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Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution Paperback – January 1, 1993

by Terence McKenna (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 2,668 ratings
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An exploration of humans' symbiotic relationships with plants and chemicals presents information on prehistoric partnership societies, the roles of spices and spirits in the rise of dominator societies; and the politics of tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, and alcohol.

Why, as a species, are humans so fascinated by altered states of consciousness? Can altered states reveal something to us about our origins 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 the West, from 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 for nature, and increased self-awareness.
 
Praise for Food of the Gods

“Deserves to be the modern classic on mind-altering drugs and hallucinogens.”—The Washington Post
 
“Terence McKenna is the most important—and most entertaining—visionary scholar in America.”—Tom Robbins
 
“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
 
“An eloquent proposal for recovering 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 & Machine
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    311 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bantam
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1993
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0553371304
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0553371307
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Deserves to be the modern classic on mind-altering drugs and hallucinogens.”—The Washington Post
 
“Terence McKenna is the most important—and most entertaining—visionary scholar in America.”—Tom Robbins
 
“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
 
“An eloquent proposal for recovering 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 & Machine

About the Author

Terence McKenna, author and explorer, has traveled the world to work and live with shamans. He has added to their shared knowledge of rituals his own efforts to preserve the plants used in these ceremonies. Coauthor of The Invisible Landscape and Psilocybin: The Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide, Terence mesmerizes his many lecture audiences with tales of science and shamanism. He lives in Occidental, California, and is co-manager of a botanical garden in Hawaii for endangered tropical plants.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bantam; Reprint edition (January 1, 1993)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 311 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0553371304
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0553371307
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 2,668 ratings

About the author

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Terence McKenna

Terence McKenna

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Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000) was an American ethnobotanist, mystic, psychonaut, lecturer, author, and was an advocate for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology, environmentalism, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the "Timothy Leary of the '90s", "one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism", and the "intellectual voice of rave culture".

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Entropath (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
2,668 global ratings
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2 Stars
Damaged
Only reason I gave it 2 is because it's a great book. The book gets 5 stard but Amazon's version of this book that you will receive is a 2. I want books I can pass down. Kinda hard when they come abused.
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Top reviews from the United States

Luke in Iowa
5.0 out of 5 stars So good. Gave me a logical framework to operate from.
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2023
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I’m sure many scientists and the religious would hate this book. I found it refreshing. The concepts about sugar and alcohol and dominator culture make so much sense to explain ‘Merica. He really was ahead of his time on putting his finger on the pulse of societal decline. There’s an audiobook recording on YouTube for free. It’s 9+ hours but it’s word for word what’s in here. I think this is mandatory material to read or listen to. Even if you don’t agree with him, hear him out. He resonates with me on so many notions but explains them in ways I’m too stupid to on my own.
6 people found this helpful
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Bryan Desmond
5.0 out of 5 stars A sort of call to action; to return once more to the realm of empathy, partnership, and freedom of consciousness.
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2018
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This one took me a while. And while I was reading other books during the two months that it took me to read Food of the Gods, that length of time was mostly due to the books density and depth of information.

I was familiar with ethnobotanist and revered psychonaut, Terence McKenna, through his lectures, though this is my first time actually reading any of his work. Food of the Gods was a great place to start. Within, McKenna guides the reader through a history of psychedelic plants (and other indole hallucinogens) and how they affected the cultures that interacted with them. He touches on his 'stoned ape' theory, which I've always found intriguing (now more than ever), and which (if proven) would certainly indicate that the effect these ancient plants had on humankind was immense. McKenna goes on to describe the crumbling relationship humans have had with these plants and substances across thousands of years; the shift we have enacted from 'partnership societies' to the 'dominator society' in which we currently find ourselves. Thus, the book can be seen as a sort of call to action; to return once more to the realm of empathy, partnership, and freedom of consciousness which once went hand in hand with the consumption of ancient, shamanic plant substances and other consciousness-expanding drugs.

McKenna is extremely verbose, and very intelligent, to the point that some sections of the book were relatively hard to understand for me, requiring a second read. Regardless, I found his arguments strong, and his research thorough and enticing. Terence and his brother Dennis are both individuals that I have looked into before as free thinkers and advocates of personal freedoms currently denied to all of us. He brings to light many things in this book that are more and more obviously astounding. Our love affair with alcohol for example, while cannabis (a proven medicinal plant) remains illegal and ostracized. He would be happy to see the progress made in that area (way to go, Canada) but nevertheless there is much work to be done; and on more than just cannabis. How can we as human beings ever claim true sovereignty over ourselves if our freedoms do not include the freedom of our own consciousness?

I am reminded here at the close of Graham Hancock's TED Talk. I think that he and McKenna see eye to eye on a number of issues. I'd like to provide a link to the video here, but Amazon will not allow external URLs in reviews. I urge you to look it up yourself. This talk was actually banned by TED after its release, and removed from their content offering. Shocking, for a forum that promotes itself as forward thinking and open-minded. But more evidence that there is work to be done. A paradigm shift must occur.

I look forward to reading more of McKenna's work.
129 people found this helpful
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HotHipMomma
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow. Fascinating book!
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2023
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This book digs into so much about the origin of belief systems and religion as well as how our consciousness expanded through the times and by which substances/plants we consumed. It goes on to track how these things shaped us as societies and how damaging it is that we've gotten away from being able to access our subconscious with them. Highly recommended read for anyone on a path of exploring how to find more to life.
3 people found this helpful
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Stephen S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read and not what I expected . . .
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2013
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I was a little surprised to find that this was a chronological history and academic work with plenty of references, a glossary and an index that explores the role that various psychoactive substances have played in the evolution and development of man, culture and society. I've had personal experience with most of the substances that he reviews, and I would also agree that the indole containing plant derivatives, including Psilocybin from mushrooms and the semi-synthetic LSD-25, are the most interesting in terms of their historical significance, effects and potency. The fact that the human brain has receptors that respond to these indole compounds does not seem accidental.

I am personally sympathetic with many of Terrence McKenna's views, although some of those views are difficult, if not impossible, to prove or refute. It seems that one of the main points of the book is his contention that the indole ring containing psychoactive substances played a significant role in human evolution and may have played a key role in the development of language and communication. Females may have played a more important role here than males, largely because their roles in early societies required cooperation and communication.

His division of cultural/societal models into the Archaic / Feminine focused model and the Dominator / Patriarchal is useful, and it might be useful to incorporate some of the old practices and values into modern day society if it is to continue to flourish.

There are snippets here and there containing descriptions of psychedelic experiences of various individuals, but these are presented within the context of an academic discussion. You really have to experience that sort of thing to appreciate it anyway, but they are illustrative descriptions.

There is an interesting discussion about the roles that alcohol, narcotics/opiates, tobacco, tea and coffee (all drugs) have played in recent history, as well as discussions about the impact that other more recently distributed drugs have played in society. It is probably no accident that governments and Dominator focused organizations seek to control many of these substances. The indole plant entheogens probably pose a particular threat in this regard, not because of financial or abuse considerations, but because they may hold the potential to transform society once again.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Karla Cabanillas
5.0 out of 5 stars Bien
Reviewed in Mexico on March 17, 2024
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Desde amazon usa a México. Libro nuevo y entrega rapida.
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Karla Cabanillas
5.0 out of 5 stars Bien
Reviewed in Mexico on March 17, 2024
Desde amazon usa a México. Libro nuevo y entrega rapida.
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Jean
5.0 out of 5 stars From The Founding Father
Reviewed in Canada on February 19, 2024
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Loving it so far, very interesting read.
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Jean
5.0 out of 5 stars From The Founding Father
Reviewed in Canada on February 19, 2024
Loving it so far, very interesting read.
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Marvin Diagne
5.0 out of 5 stars A beutiful book by a beautiful mind
Reviewed in Germany on March 5, 2024
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the feel and optic of the book is very pleasing. mckenna dives deeper into history then in his talks, less romanticized psychedelic enthusiasm and more historical speculation and research. Its opinionated, but not as subjective as true hallucinations. If you listen to mckenna i see no reason not to have read this
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Pauline D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Super livre
Reviewed in France on August 4, 2022
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Livre offert à un proche, il a adoré !
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Lasse Järvensivu
5.0 out of 5 stars En bra översikt över psykedelisk historia
Reviewed in Sweden on September 13, 2021
Verified Purchase
Boken beskriver mycket möjliga rötter till det psykedeliska riket och beskriver en historia som sträcker sig över tio tusen år tillbaka i tiden. Flera olika folkstammar beskrivs. Den beskriver bortfallet av psykedeliska växter ur vår kulturella diet och hur "den äkta varan" byttes ut mot t.ex. abstrakta symboler och till slut även en glömska av det gudomliga som dessa plantor hävdas ge. Relativt nutida händelser skildras också, såsom "the war on drugs", kriget mot drogerna, samt en blick i hur framtiden skulle kunna se ut.

Jag kände mig gripen och fascinerad genom hela boken. Jag kände mig känslomässigt investerad i kapitlen och fick dessutom några riktigt goda skratt. Det är en historiebok med bias till drogliberalitet.

Kan inte rekommendera den nog. Skaffa den! Väl värt läsningen.
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