Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge
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- Author：Terence McKenna
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Summary
A journey to some of the Earth's most endangered people in the remote Upper Amazon。 。 。 。 a look at the rituals of the Bwiti cults of Gabon and Zaire。 。 。 。 。 a field watch on the eating habits of 'stoned' apes and chimpanzees - these adventures are all a part of ethnobotanist Terence McKenna's extraordinary quest to discover the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge。 He wonders why， as a species， we are so fascinated by altered states of consciousness。 Can they reveal something about our origins as human beings and our place in nature？
As an odyssey of mind， body and spirit， Food of the Gods is one of the most fascinating and surprising histories of consciousness ever written。 And as a daring work of scholarship and exploration， it offers an inspiring vision for individual fulfilment and a humane basis for our interaction which each other and with the natural world。
'Brilliant， provocative， opinionated， poetic and inspiring。 。 。 。 。 Essential reading for anyone who ever wondered why people take drugs。' Rupert Sheldrake
As an odyssey of mind， body and spirit， Food of the Gods is one of the most fascinating and surprising histories of consciousness ever written。 And as a daring work of scholarship and exploration， it offers an inspiring vision for individual fulfilment and a humane basis for our interaction which each other and with the natural world。
'Brilliant， provocative， opinionated， poetic and inspiring。 。 。 。 。 Essential reading for anyone who ever wondered why people take drugs。' Rupert Sheldrake
Reviews
Chrysovalantis Anastasiades
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Amazingly well written！ :）
shiloh
，
interesting ， but mckenna makes claims that aren’t backed up by any sort of evidence
Horace Derwent
，
theories from a white american taoist shaman botanist who maybe had eaten too much hallucinatory mushroom， ok， count me in
Kyle
，
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
，
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
，
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
，
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
，
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
，
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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Having read several of Terence's books， this one is by far my favourite。 In true McKenna fashion this book covers a wide variety of topics and has some amazingly wild ideas in it， but it's on the more coherent and yeah-I-can-see-that end of the spectrum。 I would definitely recommend this book to anyone curious about the "stoned ape theory"， Terence McKenna， or just magic mushrooms and culture in general。 An enjoyable read through and through！ Having read several of Terence's books， this one is by far my favourite。 In true McKenna fashion this book covers a wide variety of topics and has some amazingly wild ideas in it， but it's on the more coherent and yeah-I-can-see-that end of the spectrum。 I would definitely recommend this book to anyone curious about the "stoned ape theory"， Terence McKenna， or just magic mushrooms and culture in general。 An enjoyable read through and through！ 。。。more
Luciano W。
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Mind bending。 This is an exhaustive recounting of humanity's relationship with the major forms of consciousness altering substances， from the most ancient of times to modernity。 While I don't buy everything Terrence is selling in this work， it is powerfully argued and （seemingly） meticulously researched。 Mind bending。 This is an exhaustive recounting of humanity's relationship with the major forms of consciousness altering substances， from the most ancient of times to modernity。 While I don't buy everything Terrence is selling in this work， it is powerfully argued and （seemingly） meticulously researched。 。。。more
Jack
，
Read this book。
Marco Loya
，
Beautiful and eye-opening。 A book that promotes a different perspective on personal growth and the change of our society for the better。 It can get too specific in history topics and a little boring for me， but I’m sure some people love that。It also makes you think about the situation with drugs in our present。 In my country， psychedelics are illegal， but there’s a clear sort of agreement between government and narcos that benefits them both， meanwhile the people suffer。 So there’s barely even a Beautiful and eye-opening。 A book that promotes a different perspective on personal growth and the change of our society for the better。 It can get too specific in history topics and a little boring for me， but I’m sure some people love that。It also makes you think about the situation with drugs in our present。 In my country， psychedelics are illegal， but there’s a clear sort of agreement between government and narcos that benefits them both， meanwhile the people suffer。 So there’s barely even a war on drugs going on， but the punishments for consuming and the social stigma is still there and the cartels keep growing。And there’s also digital drugs。 McKenna talks about TV being a drug， he really didn’t have an idea of what was coming。 I think social media and the digital world is the new drug that should be discussed。 This drugs that instead of connecting us to reality and making us happier， are doing the contrary。 。。。more
akemi
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Biochemistry as a language that constitutes our world as much as symbolic language; omnivorous experimentation as the precursor to agriculture and psychedelia; self-consciousness as a derivative of hallucinogenic technics （increased visual acuity during hunting （low dose） + sexual arousal + intercommunity bonding （high dose） = increased fitness， offspring and genetic variation）。Fucking rad。-Too bad it's pure speculation。 Dizzy spirals into empty soils。 Biochemistry as a language that constitutes our world as much as symbolic language; omnivorous experimentation as the precursor to agriculture and psychedelia; self-consciousness as a derivative of hallucinogenic technics （increased visual acuity during hunting （low dose） + sexual arousal + intercommunity bonding （high dose） = increased fitness， offspring and genetic variation）。Fucking rad。-Too bad it's pure speculation。 Dizzy spirals into empty soils。 。。。more
Jonas Svarholt
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Mind-blowing book about etnobiology and psychoactive substances。
Ebookreader1984
，
This book is excellent。 Books like this line the minds of psychedelic users， but they are so much better for those who have never used them！ Nowadays， there are other books， such as Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire （documentary of which I saw）， but this well written Terence McKenna classic from 1992 explains many of the effects of drugs and their impacts on society and vice versa， rather than cultural obsessions with plants like in Pollan's book / documentary。I recommend this book！ Terence This book is excellent。 Books like this line the minds of psychedelic users， but they are so much better for those who have never used them！ Nowadays， there are other books， such as Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire （documentary of which I saw）， but this well written Terence McKenna classic from 1992 explains many of the effects of drugs and their impacts on society and vice versa， rather than cultural obsessions with plants like in Pollan's book / documentary。I recommend this book！ Terence Mckenna had a brilliant mind and genius way with words， he was poetic with the way he said things and wrote them。 He was a well-received public speaker。 He was a botanist。 He's known for his love of Psilocybin Mushrooms and especially DMT， which is what I thought the book was about。 It's sprinkled throughout， as his favorite obsessions， but this book actually talks about all drugs and their cultural implications！ Sugar， coffee， alcohol; television。 In this way it reminds me of The Botany of Desire， which came after it。 。。。more
Cyrill
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Great stuff。 I do， however， think that Terence generally is better at giving talks than writing。
Tyler
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"Through psychedelics we are learning that God is not an idea， God is a lost continent in the human mind。" "Through psychedelics we are learning that God is not an idea， God is a lost continent in the human mind。" 。。。more
Liz
，
"How drugged shall you be？ Or， to put it another way， how conscious will you be？ Who shall be conscious？ Who shall be unconscious？" An interesting book that supposes psychedelics， specifically psilocybin mushrooms， may have been the originating spark of language and culture in humans。 It then goes on to ascribe many of society's modern ills to a withdrawing from the shamanistic exploration of the deep internal mind and connection to the Earth as The Green Mother。 While this book posits some cool "How drugged shall you be？ Or， to put it another way， how conscious will you be？ Who shall be conscious？ Who shall be unconscious？" An interesting book that supposes psychedelics， specifically psilocybin mushrooms， may have been the originating spark of language and culture in humans。 It then goes on to ascribe many of society's modern ills to a withdrawing from the shamanistic exploration of the deep internal mind and connection to the Earth as The Green Mother。 While this book posits some cool ideas， a lot of it is speculative， and at times dramatic/biased。 A good read for anyone interested in the topic of drug use， but should be taken with a healthy dose （ha ha） of skepticism。 。。。more
Ugis
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A great read about our historical relationships with various plants and compounds。 An interesting introduction on emergence of tobacco， alcohol and sugar in our societies as we know them now。 On the other side McKenna looks at the role of various plants and compounds such as psilocybin mushrooms， DMT and their role in the evolution of our mind。 Amazing to read it it almost 30 years later and still see the same problems in the world， although at least the level of awareness is higher。 I am hopefu A great read about our historical relationships with various plants and compounds。 An interesting introduction on emergence of tobacco， alcohol and sugar in our societies as we know them now。 On the other side McKenna looks at the role of various plants and compounds such as psilocybin mushrooms， DMT and their role in the evolution of our mind。 Amazing to read it it almost 30 years later and still see the same problems in the world， although at least the level of awareness is higher。 I am hopeful that the respect for nature and our freedom to interact with it in a harmless way will only grow。[reading time: 9h26m] 。。。more
Shane Skelcy
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I really enjoyed reading this book。 While the ending is a tad outdated given movement in the legalization and decriminalization of various drugs I still thought it offered valuable insight into how much further we have to go。 The book can get technical at times but a quick google search helps to clarify。 Overall this was a very thought provoking book。
yo JP
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（29。1。2021） Způsob， jakým McKenna přemýšlí。。。 o rostlinách， společnosti a jejich spojitosti。 Vždycky se cítím špatně， když vidím osobu， která "dává smysl" a formuluje ten smysl tak snadno， dává to sem， ven。。。 ale lidi jsou jen dál idioti。 Globálně， idioti。 Samozřejmě， nezmění se to přes noc。 Nalepit na to to stigma "drogy" （které je absolutně zcestné）， slepé přijímání toho， co vláda řekne。 Houby， DMT。 DMT je i v našem těle。 Na druhé straně máte alkohol， cukrem nasáknutý zabiják， povolený od 18-2 （29。1。2021） Způsob， jakým McKenna přemýšlí。。。 o rostlinách， společnosti a jejich spojitosti。 Vždycky se cítím špatně， když vidím osobu， která "dává smysl" a formuluje ten smysl tak snadno， dává to sem， ven。。。 ale lidi jsou jen dál idioti。 Globálně， idioti。 Samozřejmě， nezmění se to přes noc。 Nalepit na to to stigma "drogy" （které je absolutně zcestné）， slepé přijímání toho， co vláda řekne。 Houby， DMT。 DMT je i v našem těle。 Na druhé straně máte alkohol， cukrem nasáknutý zabiják， povolený od 18-21 let， který každý konzumuje。 A vlády， které nás drží od pravého poznání a hlubšího porozumění。 Většina lidí asi nechápe， že dává smysl， že to byl ten důvod， proč se lidstvo vůbec vyvinulo a mozek začal pracovat jinak。 A pokud jste někdy zkusili psychedelika， pochopili byste。 Ta hlubší úroveň snahy o porozumění banálních každodenních věcí。 Ale hádám， že lidi zkrátka potřebují čas。 Otázkou je， jestli ho bude dost。（19。05。2020） McKenna nakousne mnoho témat， historie， psychedelika， yada yada， ale vše jen velmi obecně。 Ping-pong。 Krouží to tak nějak ve vzduchu a okolo。 Ale díky tomu je to i stručné。 Slovy Reagana "When it comes to drugs， just say no。" （Ohleduplně pro neangličtináře: "Když přijde na drogy， prostě řekněte ne。"） Jenže definovat drogy。 To já říkám pořád。 Definuj mi， co to je droga （poprvé jsem se s tím pojmem setkal jako kluk v knize 'Filipova dobrodružství'， kde drogu celkem chytře vyobrazili jako oblak plný barev， který vás napřed přiměje cítit se dobře， ale nakonec vás vysaje）。 Třeba v práci je člověk， co si rád dá pár prásků ze skla a vypálí se do stratosféry （pardon， terminologie: zhulí se）。 Je to člověk línej， ale jen to， že si dává ganju， neznamená， že je to feťák。 Nicméně， konzervativnější lidé ho tak automaticky vnímají。 Mají absolutně nulový rozhled když přijde na tohle téma。 Tenhle člověk jí banány， pomeranče a jogurty。 Lidi， co ho kritizujou， že je feťák， kouří cigarety， chlastají a cpou se rohlíkama se salámem。 Ganju vždycky srovnávám s čajem。 Takže abych se dostal zpět ke knize， líbí se mi， že se někdo snaží zpopularizovat argument drogy vs。 psychedelika。 Není to totéž， ale většina lidí to tak prostě vnímá， protože jsou nevzdělaný ovce， který zajímají jen absolutně banální otázky （soused se nesmí mít líp jak já， takže musím našetřit na lepší auto a na dovolenou na Malorce， kde se budu ožírat ze Sex on the beach， Viva Las Vegas！）。 A s tím se asi moc nezmění a pokud změní， ta změna je a bude příliš pomalá。 Droga， pro mě， je fyzická závislost na dané látce。 V tomhle ohledu jsme všichni závislí na něčem。 Ale nestalo se mi， abych se setkal s psychedelikem a pak si řekl， že bez něj nemůžu existovat。 Třeba alpy a pivaři mi můžou říct svůj názor， přičemž jsem víc jak půl roku neměl žádný halucinogen， ale zkuste těm ožralým hovadům vzít na týden nebo dva jejich lahev （některým jen na den dva） a poznáte definici závislosti。 Samozřejmě， ne každej， kdo pije， je špatná osoba a stejně tak ne každý， kdo si občas zatripuje je feťák。 Věci nejsou tak jednoduché。 Je těžké změnit kolektivní sociální schéma， je těžké podlomit to， že lidem dennodenně vymývají mozky v TV zprávami o tom， jak narkoman někoho vzal nožem， opilý muž někoho vzal nožem。 Opět， musíte znát svoje meze， nesmíte využívat věci jako způsob úniku z reality， ale spíše jako nástroj， jak realitu vylepšit。 Ano， drogám skutečně řekněte ne， ale napřed se naučte rozlišit， co to vlastně drogy jsou， protože možná， že jste na některé závislí právě teď， zatímco odsuzujete lidi， co se snaží pouze dosáhnout určité formy osvícení， dát svému životu smysl a směr a prostě být lepší lidskou bytostí。 A to je pro některý hodně obtížný úkol。 。。。more
Rebecca
，
If I could have have lunch with anyone living or dead， I would choose Terence McKenna。 The man was a visionary。 This book takes the perspective that ancient humans' linguistic skills and subsequent "humanness" were catalyzed and reinforced by a symbiotic relationship with some sort of naturally-occuring plant hallucinogen - for Terence， the secret lies in psilocybin mushrooms。 I'm not sure I buy this， but it's an interesting idea and he argued it well， bringing up supporting evidence from ancien If I could have have lunch with anyone living or dead， I would choose Terence McKenna。 The man was a visionary。 This book takes the perspective that ancient humans' linguistic skills and subsequent "humanness" were catalyzed and reinforced by a symbiotic relationship with some sort of naturally-occuring plant hallucinogen - for Terence， the secret lies in psilocybin mushrooms。 I'm not sure I buy this， but it's an interesting idea and he argued it well， bringing up supporting evidence from ancient artistic portrayals of mushrooms and modern-day shamanic uses of hallucinogens in various societies around the world。 Connecting this theoretical past to the present and the future， he then makes the argument for integrating psychedelic use into society to return humans to a more cooperative， synergistic， earth-friendly mode of living。 Sure sounds nice to me！ Another cool， and substantial， section of this book detailed the history and integration of lots of different drugs that were at some point， or continue to be， important to society。 These include the ancient and still-unidentified Soma， opium， coffee， sugar， cannabis， and even television。 His thoughts on television as a synthetic drug used to keep the "dominator culture" intact by subduing the people and feeding them controlled narratives were really interesting to read within the context of all these other drugs， and I wish he had lived long enough to tell us what he thought about social media。 I think Terence McKenna is a strong writer。 I read a good portion of this book out loud and it sounded like a natural lecture。 There are also a few humorous turns of phrase or moments where his personality shined through， and I appreciated that。 Overall， I really enjoyed this book as it touched upon a lot of my present interests， made an argument I haven't encountered much before， provided a refreshingly optimistic perspective on our own innate power and possibility to change the way we live， and was written in an engaging， easy-to-digest manner。 。。。more
Jeremy Balliston
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I can see why McKenna is a controversial figure in the psychedelics community。 He states a lot of things that really can't be backed up with Science。 He also has a super culty vibe to him。 I'm super disappointed with this book considering its rep。 I can see why McKenna is a controversial figure in the psychedelics community。 He states a lot of things that really can't be backed up with Science。 He also has a super culty vibe to him。 I'm super disappointed with this book considering its rep。 。。。more
Thomas Colello
，
Absolutely incredible。
Stevie
，
I understand that there are controversial elements of McKenna’s arguments and that his points lend themselves to further evaluation （like those of any other academic）， but truthfully I think this is a fantastic piece with so many important insights。 It’s nice to have a perspective that gives realistic framework to better understanding the war on drugs and it’s consequences while also pushing the collective forward， suggesting there’s possibility and room to do better。 This book may not tell the I understand that there are controversial elements of McKenna’s arguments and that his points lend themselves to further evaluation （like those of any other academic）， but truthfully I think this is a fantastic piece with so many important insights。 It’s nice to have a perspective that gives realistic framework to better understanding the war on drugs and it’s consequences while also pushing the collective forward， suggesting there’s possibility and room to do better。 This book may not tell the whole story， but it’s an excellent foundation for stirring necessary conversation。 Yes， it is pretty dense， but it’s also well written; I had to piece my way through each chapter。。。but I think if you approach it like a textbook and take your time， or even split it up audio/text， it’s worth it。 。。。more
Kate
，
[EN/RU] Terence McKenna is an American author， ethnobotanist， philosopher， and teacher。 This landmark book provides a brief history of the use of plants and mind-altering substances in human societies and cultures。 Especially interesting about coffee， tea and sugar， their markets， trade， the impact on the body。 Written in a lively， understandable language with many references to other books， articles of scientific work on the topics of plants， shamanism， ethnobotany。Теренс Маккенна – американски [EN/RU] Terence McKenna is an American author， ethnobotanist， philosopher， and teacher。 This landmark book provides a brief history of the use of plants and mind-altering substances in human societies and cultures。 Especially interesting about coffee， tea and sugar， their markets， trade， the impact on the body。 Written in a lively， understandable language with many references to other books， articles of scientific work on the topics of plants， shamanism， ethnobotany。Теренс Маккенна – американский автор， этноботаник， философ， преподаватель。 В этой знаковой книге приводится краткая история использования растений и веществ， меняющих сознание в человеческих обществах и культурах。 Особенно интересно про кофе， чай и сахар， их рынки производства и сбыта， торговлю， влияние на организм。 Написана живым， понятным языком со множеством отсылок к другим книгам， статьям научным работам по темам растений， шаманизма， этноботаники。 。。。more
Ben
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It is not hyperbole to say Food of the God’s is life-changing。 It’s eye-opening at the very least。 Terence dials up one hell of an enlightening ass-kicking as the “frontiers of the known and the possible” seem to crumble under his knowledge gained from a life-long research on psychedelic and hallucinogenic plants。
J-kwon Stanley
，
McKenna is a complicated figure for me。 I find him entertaining， interesting， engaging， etc。 However， he also goes pretty far off the deep end with some of his ideas and theories。 He was really into the I Ching， and hunks mushrooms are organic probes of alien life forms among other things。 Fun to consider， but no way to prove。 He has some cool ideas to ponder but he will always be flawed to me， and someone I will always take with a grain of salt。
MorganJac
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