Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge
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- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Terence McKenna
- ISBN：0553371304
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Reviews
Dave Hazzan
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It's a fun read， but I'm pretty sure the premise is nonsense。 It's a fun read， but I'm pretty sure the premise is nonsense。 。。。more
Marius CEO
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A wild ride。 Revelatory & delightful。
Augusto Bernardi
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Finally got around to this book after being introduced to Terence Mckenna almost a decade ago while in high school。 I was fiercely sceptical about him then， and still am somewhat sceptical， but my curiosity took over after years of listening to the joe Rogan podcast where they always mention Terence Mckenna。 Just had to finally see what it was all about。 It indeed was very interesting and somewhat eye-opening to say the least。 Makes you rethink the concept of what we think of drugs。 I was unplea Finally got around to this book after being introduced to Terence Mckenna almost a decade ago while in high school。 I was fiercely sceptical about him then， and still am somewhat sceptical， but my curiosity took over after years of listening to the joe Rogan podcast where they always mention Terence Mckenna。 Just had to finally see what it was all about。 It indeed was very interesting and somewhat eye-opening to say the least。 Makes you rethink the concept of what we think of drugs。 I was unpleasantly surprised on how bitter or confrontational Terence was to "science"。 He often talks about the scientific community in the book as if it's one entity that is against his beliefs。 This is a problem I think because this subconsciously undermined legitimate points he made in the book and then lumps them together with religious beliefs or conspiracy theories which I think is sort of undeserving of Terence。 Even the way he writes about the relationship between nature and humans is very much like a preacher。 Reflecting upon this book after I also remembered a few major red flags that bothered me during the reading and hurt his credibility。 The first one is when someone uses the bible to explain anything besides the bible itself。 It's equally as radical as any of those fundamentalist evangelical preachers。 You especially loose face when you start connecting the dots between multiple stories to explain the use of mushrooms。。。no comment。 The second red flag is when I hear the term "missing link"。 Unless you are making fun of this outdated term， do not use it because it shows such amateur argument to any discussion about evolution or biology。 So I was again surprised that this book actually fits in much better in the category of Philosophy much better then it does Science。 Despite endless contemporary journalists， authors and even some scientists that refer to McKenna in a positive light。 So I stand about 50/50 with McKenna which is why I gave the book 3 stars。 The positive side was that this book was also to a large extent a sort of brief history of drugs and the hypocrisy of how we categorize them。 It really is absurd on how sugar and caffeine are simply labelled as food， alcohol and tobacco are recreational AND YET psychedelics are illegal。 Especially if you take into consideration the vast and dark history of all the legal products in comparison mixed up with slavery。 Terence talks about at length about the spiritual rituals attached to psychedelics which is called Shamanism which indeed is interesting。 Not in the sense that these Shamans are wise beyond anyone else's understanding， like Terence strongly implies， but rather that Shamanism is a underappreciated school of thought in the modern era that should be further explored， ESPECIALLY by science， the general public with legal authority and funding。 Lastly， I was most intrigued about the legendary theory of McKenna of the Stoned ape theory。 Basically the theory is that prehistoric apes （I think it was homo erectus） ate certain mushroom （with psilocybin） and that lead to them having deeper thoughts and concepts which lead to a more complex language。 Terence brings up a brilliant point which I highly agree with which is that language is not just a tool for communicating but also that of how you perceive the world。 Thereby making the stoned ape theory a crucial element to our standing at the top of the intellectual hierarchy amongst apes and animals。 There isn't a wealth of conclusive evidence for it but nonetheless could have been ONE of many factors that did lead to where we are now evolutionarily speaking。 I for once don't necessarily recommend this book。 If you want a history of drugs， then maybe this will be interesting to you but I imagine there are more extensive books about the subject。 。。。more
Nico Starlight
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Mckenna’s reference material for this book makes it all worth it。 Learned plenty about drugs and human evolution！ Unfortunately Mckenna did not come close to producing an effective argument。 This， like many of his other books， contains plenty of speculation。 Which seems fine when the reader is incapable of doing that himself。 But in this case， the reader grows tired of the harping on the revival of archaic partnership societies very quickly。 Even more unfortunate， McKenna had all the tools and a Mckenna’s reference material for this book makes it all worth it。 Learned plenty about drugs and human evolution！ Unfortunately Mckenna did not come close to producing an effective argument。 This， like many of his other books， contains plenty of speculation。 Which seems fine when the reader is incapable of doing that himself。 But in this case， the reader grows tired of the harping on the revival of archaic partnership societies very quickly。 Even more unfortunate， McKenna had all the tools and all the knowledge at his disposal to produce an extraordinarily potent mythical formulae， but didn’t。 Instead became the literal spokesperson for an otherwise non-literal and mythical Logos。 Entertaining， but not an effective form of communication。 。。。more
Geoffrey Fortier
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Meandering babble loosely grounded in the myth of paleo-golden age （Fire Bad！ Stone Good！）。 There are salvageable social issues buried underneath， but there are better ways to get it without having to sift it from the woo。
Patrick Kijek
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Listening to a book while working out often produces a trance-like state similar to the drug-induced euphoria that shamans and other ancient， ritualistic folks seemed to attain。 So much in this book seems like conformation bias to many of the thoughts I had or concluded after 30 odd years in today’s society。 However， I did not seek out this book。 It came to me with careful research on behalf of McKenna。The depictions of ancient civilization give hope to an Industrial Age addicted to efficiency a Listening to a book while working out often produces a trance-like state similar to the drug-induced euphoria that shamans and other ancient， ritualistic folks seemed to attain。 So much in this book seems like conformation bias to many of the thoughts I had or concluded after 30 odd years in today’s society。 However， I did not seek out this book。 It came to me with careful research on behalf of McKenna。The depictions of ancient civilization give hope to an Industrial Age addicted to efficiency and coffee。 If only our society did not lost consciousness of its feminine， plant-based roots for a totalitarian brigade of oppression。 Life may have been fun and beautiful。 。。。more
Elizabeth
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This is fascinating; however， some of the conclusions I feel are not fully argued。 Some instances maybe more correlation than causation。 But it is certainly an interesting way of viewing humans interactions with nature， religion， culture and future。
André Bernardo
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"Sem esse tipo de relação visionária com as exoferomonas psicadélicas reguladoras do nosso relacionamento simbiótico com o reino vegetal， somos excluídos de um entendimento do objectivo planetário。 E compreender o objectivo planetário pode ser a maior contribuição que odemos dar ao processo evolucionário。 O regresso ao equilibrio do estilo planetário de parceria significa trocar o ponto de vista do dominador egoísta pela compreensão intuitiva， e afinada pelo sentimento， que existe na matriz mate "Sem esse tipo de relação visionária com as exoferomonas psicadélicas reguladoras do nosso relacionamento simbiótico com o reino vegetal， somos excluídos de um entendimento do objectivo planetário。 E compreender o objectivo planetário pode ser a maior contribuição que odemos dar ao processo evolucionário。 O regresso ao equilibrio do estilo planetário de parceria significa trocar o ponto de vista do dominador egoísta pela compreensão intuitiva， e afinada pelo sentimento， que existe na matriz maternal。" 。。。more
The Cholo
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Except for the last 20-30 pages， I thoroughly enjoyed this ride。 McKenna does a nice job tracing the consumption of drugs through prehistory。 He pays special attention to tobacco， alcohol， and stimulants as indicators of what he calls the dominator culture。 He is very much in favor of the idea of communal families who worship Mother Earth and invite the divine through the use or psychedelics。 He very much wants this to be true。 He definitely has an anti-western， Christian slant， but his sources Except for the last 20-30 pages， I thoroughly enjoyed this ride。 McKenna does a nice job tracing the consumption of drugs through prehistory。 He pays special attention to tobacco， alcohol， and stimulants as indicators of what he calls the dominator culture。 He is very much in favor of the idea of communal families who worship Mother Earth and invite the divine through the use or psychedelics。 He very much wants this to be true。 He definitely has an anti-western， Christian slant， but his sources are impressive complete with endnotes。 A great read overall。 。。。more
Eleni
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A summary of the basic knowledge on drug use history that gets slightly political in terms of propaganda and the beginning of the war-on-drugs。 A good one to start with the avalanche called McKenna， but not necessary for those who already keep a record on the subject。
Anthony Thompson
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"Plants are the missing link to understand the human mind and it's place in nature。" Terence McKenna is one of those guys whose always been on the periphery of many of the other people that I read and listen to。 I see his stuff all over my Instagram pretty regularly， and Joe Rogan always talks about him （I listen to maybe 3% of his podcast episodes）。 I didn't realize HOW MUCH of this book I'd 'read' prior to reading it。 Even Brian Muraresku builds on a lot of the same mythbuilding and Science th "Plants are the missing link to understand the human mind and it's place in nature。" Terence McKenna is one of those guys whose always been on the periphery of many of the other people that I read and listen to。 I see his stuff all over my Instagram pretty regularly， and Joe Rogan always talks about him （I listen to maybe 3% of his podcast episodes）。 I didn't realize HOW MUCH of this book I'd 'read' prior to reading it。 Even Brian Muraresku builds on a lot of the same mythbuilding and Science that Terrence and those who predate him did。 McKenna is also one of those guys that might require you to have had a psychedlic experience to really get into。 He has a tendency to be a bit verbose， but so do a lot of people who find themselves unmoored from the constraints of socially conditioned speech patterns。 This book， Food of the Gods， entails the Stoned Ape Theory hypothesis that McKenna is most famous， and oft derided for。 In the work Mckenna gives a handful of hypothetical possibilities among todays species of Mushrooms as a candidate for that theory， and then dives deeply into the other Plant-based Psychedelics and their corresponding nature。 He also examines these subjects in comparison to other drugs that society accepts， and administers to her people， such as Sugar， Television and Alcohol。 He can often come across as BOTH a hippy and someone who wants strong government interventions。 When he suggests 200% Sales Tax on all decriminalized substances， I found myself wondering at the irony of some of his suggestions。 The space between McKenna's beliefs and my own is narrow。 He's a subject matter expert in a field that I have dabbling interest in， but have no interest in pursuing to the depth that he and others have。 I do think that Plant Intelligence is a very real thing。 I think all things manifest various facets of the myriads of Intelligences that compose the Universe。 I think McKenna is right in that we need to pursue an understanding of these experiences， and I also personally believe that anyone who hasn't had at least one intense psychedellic experience （barring health disposition）， shouldn't comment on it， because they're ignorant to a brevity of experience beyond the singular event in the same way a virgin is。 I'd recommend it if you believe in homeopathic naturalistic healing and art。 I'd recommend it if you have interest in drug culture。 I'm sure much of the information is dated in the thirty years since it's original publication。 What I'm also sure of is that anyone who derides McKenna off-handedly as unserious， is doing Science and Rationalism a disservice。 。。。more
keving chaupiz
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Lenny : It's a good thing you stopped smoking the magic grass， Homer。 You were getting spaced out。Carl : Yeah， we were planning an intervention， but I got alcohol poisoning that night。 Lenny : It's a good thing you stopped smoking the magic grass， Homer。 You were getting spaced out。Carl : Yeah， we were planning an intervention， but I got alcohol poisoning that night。 。。。more
Allison
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I was surprised at how fantastic this book was。 The concept of partner vs dominator structure can be applied to SO many things。 I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read it again。 Audible version is good。
Scotty
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there's a lot going on here。 unfortunately， the way he veers in and out of fact and speculation， launches into long discursions， abruptly changes topic halfway into the chapter。。。it all becomes tiring。 i re-read this book more than i read it， because it was so easy to lose the plot， buried as it was beneath mountains of prose。 i liked the book。 i really did。 it was just such a damned chore to read。 there's a lot going on here。 unfortunately， the way he veers in and out of fact and speculation， launches into long discursions， abruptly changes topic halfway into the chapter。。。it all becomes tiring。 i re-read this book more than i read it， because it was so easy to lose the plot， buried as it was beneath mountains of prose。 i liked the book。 i really did。 it was just such a damned chore to read。 。。。more
Cameron Lamance
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I say this as someone with hippy tendencies， this is hippy trash。 If you are familiar with woo woo nonsense none of this will be new or mind blowing。
Sam Hamer
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Gets a bit too weird and woo woo at times for my taste and some of his historical and scientific analysis aren't quite accurate but is a fascinating and dense exploration of humanity's relationships with nature， drugs， power， and where we're going。 Gets a bit too weird and woo woo at times for my taste and some of his historical and scientific analysis aren't quite accurate but is a fascinating and dense exploration of humanity's relationships with nature， drugs， power， and where we're going。 。。。more
Michael
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A bit disjointed。 That is talked a bit about TM's "stoned ape" ideas then tried to pinpoint the substance and potential peoples that theory refers to。 It then spun into a survey of addictive substances and psychedelics。 A bit disjointed。 That is talked a bit about TM's "stoned ape" ideas then tried to pinpoint the substance and potential peoples that theory refers to。 It then spun into a survey of addictive substances and psychedelics。 。。。more
Julie
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This was a roller coaster- big highs and lows。 Some of the authors ideas and theories have merit and made me think more critically about some issues。 However， some of his evidence is a bit circumspect and flimsy。 I don’t agree with all of the conclusions he made。 That being said some of his ideas are interesting and well argued。 I appreciated his take on sugar and the impact of colonialism on our diets and drug consumption。 I wish he had expanded this section a bit more。 I was not prepared for t This was a roller coaster- big highs and lows。 Some of the authors ideas and theories have merit and made me think more critically about some issues。 However， some of his evidence is a bit circumspect and flimsy。 I don’t agree with all of the conclusions he made。 That being said some of his ideas are interesting and well argued。 I appreciated his take on sugar and the impact of colonialism on our diets and drug consumption。 I wish he had expanded this section a bit more。 I was not prepared for the book to be so political and could have done without the political opinions of the author。 。。。more
Andrew Currier
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I really loved this book the variety material covered is immense。 My only problem is that the only way my little brain could understand this book was if i read it in a nasaly， nerdy voice like terrance McKenna
Alisa
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Such a good summary of psychedelic drugs， sustainability， being human。 Wish it was more mainstream
Kandachamy Vijayakumaran
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It was a rare experience to read this book。 It is difficult to classify this book under any standard genre。 A truly integrated approach to reveal the secrets of the plant world and trace the evolution human language and consciousness。 I wondered how a person can spread such a wide canvas of knowledge spanning several disciplines。 Emphasizing value of shamanic culture to regain our lost connections to nature， the author ends up with something unusual- a drug policy！
Chrysovalantis Anastasiades
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Amazingly well written！ :）
Horace Derwent
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theories from a white american taoist shaman botanist who maybe had eaten too much hallucinatory mushroom， ok， count me in
Kyle
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McKenna's verbosity may not suit the tastes of some readers， while others may delight in his gift of the gab and enjoy experiencing his outlandish mind。 He tends to ramble but does eventually get round to substantiating his core arguments with evidence。 In my opinion， it is worth the effort to untangle his words， find their layers of meaning， and appreciate the diverse topics they link together。 He put a lot of thinking and inspired musing into preparing and presenting these hypotheses。 Many of McKenna's verbosity may not suit the tastes of some readers， while others may delight in his gift of the gab and enjoy experiencing his outlandish mind。 He tends to ramble but does eventually get round to substantiating his core arguments with evidence。 In my opinion， it is worth the effort to untangle his words， find their layers of meaning， and appreciate the diverse topics they link together。 He put a lot of thinking and inspired musing into preparing and presenting these hypotheses。 Many of his detractors pass judgment on his credibility and intelligence after having watched snippets of his casual lectures and discussions which are available online。 I implore them to read and understand this book。 May it be lifted further out of obscurity and into the mainstream for the gravitas of its conclusions to be felt and for his research to be continued。 。。。more
Parker Rush
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Another great McKenna read checked off my list。 This one had a special resonance and relevance to me seeing as I ate some mescaline about halfway through and made my own empirical investigations of the “alien other”。 As always， an endless array of ideas to explore with many jumping off points that can leave you stewing on a particular point for days。 Truly transformational。 Unlike The Archaic Revival， this volume is less speculative and more of a historical overview of man’s coevolution with the Another great McKenna read checked off my list。 This one had a special resonance and relevance to me seeing as I ate some mescaline about halfway through and made my own empirical investigations of the “alien other”。 As always， an endless array of ideas to explore with many jumping off points that can leave you stewing on a particular point for days。 Truly transformational。 Unlike The Archaic Revival， this volume is less speculative and more of a historical overview of man’s coevolution with the indole hallucinogens and other visionary plants。 Shamanism and its diminished role in contemporary society is examined exhaustively while McKenna argues that its reinstatement is the missing element to our true egalitarian enlightenment and reclamation of Edenic bliss。 Fantastic book。 。。。more
Natalie
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One of my best reads to date。 Everyone should give this book a chance and re evaluate societies priorities。 We should say good bye to this dominator type culture and reunite ourselves with mother earth in order to exist the most efficient and harmonious way possible。 This book helps us to move in that direction， in the direction of love。 A wonderful book for all human kind。
Velvet
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A good overview of the history of some drugs。 The author makes interesting points on the legalisation of drugs and the failure on the war of drugs。 However， I heavily disagree with the McKenna's so-called "modest proposal" at the end of the book。 A good overview of the history of some drugs。 The author makes interesting points on the legalisation of drugs and the failure on the war of drugs。 However， I heavily disagree with the McKenna's so-called "modest proposal" at the end of the book。 。。。more
Helen
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I found this book very interesting。 I studied psychology at Uni and a big part was the psychology of consciousness。 I also have a background in monotheism （Christianity） so what he said about male dominator religions was interesting too although I believe following Jesus and the soul of his teaching is to be good husband to nature。 McKenna’s main premise and evangelism is that consciousness as we know it today， and birth of complex language was catalysed by hallucinogenic mushroom use in partner I found this book very interesting。 I studied psychology at Uni and a big part was the psychology of consciousness。 I also have a background in monotheism （Christianity） so what he said about male dominator religions was interesting too although I believe following Jesus and the soul of his teaching is to be good husband to nature。 McKenna’s main premise and evangelism is that consciousness as we know it today， and birth of complex language was catalysed by hallucinogenic mushroom use in partnership fertility and goddess worshiping belief systems many millennia ago when nature was closely attuned to and women and men were partners rather than women subjugated， which lets face it is society at large through most of more modern history。 He discusses the likelihood of this by going into “drug use” by our animal neighbours in Africa。 He postulates that a hallucinogen （a ‘shroom） was the “fruit of the tree of knowledge” and puts forward good argument for his theories but he is speculative and not at all backed up by much by way of archaeology。 A few ancient bits of art are interpreted to depict mushrooms but could equally be a bad artist who can’t do heads。 McKenna also goes into the history of other drugs such as heroine， cocaine， opium and touches on sugar， tobacco， coffee， tea and television。 It’s interesting and covers some anthropological studies of native peoples and their drug use told in anecdotes of experience。 He end by a plea for legalisation of drugs and acceptance of all natural highs， as a turnaround for society at large。 His writing is a bit haphazard using quotes of people without full references sometimes， and sometimes you don’t know if he’s just talking or he’s quoting someone。 It’s definitely not a work of science， but as a thesis of his passion he’s done significant reading。 If alternative views of consciousness are your thing， you’re interested in drug history and usage， or you’re looking for ancient pre-historical theories of hunter gatherer communities interest you， then you may enjoy this book。 It also has a plausible description of the state of modern society and the answer to it。 The idea that society respects women less because we are distanced from nature and the “mother goddess” and society affirming practices such as hallucinogenic drug use seems not improbable the way he tells it。 。。。more
Byron Crenshaw
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i loved the subject， i liked the content， i disliked the structure and tone。 lemme get some critiques out:* as much as i love a historic and anthropological look into consciousness changing plants and compounds， i felt like this book was overly simplistic / binary / deterministic in its approach to critique what’s wrong with 1。 the current simplistic， binary， and demonizing disposition of the current dominator culture， （ironically） and 2。。 the potential utility of the drugs （and TV） analyzed。 Th i loved the subject， i liked the content， i disliked the structure and tone。 lemme get some critiques out:* as much as i love a historic and anthropological look into consciousness changing plants and compounds， i felt like this book was overly simplistic / binary / deterministic in its approach to critique what’s wrong with 1。 the current simplistic， binary， and demonizing disposition of the current dominator culture， （ironically） and 2。。 the potential utility of the drugs （and TV） analyzed。 The “TV bad， mushroom good” oversimplification doesn’t seem to give an inch to the possible other side。 Is Public educational broadcasting always bad， passive TV as well？ Is alcohol predispose cultures to a dominator mentality？ sugar as well？ is it always toxic for society and the psyche？ will removing these make society more feminine and pastoral， even without concurrently implementing psychedelics？ Are mushrooms always good and positive for the psyche？ Granted he didn’t know what we know now about psychedelics and people with mental health predispositions。 in reality it feels like what McKenna wrote is naturally going to happen when you’re fatally certain you have the panacea for all societal woes。 but that doesn’t make it less wrong。 * his case for psychedelics being a predominantly genetic （stoned ape theory） rather than epigenetic or purely behavioral factor in human development felt weak to me。 * the tone felt academic in a way that felt both alienating and unneeded， but opinionated in a way that comes off as unscientific and unacademic at times。 Am I being off-put by a more general dissonance I see coming from academic tone？ yes。 but for me this part sucked and detracted from the book。with all THAT being said， now that i’ve spilt out my daily dose of hater-aid on this book i want to reemphasize what brought me to this book and why i’m thankful i read it: * he reached radical and novel conclusions for the time， such as the decriminalization of all drugs paired with mass education and institutional shamanism。 he’d be proud to see where were heading now。 * the way he argued for shrooms （as opposed to Amanita M。 or Ergotized beer） being the backbone for many sacred rituals in ancient civilizations was convincing *though i got lost midway through because of how quickly it jumps between referencing different cultures at different times** i enjoyed the more historic-leaning modern history of how our relationship with different consciousness changing plants we don’t typically frame as drugs in the west because of their normalcy （sugar， caffeine）。 this portion was lucid， easy to follow， well structured， and contextualizes humankind’s relationship to mind altering plants as something inherent to our being， not esoteric and most likely to be found behind a tent at Bonnaroo （no shade to Bonnaroo）。 * Terence McKenna is a radical and deeply needed ancestor in a movement that is currently blossoming in large part because of his and people like his’s work。 and for that i’m deeply thankful。 。。。more
the feminist bookworm
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