Food Of The Gods: A Radical History of Plants, Psychedelics and Human Evolution

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might have been shaped by coincidence or by consciously consuming certain herbs, plants, berries, mushrooms, etc and second, how this might have influenced the development of all kind of faiths and beliefs. Thus, at this second level of usage, by increasing instances copulation, the mushrooms directly favored human reproduction. Alternative ideas of how something might have developed are always interesting and in this case, two interesting questions come to mind. The enhanced capacity for cognitive experience made possible by psychedelics is as basic a part of our humanness as is our sexuality. He posits God as a Wholly Other and presumably bearer of a fixed, pre-given Meaning, as revealed perhaps in psychedelic experience.

Broad, that we should do well to consider he suggestion that the function of the brain and nervous system and sense organs is in the main eliminative and not productive. The psilocybin mushroom religion, born at the birth of cognition in the grasslands of Africa, may actually be the generic religion of human beings. The premise is still almost entirely unsubstantiated, to say nothing of the fact that humans are not the only consumers of hallucinogens. So far as McKenna's claims for am increase in the sex drive, another reproductive advantage, go, I have no opinion.The drive for unitary wholeness within the psyche, which is to a degree instinctual, can nevertheless become pathological if pursued in a context in which dissolution of boundaries and rediscovery of the ground of being has been made impossible. In this landmark piece of psychedelic literature renowned ethnobotanist and psychonaut Terence McKenna explores our ancient relationship with organic psychedelics and opens a doorway to a higher state of being for us all. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.

In 1906 the Pure Food and Drugs Act was passed; it made Cocaine and Heroin illegal and set the stage for the legally sanctioned suppression of the synthetic and addictive compounds found in the opium poppy and the coca bush. This seems to suggest that Greek wines were more akin to extracts and tinctures of other plant essences than they were to wine as we know it today.I would also query the pre-history that he talks about, as being a rough sketch of something much more complex and varied. When thinking about drugs, we tend to focus on episodes of intoxication, but many drugs are normally used in sub threshold or maintenance doses; coffee and tobacco are obvious examples in our culture. There are numerous individual paragraphs that could be excerpted from this book and would be good reading on their own, but the work as a whole is deeply flawed, and ultimately I felt like reading it was a waste of my time. Attempting to distinguish between habits and addictions does damage to the insoluble confluence of mental and physical energies that shape the behavior of each of us.

In any case, I've not experienced it as characteristic nor have I seen literature supporting the assertion. It may be true, as he asserts, that in small doses they help with visual acuity, while in large doses they help dissolve one’s ego and foster a sense of community.

I am very health conscious so I’m a fervent believer of the power of the plants have on the body and mind, and that yes, in fact it’s usually the legal drugs that kill us more. This was often combined with climbing very high mountains, which gives extra weakening to the brain by a lack of oxygen so that the sh** can kick in like hell. Like fish in water, people in a culture swim in the virtually invisible medium of culturally sanctioned yet artificial states of mind. Some of Terrence’s ideas are very interesting like I could see how human kind developed creativity to use tools and developed a language or form of communication through hallucinogenic experiences. The texts seem to imply that the juice was purified by being poured through a woolen filter and then in some cases was mixed with milk.

I would suggest, that on analysis, it is hard to argue that meaning is not, to some degree, context-dependent, but I certainly have experienced an archetypal substratum to existence, that he may be hinting at, in which certain patterns seem to be playing out, behind the surface veil of people's lives. McKenna è incredibilmente capace di saper descrivere le trasfigurazioni sensoriali che avvengono nei trip, e di ricostruire l'atmosfera sacra e sospesa in cui avvengono i riti sciamanici. Finally, McKenna does not talk of other methods, some explicitly shamanic/religious, such as trance-dance, fasting or meditation; others perceived as more universal, such as art and exercise, to achieve 'altered' states of consciousness. In many cases, alcohol literally was slavery as the triangular trade of slaves, sugar, and rum and other practices of European civilization spread over the earth, subjugating other cultures.His referaces to existing material is very well referanced and the overall book is presented superbly. through Homeric times people did not have the kind of interior psychic organization that we take for granted. And once you realize that Terence can't even provide interesting accounts of drug trips, you start to think very hard about your life and why you're 200 pages deep in hell.