Terence McKenna - Didn't use mushrooms from '88 until he died

[swilow]

The acute psychedelic experience does not need to be always colourful, sunny and life-affirming. There is a risk to actual trauma catalysed by these experiences, and McKenna experiencing that doesn't really shock me either. There are, of course, some who can trip a lot and at high doses, and rarely experience anything above 'slightly troubling'. For many others, there is a real darkside to tripping. For me, at least, the high dose and traumatic experiences I have had, namely a large dose of ayahuasca and smaller dose of mushrooms, in the midst of a crazy period of drug addiction and desperation with my life seemingly collapsing, was one of the most terrifying and painful experiences of my life, and also one of the most instructive. Surviving it gave me strength and self-respect, and the internal and spiritual aspect of it both reinforced and dramatically shaped some of my current beliefs, which in turn have added meaning and happiness to my life.

I don't think Terence McKenna was advocating traumatic experiences per se, but he would have known that any group of psychedelic users knows the potential risks, and most users can think and decide for themselves. He was purely an entertaining guy, with some thought provoking views delivered in a uniquely psychedelic linguistic packaging. A good thinker but fantastic communicator. I like hearing him speak, despite not agreeing with some of his ideas.

low doses outside in nature on a bright and sunny day are the best for introspection if you ask me, or at home with a pen and paper if you don't want to go out.

Completely agree. I'm not sure I ever really want to be completely ego-less again, but I certainly desire the introspection and sense of hyper-perspective on my life that psychedelics can bring about.

 

[Ismene]

P.J. O'Rourke, Murray Rothbard, Noam Chomsky, Hunter Thompson, Sasha Shulgin, Milton Friedman, Robert Anton Wilson, Leo Zeff, David Nichols, Jonathan Ott, Albert Hofmann, John C Lilly, Aldous Huxley, and (arguably) Howard Lotsof and Deborah Mash, plus, of course, Ron Paul, among countless others.

Aldous Huxley was dead by 1963.

Chomsky? Milton Friedman? Are you just listing names of people who were against drug prohibition?

 

[max_freakout]

This whole story about "Mckenna's bad trip" was a lie concocted to sell books, and it worked lol, it says a lot about the stupidity of much of the "psychedelic culture"

 

[ea1958]

A lack of all meaning

The narrator seems to base the 1.5 hour (no thanks) You Tube video on Terence realizing "a lack of all meaning" during his "absolutely terrifying" (demagogue much) trip (starting at minute 4:30), but that experience in fact ("a lack of all meaning") is what others might term enlightenment (some outside of Terence may have missociated words used in his recounting of the trip).
See 'JEsus & the Unabomber.'

That's according to his brother Dennis and other close friends who've known all this time. Terence suffered a devestating trip in 1988 and never really recovered by the sounds of it; the details are not really known except by his partner at the time, but basically the mushroom that had been his teacher turned on him, forcing Terence to confront his self and this plunged Terence into panic. He used DMT and Ayahuasca only on occassion after that too. This is significant because from 1988 until his death he continued to lecture and put on his Terence persona of '5 dried grams in silent darkness' whilst actually internally struggling with the experience he'd had.

These revelations will be in Dennis McKenna's book coming out soon, and long time friend Bruce Damer gave a reading of some of these snippets, as well as his own thoughts on Terence, in a podcast in the Psychedelic Salon. This has since been removed at the request of Dennis (something about the book), but the podcast is available here on youtube.

I highly recommend listening.. it might shock you to know that Terence was actually just a human being like everyone else

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO3LlYzQU4g

 

[PriestTheyCalledHim]

I find it hilariously misguided what a pedestal certain corners of the psychedelic community put TM on. And that seems to be missing a portion of his whole point. He was a lunatic, albeit a charismatic one adept at public speaking. He wouldn't deny such, and would hopefully find laughable the seriousness which with people take him. I have heard from several reliable sources that he found his schtick, the persona he was paid to play, quite tiresome at times. But hey, it's a job. . .

Agreed. I know a person who worked with native indegenous people in countries where they can legally take Ayahuasca, mushrooms, cacti, and other psychedelic drugs in a ceremony and they and the natives did not like the McKennas, Ayahuasca tourism, or Ayahuasca tourist groups for rich tourists associated with the McKennas at all.