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Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution

By Terence Mckenna ( Bantam )

Release Date: 1993-01-01
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Product Description
For the first time in trade paperback, the critically acclaimed counterculture manifesto by the wildly popular McKenna. "Deserves to be a modern classic on mind-altering drugs and hallucinogens."--The Washington Post. Photos and illustrations.

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Product Reviews:

Completely Off the Beam ( eulerianwalker )
I suppose that McKenna must have been a charismatic individual. He seemed to wander with the crowd of Esalen New Age lecturers and hang out with them. I have read many of his books and discussed them with a number of otherwise judicious individuals who seem to have a good opinion of them.

I, however, do not. I think McKenna missed the target completely. It isn't the first time that some intrepid 'psychonaut' wandered into the wilderness of their own delusions, never to emerge into the clear light of reality again. In many ways, McKenna illustrates a profound lesson in the dangers of the well meaning, the well intended, who undertake to alter their consciousness by brute force--imbibing some concoction or other that must be metabolized and excreted by your own bio-chemistry; plunged into a non-ordinary state before the agents come out the other end.

When Freud descended into the personal unconscious, he carried his theory like a Gorgon's head to turn the Monsters that lived there to stone. Jung described his own theory as a kind of Ariadne's thread into the Labyrinth prowled by Minotaurs. McKenna seems to believe he has discovered a viable alternate reality camping out with these Denizens of the Deep. However, as the Gods seemed to make perfectly clear to him in the bitter end, reality, as the Buddha described, is truly a matrix of suffering, and sickness, of old age and death--not some fanciful nether dimension of elves and fairies and nanospheric dwarves welling up from the collective unconscious.

When the indigenous Americans undertook a vision quest--it was to give meaning to their life--it was to cultivate successful life strategies. It was never intended to detach them from the real world and lose them utterly in the Dreamtime--unable to hunt, fish, or engage an enemy. Fooling around with entheogens is truly dangerous in so many stark and subtle ways that doesn't even begin to be funny. Yes, you may find spiritual healing. Yes you may find personal transformation. But you may also lose your soul, damage your mind, break your compass, and crack your barometer. In other words, you may just end up bat-guano crazy, and act like you have no sense left whatsoever--like some warped and woofed Anti-Zen Master. The only reason anyone would ever subject themselves to those dangers should be to become a better person, a superior person, an Uber Mensch. Divorcing your cognitive framework from the 'real world' and getting lost in grandiose fantasy constructions of your own design is not the pathway to that destination. Ultimately, I regard McKenna as a pathetic figure who serves as a warning to those who would penetrate the heart of Darkness without any knowledge of the dangers that lurk there or strategies to mitigate the hair trigger potential for disaster.

Not your grandfather's history ( gshaw@yic.dist.davis.k12.ut.us )
Spirit

This book is a clear and cogent discussion around the most amazing substances ever to be found on our planet: many plants contain molecules that interact with human consciousness in marvelous, magical ways that cannot be described, but nevertheless have a lifelong impact on our sense of who we are, how we feel, and what we think. McKenna has for years been a consistent voice in the maelstrom of disinformation and hysteria that has occurred in the aftermath of the collapse of the drug culture of the 1960s. The popular press has overlooked the fact that for many of the pioneers of the psychedelic drug experience, taking drugs was a part of a legitimate spiritual quest. McKenna reminds us that this use of psychedelic drugs for increasing spritual awareness has been a part of the human experience since before the dawn of history.

I can only hope that with our increasing understanding of the role of consciousness, mind, and spirit in the unfolding of the universe, reason will return to our conversations and decisions about mind-expanding drugs. "Food of the Gods" is a look at humanity's ancient and ongoing involvement with psychedelic plants, and a thoughtful discussion of what we have next to do in order to partner with these plants in discovering our true relatedness with the rest of this planet and its organisms.

Good but "Stoned apes" needs more research
I enjoyed this book a lot when I read it. His stoned apes theory is a bit much to swallow, however the message is an important one. I do believe the psychedelic experience is of immense value to the individual.

It is the type of experience that, if nothing else, is of therapeutic value. I do believe there is more research which supports psychedelic therapy. There is a phenomenon called "ego death" which happens when mushrooms are ingested in higher doses. This is a very peculiar and transforming experience. It can take the most overconfident jock and reduce him to a scared little puppy. This is the type of stuff that has the potential to change society for the better. I do believe we would greatly benefit as a society if we not only ended the ban, but also accepted it as a means of experiencing spirituality in a society whose spirituality has been destroyed by organized religion.

His stoned apes theory is not implausible, seeing the world from this new perspective could have helped start our characteristic model building, an idea Richard Dawkins expounds upon with his "Necker Cube" example. Eating mushrooms and getting horny could have a Darwinian advantage for obvious reasons. A psychedelically enlightened population may be more altruistic than one which is not. It is certainly more plausible than any creation theory I've heard. It is just lacking in conclusive evidence.

It is sad that moving forward into the 21st century there are no outspoken spokesmen of the psychedelic experience. Perhaps now more than ever our society is starved for a more profound understanding of the world. This book is like looking through a window into the psychedelic experience; it's neat to look at, but to really be effected by it you have to experience it for yourself. That being said: Just Say No to drugs, because drugs are bad, and so is breaking the law.

Interesting Perspective ( than_tball )
I can't give 5 stars to this book because I know the history of Terence McKenna and his drug use. That said the book does pose interesting answers to age old questions.

"What was the fruit in the garden of Eden?"

"Why did our brains grow larger in ratio to our body weight than any animals in a relatively short amount of time?"

"Why is caffeine an acceptable drug to use daily? Should it be?"

I think people who read this should know it's an opinion given with historical facts to make his opinion seem like scientific and historical fact.

For instance he references what drugs were in use in certain cultures at what times then equates their overall temperament in historical events to the widespread use of those drugs. His claims may or may not have merit, we'll never know but it is an opinion none the less.

That said it is a very interesting read that is hard to put down. Attention keeping, he has one of a kind theories on lesser known early civilizations that could use a second look.

I was sorry to hear his library and personal notes burned up in a fire in early 2007, adding just more mystery to this one of a kind author.

Stoned Apes ( briansdemise )
I seriously was astounded by this book. Great historical knowledge on all sorts of drug and plant use from primates to Bush administration. McKenna really goes in depth about the evolution of language and consciousness. His theory that primates found psilocybin containing mushrooms growing in cow dung in the grasslands of Africa. Is represented quite well. He believes we may have literally "eaten our way to a higher conscious". McKenna really makes the war on drugs look like an absolute joke. He is subtly condescending of close minded politics yet brilliant and charming in informing readers of the power and potential of consciousness expanding drugs if taken properly.

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