Terence McKenna was an American ethnobotanist,mystic,psychonaut, lecturer, author, and an advocate for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants. He studied the basis of existence for about 25 yearsshamanismand the resources used forspiritual transformation. In addition, Terence was a powerful voice of thepsychedelicmovement and the emerging social movement he called the "archaic revival".

 In 1963, McKenna was introduced to the psychedelic literature through readingThe Doors of PerceptionandHeaven and HellbyAldous Huxley.

In 1969 McKenna traveled to Nepal because of his interest in Tibetan painting and shamanism. During his time there he studied the Tibetan language.  He then returned to Berkeley (England) to continue his studies in biology. After completing part of his studies, he went to the Colombian rainforest with his brother Dennis and three friends. He went looking for the oo-koo-hey, a plant concoction thatDMTcontains.

Instead of finding oo-koo-hey, they found several forms ofayahuascaand a mushroom in which the active substancespsilocybinandpsilocinto sit. These finds became the new focus of the expedition. At his brother's insistence, he participated in a psychedelic experiment in La Chorrera. McKenna claimed that this experience introduced him to "the Logos': an informative, divine voice that Terence said corresponded to a visionary religious experience. The revelation of this voice, along with similar experiences his brother had had, led McKenna to study theI Ching, which would later form the basis of his "Novelty Theory".

In the early 1980s, McKenna began speaking publicly about psychedelic drugs. He gave lectures and started extensive weekend workshops.Timothy Learyonce introduced him as one of the five or six most important people on the planet.

 

There is clearly a crisis of two things: of consciousness and conditioning. These are the two things that are affected by psychedelics. We have the technological power and the engineering skills to save our planet. To cure disease, to feed the hungry, to end war. But we lack the intellectual vision, the ability to change our thoughts. We must decondition ourselves from 10,000 years of bad behavior. But that's not easy.– Terence McKenna – 'The World…and Its Double'

 

McKenna quickly became a fixture of the popular counterculture and his popularity continued to grow, culminating in the first half of the 1990s with the publication of several books such as 'True Hallucinations' (which tells of his experience at La Chorrera), ' Food of the Gods' and 'The Archaic Revival'.  His lyrics were (and still are) an inspiration to many.