the Monkey (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • State of the Stone '95 (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • The Ethnobotany of Shamanism Introductory Lecture: The Philosophical Implications of Psychobotony: Past, Present and Future (at CIIS) (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • The Ethnobotany of Shamanism Workshop: Psychedelics Before and After History (at CIIS) (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • The Grammar of Ecstasy – the World Within the Word (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • The Light at the End of History (Audio/Video Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • The State of the Stone Address: Having Archaic and Eating it Too (Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • The Taxonomy of Illusion (at UC Santa Cruz) (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • This World ...and Its Double (DVD & Video/Audio Cassette) Sound Photosynthesis
  • Trialogues at the Edge of the Millennium (w/ Rupert Sheldrake & Ralph Abraham) (at UC Santa Cruz) (1998) (Video Cassette) Trialogue Press

Discography

Filmography

  • Experiment at Petaluma (1990)
  • Prague Gnosis: Terence McKenna Dialogues (1992)
  • The Hemp Revolution (1995)
  • Terence McKenna: The Last Word (1999)
  • Shamans of the Amazon (2001)
  • Alien Dreamtime (2003)
  • 2012: The Odyssey (2007)
  • The Alchemical Dream: Rebirth Of The Great Work (2008)
  • Manifesting the Mind (2009)
  • Cognition Factor (2009)
  • DMT: The Spirit Molecule (2010)
  • 2012: Time for Change (2010)
  • The Terence McKenna OmniBus 2012 (2012)

See also

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Jenkins
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hancock, Graham (2006) [2005]. Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind. London: Arrow. pp. 556–7. ISBN 9780099474159. 
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Gyrus (2009). "Appendix II: The Stoned Ape Hypothesis". War and the Noble Savage: A Critical Inquiry Into Recent Accounts of Violence Amongst Uncivilized Peoples. London: Dreamflesh. pp. 63–6. ISBN 0955419611. 
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named shroom
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Stamets, Paul (1996). "5. Good Tips For Great Trips". Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780898158397. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Jacobson, Mark (June 1992). "Terence McKenna the brave prophet of The next psychedelic revolution, or is his cosmic egg just a little bit cracked?". Esquire. pp. 107–38. ESQ199206. 
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Mavericks
  8. ↑ McKenna 1992a, p. 43.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Wired
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ScientificAHorgan
  11. ↑ Pinchbeck 2003, p. 193.
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named invisible
  13. ↑ Pinchbeck 2003, p. 247.
  14. ↑ Trip, Gabriel (May 2, 1993). "Tripping, but not falling". New York Times. p. A6. 
  15. ↑ Shamen (1992). "Track 10: RE: Evolution". Boss Drum (CD and MP3). Epic. Event occurs at 4:50. OCLC 27056837. 
  16. ↑ McKenna, Terence. "The Gaian mind". deoxy.org (cut-up from the works of Terence McKenna). 
  17. ↑ Pinchbeck 2003, p. 234.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named HT1992
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 McKenna 1992a, pp. 204–17.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Dery21C
  21. ↑ Rabey, Steve (August 13, 1994). "Instant karma: Psychedelic drug use on the rise as a quick route to spirituality". Colorado Springs Gazette – Telegraph. p. E1. 
  22. ↑ Drury, Neville (1990). "Prejudice Against Psychedelics". salvia-divinorum-scotland.co.uk (Extract from a Terence McKenna interview in Nature and Health magazine). Template:Copyvio link
  23. ↑ McKenna, Terence (1992). "Unfolding the Stone 1". In Damer, Bruce. Psychedelia: Raw Archives of Terence McKenna Talks (MP3) (lecture). Event occurs at 17:30. 
  24. ↑ McKenna, Terence (1990–1999). "SurfingFinnegansWake". In Damer, Bruce. Psychedelia: Raw Archives of Terence McKenna Talks (MP3) (lecture). Event occurs at 0:45. 
  25. ↑ McKenna, Terence (1991). "Afterword: I Understand Philip K. Dick". In Sutin, Lawrence. In Pursuit of Valis: Selections from the Exegesis. Underwood-Miller. ISBN 9780887330919.  "Convenience copy". sirbacon.org. [verification needed]Template:Copyvio link
  26. ↑ McKenna, Terence (1999). Psychedelics in The Age of Intelligent Machines (Video) (lecture). 
  27. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYT Obit
  28. ↑ Rick Strassman, M.D. (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor's Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences. Inner Traditions Bear and Company; Later Printing edition. p. 187. ISBN 0892819278. 
  29. ↑ Pinchbeck 2003, p. 213.
  30. ↑ Spacetime Continuum; McKenna, Terence; Kent, Stephen (2003) [1993]. "Alien Love". Alien Dreamtime (DVD, CD and MP3). Visuals by Rose-X Media House. Magic Carpet Media: Astralwerks. Event occurs at 1:45. OCLC 80061092. Retrieved 2014-03-18. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Telegraph8thingsMush
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 McKenna 1992b, pp. 56–60.
  33. ↑ "Terence McKenna; Promoter of psychedelic drug use". Los Angeles Times. April 7, 2000. p. B6. 
  34. ↑ McKenna 1992b, p. 54.
  35. ↑ Fischer, Roland; Hill, Richard; Thatcher, Karen; Scheib, James (1970). "Psilocybin-Induced contraction of nearby visual space". Agents and Actions. 1 (4): 190–7. doi:10.1007/BF01965761. PMID 5520365. 
  36. ↑ McKenna 1992b, p. 57.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Pinchbeck2003pp232-5
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 McKenna 1992b, p. 59.
  39. ↑ Znamenski 2007, pp. 138-9.
  40. ↑ Pinchbeck 2003, p. 194.
  41. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AkersApes
  42. ↑ Hayes, Charles (2000). "Introduction: The Psychedelic [in] Society: A Brief Cultural History of Tripping". Tripping: An Anthology of True-Life Psychedelic Adventures. Penguin. p. 14. ISBN 9781101157190. 
  43. ↑ McKenna, Terence (1994). "181-McKennaErosEschatonQA". In Hagerty, Lorenzo. Psychedelia: Psychedelic Salon ALL Episodes (MP3) (lecture). Event occurs at 49:10. Retrieved 2014-04-11. 
  44. ↑ McKenna, Terence. "The Importance of Human Beings (a.k.a Eros and the Eschaton)". matrixmasters.net. 
  45. ↑ Spacetime Continuum; McKenna, Terence; Kent, Stephen (2003) [1993]. "Archaic Revival". Alien Dreamtime (DVD, CD and MP3). Visuals by Rose-X Media House. Magic Carpet Media: Astralwerks. Event occurs at 3:08. OCLC 80061092. Retrieved 2014-02-01. 
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