I was wondering if anyone out there ever read “Food of the Gods” or “The Archaic Revival” by Terance McKenna? I thought his ideas concerning drugs and societal control were very interesting, if a little far out. His theory concerning the symbiotic relationship between man and plant seems to be very well thought out and researched, but I was wondering if anyone out could tell me otherwise. Specifically, the facts that before 10,000 years ago there was no war and societies generally seemed to be based upon the “partnership” model during this time. He wonders in his books if there was a link between the plant and man world that was severed which allowed a transition of peace to war in human culutre.
Also, does anyone really think that a hallucinogenic plant (for example, the mushroom) could be capable of assisting the development of human consciousness? He provides some pretty good evidence. An example is the ease with which psilocybin (the active ingredient in shrooms) enters the bloodstream and attaches itself to the serotonin receptors in the human brain. This would suggest, to mckenna at least, a relationship formed over a long time which bred a generally “comfortable” productive relationship between man and plant. This relationship explains for him the prevalene of mushroom worshipping societies in the south americas and the cattle worshipping cults in early Africa (cattle dung, which we all know, is a great source for producing shrooms).
Love to read Terance McKenna, don’t believe his assertions about what happened in past societies and biology have any legs at all - I mean his unique ideas.
For example: Lots and lots of things enter the bloodstream “easily.” What goes on with serotonin receptors is not clear. Cattle dung is, itself, not a uniquely great source for shrooms. So on and so on and so on.
I’ve heard of McKenna’s theories, but don’t know enough about them to comment on the OP.
I, am, however, a little confused by your statement, j.c.. Are you saying prehistoric people would have needed cattle to get psilocybe mushrooms? If so, this is simply not the case. P. cubensis, the most widely used psilocybe, is the one that grows in cow dung. There are other psilocybes that grow elsewhere. IIRC, a couple of species grow on tree stumps.
There are even a couple of non-psilocybe species that contain psilocybin.
I am not saying that cattle dung was the only way for early people to get mushrooms, it was just one way. The reason psilocybin is received so easily into the serotonin receptors is the fact that its structure is remarkably similar to that of the serotonin. Other hallucinatory, man-made drugs, drugs like LSD- have chemical structures that do not match with serotonin. The fact that psilocybin and serotonin are so close seems to suggest an affininty between the two of them. Like they were “made” for each other.
Also, i was interested in McKenna’s proposal that shrooms helped to advance the evolution of the human consciousness by expanding early man’s mind into areas he never knew existed. For example, the shrooms gave early man visions of an incredibly alien nature. These visions once seen, could not be forgotten (as anyone who has done shrooms would agree); so, man had to come up with a way to express these extremely foreign visions in means other than gestures. Thus, he created language to put a permanent fixture into his mind and others of what he saw while trippin’ nuts. It took placing man’s mind into such an abstracted place such as the area of a mushroom trip in order for him to form such an abstract concept as language. With language, then, you have a delineation between the subject and the object and thus a feeling of seperation, not previously felt before. Man became to realize himself as somthing different than the environment but at the same time still thankful and reverent for the enlightenment given to him by the mushrooms (and nature).
drugs like LSD- have chemical structures that do not match with serotonin.
They don’t match, but LSD works by binding to 5HT-2(serotonin) receptors that serotonin is supposed to bind to.
One thing that LSD does indirectly is fire up the Locus Coerulus (which is responsible for filtering sensory input). Open the floodgates, as I can personally testify.