Download Food of the Gods The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants Drugs and Human Evolution Audible Audio Edition Terence McKenna Jeffrey Kafer Tantor Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 8 hours and 51 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Tantor Audio Audible.com Release Date September 28, 2012 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B009IBRSJI

Food of the Gods The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants Drugs and Human Evolution Audible Audio Edition Terence McKenna Jeffrey Kafer Tantor Audio Books Reviews

• 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 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.
• Great book! If you enjoy Terence McKenna and his complex ideas, then I think you will really enjoy this. Definitely not the easiest read in the world but worth the time. Terence is able to go much deeper and elaborate on certain topics, turning this into a treasure trove of information. This is certainly not a book for someone looking for an easy read novel type of work. At times this book seemed to be a labor to read but in the end I enjoyed the heck out of it.
• 50 pages in, this is a really good book. I was skeptical of Mckenna's ideas in this book but his information and explanations are so articulate. I'd Recommend anyone to give this book a read. Perhaps i will make a more in depth review once i finish the book. But currently this is one of my favorite books.
  
  *Update 6/3/16* Finished the book and I'd say that was an excellent read. Now I want to pick up Mckenna's other works
• I recomend this book to anyone interested in ethnopharmacology, or really anyone in general. It's one of my favourites.
• very interesting and informative, first book i read cover to cover in a few years
• One of my best reads to date. Everyone should give this book a chance and re evaluate societies priorities. We should say good bye to this dominator type culture and reunite ourselves with mother earth in order to exist the most efficient and harmonious way possible. This book helps us to move in that direction, in the direction of love. A wonderful book for all human kind.
• This is the first book from Terrence McKenna I have read, but I have listened to a number of his lectures. As it stands, if I had to sum of the book in one phrase it would be, "An illicit peepshow of truth regarding our human culture." This book quite literally takes you all over the world, back and forth through time in 275 very novel pages. It employs the character of showing us how closely attached we, the human species, have been to drugs, or altered states of consciousness. There is also an attribute on how we as a species have developed society and religion as result to these experiences. This is a manifesto that beckons the need for further research into the areas of which McKenna vectors us. This book is also far much more than just a pontification about the history of drugs, it also delves deep into human culture and alternative views of how culture developed, especially from the feminine perspective. I have to say those who wish to study our human origins should read this; it is definitely an intriguing compilation, especially with his theories on the origins of consciousness. McKenna does not fail to display his erudition in this work, just as he does in his lectures, which is one of the reasons why he has been a preeminent hero of mine since I came into knowledge of him.
  
  Most people are immediately going to reserve themselves in the position of dissenting, more or less because this is not what has been spoon fed to them by the conventional education machine. If you want the truth, or unbiased information, seek knowledge with an open mind, independently and from a multitude of perspectives. Especially, in the frame of the history, but even more so with his theory of how consciousness developed through prolonged exposure to entheogens. His theory for the catalyst for consciousness is very novel and pushes the paradigm on conventional theories. Nonetheless, McKenna's theory is highly controversial and many are likely to disagree without considering its probability. In actuality, Tim Leary attempted to study the effects of drugs on the mind while he was a Harvard professor, so these ideas are not intellectually destitute. Even if you disagree with everything he writes about, the subject matter will at least give you an adverse perspective that is in existence, but is not the orthodox.
  
  In reference to the effects of drugs (natural drugs, not pharmaceuticals and alcohol) on the consciousness and the "journey" into your subconscious, I emphatically agree with McKenna and it is something that is simply experiential. It is an invigorating experience if you allow it to be, you must search within yourself to find answers. I personally like McKenna's rules for experiencing entheogens (as evident on pg. 248), "one sits down, one shuts up and one pays attention"-especially alone in the dark, no TV and no radio. It may not be for all, but it is quite effective for the psyche and intellect. Unfortunately, do to the politics of the scholarly realm and the laws from the "drug war" his theories will merely lie in ruin as an anecdotal hypothesis, but has much potentiality for a concrete conclusion.
  
  The only reason I did not give this book five stars is due several things I disagree with McKenna on. Throughout this book, and his lectures, he seems to advocate a very socialistic and communist lifestyle, which to me, politically is an issue of dissonance. With this subject I guess we differ on a polarity, but I still enjoy his very eloquent philosophy. At times he also references the "barriers" that we create to create individual territory, and that we would be wiser to dissolve those and live communal lives. I like capitalism, the harder you work the more capital you receive; in a socialist society those who work hard gain nothing, because everything is of neutral division, and in the end it stifles ingenuity and innovation; and, in the same system the laziest are parasites that reap the rewards. Along with those ideas, he also bends over backwards to force a square dowel into a circular hole, and because of this there are times that makes it hard to concur with him. There are also periods in his book that there exists not enough evidence for the clarity of his postulants.
  
  Here are some quotes I found resonance with
  Pg. 147 "Wife beating without alcohol is like a circus without lions." - So true, but we find that marijuana, an innocuous substance is outlawed.
  Pg. 148 "Yet how can we explain the legal toleration for alcohol, the most destructive of all intoxicants, and the almost frenzied efforts to repress nearly all other drugs?"
  Pg. 163 "The "recreational" context for substance use, as currently understood in the United States, is an atmosphere that trivializes the cognitive impact of the substance used."
  Pg. 272 "If mere preaching of virtue could provide the answer, then we would have arrived at the threshold of angelic existence some time ago. If mere legislation of virtue were answer, we would have learned that a long time ago."
  
  In conclusion, it is odious and criminal for me to desire and endeavor to experience mushrooms or marijuana in my own home, but it is ok for America to line up at the pharmacy for their $4 monthly prescriptions for various absurdities; and aside to that, the most corrosive substance, alcohol, in society is ubiquitously supported and served as a nuance of fermented passion, and because of this, the atrocities that it induces America retains a superficial relationship with. - D.R.Thomas
• I found it to be a great mind opening thought challenging book that really makes you wonder about what could’ve been different and what we’re doing wrong today