Terence McKenna. Food of the Gods (paper book)

Content
9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

11 Introduction. MANIFESTO “FOR A NEW LOOK AT DRUGS”

Painful reappraisal • Revival of the archaic • New manifesto • Legacy of the era of domination

Part I. PARADISE

25 Chapter 1. SHAMANISM: HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Shamanism and conventional religion • Techniques of ecstasy • A world created from language • The reality of higher dimensions • The concept of shamanism • Shamanism and the lost world of the archaic

39 Chapter 2. MAGIC IN FOOD

About the Hairy Primates • You are what you eat • Symbiosis • A new look at human evolution • The real missing link • Three great steps for the human race • Divergence from Lamarck • Acquired tastes

60 Chapter 3. THE SEARCH FOR THE ORIGINAL TREE OF KNOWLEDGE

Hallucinogens as the real missing link • The search for the tree of knowledge • Weeding out candidates • An ancient plant • What are plant hallucinogens? • Transcendent Other

74 Chapter 4. PLANTS AND PRIMATES: POSTCARDS FROM THE STONE AGE

Human exceptionalism • Human knowledge of the world • Transformation of monkeys • The emergence of human imagination in prehistoric times • Stereotypes and understanding • Catalysts of consciousness • The word came from the flesh • Women and language

92 Chapter 5. HABIT AS CULTURE AND RELIGION

Ecstasy • Shamanism as a social catalyst • Monotheism • Pathological monotheism • Archaic sexuality • Ibogaine use by the Fang people • Contrasts of sexual politics

107 Chapter 6. HIGH PLAINS OF PARADISE

Tassili Plateau • Roundhead Civilization • Paradise Found? • Missing Link Culture • Native to Africa • Çatalhöyük • Significant Difference • Plant-Formed Mindset • Integrity of Gaia

Part II. LOST HEAVEN

131 Chapter 7. SEARCH FOR SOMA: THE GOLDEN SECRET OF THE VEDAS

Contact with extranatural intelligence • Soma – what is it? • Haoma and Zoroaster • Haoma and harmaline • Wasson’s theory of fly agaric • Objections to fly agaric • Wasson’s controversies and other candidates for the role of soma • Peganum harmala as soma • Soma as the moon god • Soma and cattle • Wasson’s doubts • A more plausible proposal • Indo-Europeans

157 Chapter 8. TWILIGHT IN PARADISE: MINOAN CRETE AND THE ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES

The Degeneration of the Mystery • The Decline of Çatalhöyük and the Age of Kingship • Minoan Mushroom Fantasies • The Myth of Glaucus • Honey and Opium • The Connection with Dionysus • The Mysteries at Eleusis • Psychedelics at the Mysteries? • Ergot theory of beer contamination • Graves’ psilocybin theory • Historical frontier

178 Chapter 9. ALCOHOL AND ALCHEMY OF THE SPIRIT

Nostalgia for Paradise • Alcohol and honey • Wine and women • Natural and synthetic drugs • Alchemy and alcohol • Alcohol as a disaster • Alcohol and femininity • Sexual stereotypes and alcohol

193 Chapter 10. BALLAD OF SMOKED WEAVERS: CANNABIS AND CULTURE

Hashish • Scythians • India and China • Cannabis as a cultural style • Cannabis in ancient times • Cannabis and the language of storytelling • Orientalism and cannabis in Europe • Cannabis and America in the 19th century • The evolution of attitudes towards drugs • Fitz Hugh Ludlow • Cannabis in the 20th century

Part III. HELL

215 Chapter 11. BLISS OF PEGNOIR: SUGAR, COFFEE, TEA AND CHOCOLATE

Expanding Our Taste Range • Bland Life • Here Comes Sugar • Addictive Sugar • Sugar and Slavery • Sugar and the Dominant Style • Drugs for the Aristocrats • Coffee and Tea: New Alternatives to Alcohol • Tea as a Brewer for Revolution • Cycles of Exploitation • Coffee • The word against coffee • Chocolate

240 Chapter 12. SMOKE BLOCKS THE EYES: OPIUM AND TOBACCO

Paradoxical approaches • Europe gets acquainted with smoking • Opium temptations of the ancient era • Alchemical opium • And again about tobacco • Shamans and varieties of tobacco • Tobacco as a charlatan drug • A word against tobacco • The triumph of tobacco • Opium wars • Opium and cultural style: de Quincey • Origin psychopharmacology

260 Chapter 13. SYNTHETICS: HEROIN, COCAINE AND TELEVISION

Hard Drugs • Cocaine: The White Horror • A Word for Cocaine • Modern Anti-Drug Hysteria • Drugs and Governments • Drugs and Foreign Intelligence • Electronic Drugs • A Means of Covert Manipulation

Part IV. PARADISE RECOVERED?

279 Chapter 14. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PSYCHEDELICS

New World Hallucinogens • Ayahuasca • Father of Psychopharmacology • Mescaline Delights • Modern Renaissance • Whispers of the New World Mushroom • The Creation of LSD • Pandora’s Box Opened • LSD and the Psychedelic 1960s • Richard Shults and the Plant Hallucinogens • Leary at Harvard • Psilocybin: Psychedelics in the 1970s ‘s • Psychedelic consequences of use • Public awareness of the problem

305 Chapter 15. PRESENTATION OF ARCHAIC PARADISE

Real World Options • The Case for Hallucinogenic Tryptamines • How Do We Feel? • What to do with the answer • The Octopus Candidacy • Art and Revolution • Expanding Consciousness • The War on Drugs • Hyperspace and Personal Freedom • New Moments • The DMT Experience • Hyperspace and the Law • Encounters with the Amazing Supermind • Returning to Our Roots • The Role of Funds • The role of fundamentalism • The legalization issue • A modest proposal

337 Epilogue. A LOOK AT THE SEA OF STARS ABOVE US AND INSIDE YOURSELF

If not us, then who? If not now, then when? • Searching for a way out • From pastures to spaceships • Waiting to meet ourselves in a vision

343 NOTES

358 AFTERWORD