BSA Book Discussion: General

[David]

While we might, per reader community interest level, start chapter-by-chapter discussion topics here, let's just see how we do with one single thread to start with.

BSA reader fans,...take your mark!

[David]

Before getting into our enjoyment of this new book itself, my first question for this group is more general.

I'd love to hear more about how people first heard about the McKenna brothers and what was the "glue" or point of connection that had each of us sensed, some of us for decades now, which inspired the following of their adventures, research, speculation, and distinct voices through the years?

[Dawn]

I have listened to "Coast to Coast AM" for over ten years now (14?). I have heard of, and heard the McKenna bros on there often. I have always wanted to read Terance's books, just never got around to it. Heard Dennis on there recently and ordered the Kindle book that day. I have always had an interest in psychedelics.

[Cathie]

I trace my points of connection with Terence to the mid-1990's. We'd listen to his audiotapes on long car trips...Imagination in the Light of Nature and The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge.

I loved Terence's way with words, his dazzling intellect, his ideas about language -- "the world is made of words," "history is a process of language." Also, the depth and breadth of his memory, how well-read he was, quoting everyone from Plato to Whitehead, Heraclitus to Jung, James Joyce to Aldous Huxley to Philip K Dick, William Blake to Teilhard de Chardin ... drawing on neo-Platonism, alchemy, chaos theory, the I Ching and Taoist thought. I had read most of these, except for Whitehead, and was astonished at Terence's ability to recall so much and weave it into a compelling narrative ... to connect it all to the psychedelic experience. Thus was the flame of my curiosity ignited.

So I read The Invisible Landscape (my introduction to Dennis) and True Hallucinations, followed the discussions of novelty theory on the Novelty List...the quality of the time, the seductiveness of the interconnections, real or hypothetical, it hardly mattered, it was the flights of imagination that drew us out of ourselves into a shared hallucination of epic proportions.

"Nature loves courage, the primacy of immediate experience, an ecology of souls, find the others...."

"Well so then," Palenque in 1996 (psilocybe cubensis growing wild in cow dung, sweet music under the stars at the Chan Kah), leading further, deeper, to journeys near and far. And one watershed encounter with 5-MEO DMT somewhere along the way, reaching outside time to inform and infuse everything known, believed or experienced before or since...yes, I see what you mean, Terence.

So forth and so on.

[David]

Super interesting to hear about each of our different points of connection to these wonderful guys and their amazing thinking and life story(ies).

Thanks for chiming in Cathie and Dawn.

Dennis has "threatened" to show up here sometimes soon as well.

That will be fun!

-David

[Theresa]

I was invited to Terence’s talk in Seattle (1999) by an acquaintance. Not being familiar with Terence (or the acquaintance, I declined). Later, the acquaintance dropped off a couple of cassette tape recordings of the lecture. Terence's words were expansive and illuminating for me at that time.

I'd visited Iquitos, Peru a couple of times (2006 & 07) while enrolled in a university, completing my degree (self) titled, “Psychology and Initiation.” While researching and writing about ayahuasca, the few published academic papers I could find were Dennis’ (with Eduardo Luna, et al).

I later read “True Hallucinations”, “Food of the Gods” and “The Archaic Revival”. And I love Terence on youtube.

I consider the McKennas' careers symbiotic and separate - contributing equally to the psychonaut conversation.

[Mike]

Dennis makes several guest appearances in the Terence Mckenna OmniBus 2012 series; http://cognitionfactor.net/tmom2012.html

Dennis makes more than a guest appearance in the enclosed book, and he also wrote the introduction.

I'm looking forward to a South African escapade with DJM sometime in a near future..

Best

Schwann
Journey to Everywhere

[Theresa]

Thank you for the link Schwann!

[Mike]

It's a pleasure Theresa. Dennis is the man!
Here's another piece of information regarding Dennis and Terence and Schwann you may find interesting inasmuch as a write-up of the short YouTube movie features in 'Journey to Everywhere'. Shot during a two week sojourn with Dennis on the Costa-Del-Sol...

http://youtu.be/zWPT-LiHtfI

[David]

Ah the lovely creative breezes that refresh our fun discussion here from our (exotic) South African brother.

;-)