Synopses & Reviews
Why, as a species, are humans so fascinated by altered states of consciousness? Can altered states reveal something to us about our orgins and our place in nature? In Food of the Gods, ethnobotanist Terence McKenna's research on man's ancient relationship with chemicals opens a doorway to the divine, and perhaps a solution for saving our troubled world. McKenna provides a revisionist look at the historical role of drugs in the East and West, from the ancient spice, sugar, and rum trades to marijuana, cocaine, synthetics, and even television illustrating the human desire for the "food of the gods" and the powerful potential to replace abuse of illegal drugs with a shamanic understanding, insistence on community, reverence fior nature, and increased self-awareness.
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"Terence McKenna is the most important and most entertaining visionary scholar in America." — Tom Robbins
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"The culture's foremost spokesperson for the psychedelic experience....Those who know and enjoy Joseph Campbell's work will almost certainly appreciate McKenna." — L.A. Weekly
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"An eloquent proposal for decovering something vital — a sense of the sacred, the transcendent, the Absolute — before it's too late." — Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Meaning & Medicine, Recovering the Soul, and Space, Time & Medicine
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"Deserves to be the modern classic on mind-altering drugs and hallucinogens." — The Washington Post