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True Hallucinations
Like a lovely psychedelic sophist, McKenna recounts his adventures with psychoactive plants in the Amazon Basin. Either a profoundly psychotic episode or a galvanizing glimpse into the true nature of time & mind, McKenna is a spellbinding storyteller, providing plenty of down-to-earth reasons for preserving the planet.
Preface
1 The Call of the Secret
2 Into the Devil's Paradise
3 Along a Ghostly Trail
4 Camped by a Doorway
5 A Brush with the Other
6 Kathmandu Interlude
7 A Violet Psychofluid
8 The Opus Clarified
9 A Conversation Over Saucers
10 More on the Opus
11 The Experiment at La Chorrera
12 In the Vortex
13 At Play in the Fields of the Lord
14 Looking Backward
15 A Saucer Full of Secrets
16 Return
17 Waltzing the Enigma
18 Say What Does It Mean?
19 The Coming of the Strophariad
20 The Hawaiian Connection
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Preface
1 The Call of the Secret
2 Into the Devil's Paradise
3 Along a Ghostly Trail
4 Camped by a Doorway
5 A Brush with the Other
6 Kathmandu Interlude
7 A Violet Psychofluid
8 The Opus Clarified
9 A Conversation Over Saucers
10 More on the Opus
11 The Experiment at La Chorrera
12 In the Vortex
13 At Play in the Fields of the Lord
14 Looking Backward
15 A Saucer Full of Secrets
16 Return
17 Waltzing the Enigma
18 Say What Does It Mean?
19 The Coming of the Strophariad
20 The Hawaiian Connection
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
About the author
Terence McKenna
76 books2,338 followersTerence Kemp McKenna was a writer, philosopher, psychonaut and ethnobotanist. He was noted for his knowledge of the use of psychedelic, plant-based entheogens, and subjects ranging from shamanism, the theoretical origins of human consciousness, and his concept of novelty theory.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 302 reviews
May 21, 2018
Acquired this after reading the first parts of Tao Lin's Trip: Psychedelics, Alienation, and Change about McKenna and knowing a bit about him from "The Spirit Molecule," a Netflix documentary about DMT. The day I finished Tao's book, this arrived, as well as a 1100-page ARC I've been looking forward to reading for two years, something I assumed I'd start reading as soon as I removed it from the mailer. But first I decided I'd take a look at this Terence McKenna book -- and then I read like 50 pages that first night, giddy, completely forgetting the enormous, long-awaited ARC next in line, reveling in the humorous, flowing prose with shades of Melville as they set off into the Amazon in search of their own version of the white whale, in this case a rare psychedelic plant or concoction kept secret by the natives with a name like oo-oe-oe -- something like that -- but then are distracted by quite magical mushrooms growing everywhere in the jungle. There's one chapter, an aside from the current story in South America, that's essentially a sex scene a few years earlier in a small town outside of Katmandu that's easily one of the best sex scenes I've ever read, ending with the two lovers on a roof covered in a mysterious obsidian psychofluid.
My initial instinct was to read this as fiction, a major, previously unknown addition to the Amazon canon, along with Cesar Aira's An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, Werner Herzog's Conquest of the Useless, the beautiful Ciro Guerra film Embrace of the Serpent, and Herzog's two great Amazon films, Aguirre: The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, both of which are quests, the first with a Spanish conquistador searching for El Dorado, a mythical city of gold, and the second with a half-cracked failed businessman (formerly failed to bring ice and a railroad to the Amazon) who intends to build an opera house in Iquitos and bring Caruso there to sing but winds up pulling a steamboat over a huge hill between two rivers and calling it a success. Herzog's films are from 1972 and 1982, so the first was probably shot right around the same time the McKenna brothers were in the jungle tripping their faces off, which is pretty much what happens in this after maybe 80 pages.
They wind-up eating a ton of mushrooms, taking ayahuasca with mushrooms on top, seeing UFOs, hearing the sound of the universe, experiencing the essentially fractal nature of time -- Dennis McKenna, the author's younger brother, believes he can make any phone ring in the world, even in the past, and therefore makes his recently deceased mother's phone ring twenty years earlier and talks to her, although she doesn't believe she's talking to him because he's only three years old and he's sitting quietly next to her. Dennis, generally, breaks on through to the other side, spouts wickedly inventive, scientifically tinged psychobabble as though he's discovered the fount of the bards of yore, and seems like he might have slipped over into something more like schizophrenia than psychedelic enlightenment. The italicized excerpts from Dennis' journals I found unreadable after a while, as was a lot of the second half of this -- like listening to someone tell you their dreams in a way that's sure that their dreams are not only real but also prophetic and of super-significance to the future of humanity.
Having learned in Tao's book that Terence died of a brain tumor, I couldn't help thinking that some of the voices in his head weren't the mushroom talking to him but more so sadly derived from early-stage cancer. This can also be read as the brothers' weird way of mourning their mother's death -- and it's momentarily affecting if considered in that light but also seems like a stretch. I can't say I read the last half of the book so carefully, didn't read every word of this, skimmed pages of psychedelic psychobabble about UFOs etc, but again I loved the opening pages in which they set off to encounter the white whale of the mind -- essentially they're devoured by the mushrooms they eat and live inside the belly of the beast for a few weeks and inside it's all spectacular -- and after a while spectacularly boring -- psychedelic fireworks. After about 120 pages of this I looked forward to the enormous ARC and its promise of long passages of descriptions of child care, trying to write, and doing dishes in Scandinavia -- the quotidien wonders of old-fashioned non-lenticular reality never seemed more interesting to me, which seems to jibe just fine with the coming down after-effects of such experiences from what I can remember from long ago.
My initial instinct was to read this as fiction, a major, previously unknown addition to the Amazon canon, along with Cesar Aira's An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, Werner Herzog's Conquest of the Useless, the beautiful Ciro Guerra film Embrace of the Serpent, and Herzog's two great Amazon films, Aguirre: The Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, both of which are quests, the first with a Spanish conquistador searching for El Dorado, a mythical city of gold, and the second with a half-cracked failed businessman (formerly failed to bring ice and a railroad to the Amazon) who intends to build an opera house in Iquitos and bring Caruso there to sing but winds up pulling a steamboat over a huge hill between two rivers and calling it a success. Herzog's films are from 1972 and 1982, so the first was probably shot right around the same time the McKenna brothers were in the jungle tripping their faces off, which is pretty much what happens in this after maybe 80 pages.
They wind-up eating a ton of mushrooms, taking ayahuasca with mushrooms on top, seeing UFOs, hearing the sound of the universe, experiencing the essentially fractal nature of time -- Dennis McKenna, the author's younger brother, believes he can make any phone ring in the world, even in the past, and therefore makes his recently deceased mother's phone ring twenty years earlier and talks to her, although she doesn't believe she's talking to him because he's only three years old and he's sitting quietly next to her. Dennis, generally, breaks on through to the other side, spouts wickedly inventive, scientifically tinged psychobabble as though he's discovered the fount of the bards of yore, and seems like he might have slipped over into something more like schizophrenia than psychedelic enlightenment. The italicized excerpts from Dennis' journals I found unreadable after a while, as was a lot of the second half of this -- like listening to someone tell you their dreams in a way that's sure that their dreams are not only real but also prophetic and of super-significance to the future of humanity.
Having learned in Tao's book that Terence died of a brain tumor, I couldn't help thinking that some of the voices in his head weren't the mushroom talking to him but more so sadly derived from early-stage cancer. This can also be read as the brothers' weird way of mourning their mother's death -- and it's momentarily affecting if considered in that light but also seems like a stretch. I can't say I read the last half of the book so carefully, didn't read every word of this, skimmed pages of psychedelic psychobabble about UFOs etc, but again I loved the opening pages in which they set off to encounter the white whale of the mind -- essentially they're devoured by the mushrooms they eat and live inside the belly of the beast for a few weeks and inside it's all spectacular -- and after a while spectacularly boring -- psychedelic fireworks. After about 120 pages of this I looked forward to the enormous ARC and its promise of long passages of descriptions of child care, trying to write, and doing dishes in Scandinavia -- the quotidien wonders of old-fashioned non-lenticular reality never seemed more interesting to me, which seems to jibe just fine with the coming down after-effects of such experiences from what I can remember from long ago.
August 18, 2010
Terence McKenna is an odd duck. He's one of the most wonderfully verbose non-fiction writers I've ever read. His ramblings are a strange and beautiful combination of extraordinary scientific and metaphysical esoterica with rich and compelling metaphors and genuine, unadorned soul-baring. True Hallucinations was highly entertaining and thought provoking, despite its weak and ambiguous final few chapters.
True Hallucinations is the surreal account of the bizarre adventures of Terence McKenna, his brother Dennis, and a small band of their friends, on a journey to the Amazon basin to search for a mythical hallucinogenic substance. They don't find it, but they do find an abundance of magic mushrooms that provide the inspiration for an ambitious experiment in the evolution of human consciousness. It's a bizarre and hilarious tale.
True Hallucinations is the surreal account of the bizarre adventures of Terence McKenna, his brother Dennis, and a small band of their friends, on a journey to the Amazon basin to search for a mythical hallucinogenic substance. They don't find it, but they do find an abundance of magic mushrooms that provide the inspiration for an ambitious experiment in the evolution of human consciousness. It's a bizarre and hilarious tale.
July 10, 2010
Well... the journey is interesting. But I'm going to go out there and say it: this guy is nuts. The ampersand is holy and there are UFOs and James Joyce was reincarnated in a chicken and you can see back in time if you think of his brother's name and say "please." He has these profound theories about the world, but it's after doing a crazy amount of mushrooms and hallucinogenic jungle drugs. What he really needed was a separate, sober party to say, 'Um, Terrence? That's not actually a UFO, that's the moon and your brother humming really loudly.' Interesting to leaf through if it was at your family's hunting lodge and there was only a 3 year old People magazine that you already read twice.
January 28, 2009
Besides being a brilliant orator, philosopher, mathematician, and social analyst, Terence shows he can write non-fiction in a manner that captures the reader's imagination and takes one on a journey to the edge of known civilization. I listened to the book on tape and Terence did the reading - which was excellent. I highly recommend people find as many Terence Mckenna audio files of his talks regarding society, time, hallucinogenics, and his intriguing theory derived from the I Ching. Also, he has an amazing lecture on Joyce's Finnegans Wake. If it weren't for Terence, that book would have surely alluded me. Find me if you want audio files.
March 2, 2017
This is about a journey the author took with his brother and some friends in South America in 1971, seeking hallucinogenic mushrooms as part of an experiment, I guess he thinks to find the answer to life, the universe, and everything? It was actually just a hippie steeped in superstition and hallucination, camping with some buddies and getting high. It talks about hyperspace, UFOs, some magical harmonic that is in tune with the universe, and astrology. He seems to think this counts as science.
Here's a random snippet, to show you what I mean:
"Things such as that the normally invisible syntactical web that holds both language and the world together can condense or change its ontological status and become visible. Indeed there seems to be a parallel mental dimension in which everything is made of the stuff of visible language, a kind of universe next door inhabited by elves that sing themselves into existence and invite those who encounter them to do the same."
Just in case you're distracted by all the sciency-sounding words like "syntactical" or "ontological," what he's basically saying is that there is a parallel universe where you can see words and magical beings create themselves by singing.
He doesn't think this is just his mind playing tricks on him, or a really cool drug trip. He thinks this is science. He believes his drugs are opening a portal for him to peak into the true nature of reality, and he's investigating it like an anthropologist. Words and elves are normally invisible, he claims. The drugs just make them visible.
People enjoy fantastical stories, so I guess a memoir about someone's hallucinations could be fun if done right. But it was dreadfully boring. It was mostly a recounting of hiking and camping in the woods, hunting for mushrooms. There was a lot of talk of his brother losing his mind. He doesn't have a good grasp on the difference between reality and hallucination, so it was really hard to tell which was which.
He seems to think the whole experience was extremely profound, something that beckons the coming of a new dawn for society. His brother seemed to be suffering from some sort of medical emergency on the trip, but was instead treated as if he was having a particularly profound awakening.
At the end, he really breaks out more pseudoscience. His science of choice is quantum physics, every psuedoscientist's favorite toy. He also includes his theory that hallucinogenic mushrooms were left by aliens as a means of communicating with humans. Once we get our act together and we all start getting high a lot, we will signal to the aliens that we are ready for contact.
Here's a random snippet, to show you what I mean:
"Things such as that the normally invisible syntactical web that holds both language and the world together can condense or change its ontological status and become visible. Indeed there seems to be a parallel mental dimension in which everything is made of the stuff of visible language, a kind of universe next door inhabited by elves that sing themselves into existence and invite those who encounter them to do the same."
Just in case you're distracted by all the sciency-sounding words like "syntactical" or "ontological," what he's basically saying is that there is a parallel universe where you can see words and magical beings create themselves by singing.
He doesn't think this is just his mind playing tricks on him, or a really cool drug trip. He thinks this is science. He believes his drugs are opening a portal for him to peak into the true nature of reality, and he's investigating it like an anthropologist. Words and elves are normally invisible, he claims. The drugs just make them visible.
People enjoy fantastical stories, so I guess a memoir about someone's hallucinations could be fun if done right. But it was dreadfully boring. It was mostly a recounting of hiking and camping in the woods, hunting for mushrooms. There was a lot of talk of his brother losing his mind. He doesn't have a good grasp on the difference between reality and hallucination, so it was really hard to tell which was which.
He seems to think the whole experience was extremely profound, something that beckons the coming of a new dawn for society. His brother seemed to be suffering from some sort of medical emergency on the trip, but was instead treated as if he was having a particularly profound awakening.
At the end, he really breaks out more pseudoscience. His science of choice is quantum physics, every psuedoscientist's favorite toy. He also includes his theory that hallucinogenic mushrooms were left by aliens as a means of communicating with humans. Once we get our act together and we all start getting high a lot, we will signal to the aliens that we are ready for contact.
September 8, 2012
I have to admit that I really enjoyed this book. Am I getting old and yearn for the carefree days of my youth when experimentation with mushrooms was exciting and new? Perhaps.
My impression is that McKenna was presenting his ideas as possibilities, not absolutes. Being able to translate what the author says into something that's agreeable with your own sensibilities is necessary if you are to get the most from True Hallucinations. If you expect McKenna to speak directly to you in a manner that will not require any effort deconstructing his message, you probably won't enjoy this book. Keep an open mind, take your time, and think about what McKenna is trying to say, not how he says it, and I think you'll enjoy this romp through the realm of possibilities.
My impression is that McKenna was presenting his ideas as possibilities, not absolutes. Being able to translate what the author says into something that's agreeable with your own sensibilities is necessary if you are to get the most from True Hallucinations. If you expect McKenna to speak directly to you in a manner that will not require any effort deconstructing his message, you probably won't enjoy this book. Keep an open mind, take your time, and think about what McKenna is trying to say, not how he says it, and I think you'll enjoy this romp through the realm of possibilities.
January 3, 2013
This is, more than anything, an autobiographical account focusing on the genesis and development of the author's ideas regarding time.
I've long liked McKenna, primarily as an inspired speaker, recordings of him being a delight to listen to. Also, as someone more experienced with altered states induced by psychtropics, I must needs respect his opinions. One opinion in particular, however, has perplexed me since first encountering it, viz. the 'time-wave zero' business and the weight he put on the recently passed 12.22.12. This book, while hardly convincing, shed a great deal of light on this obscurity.
The genesis of McKenna's temporal theory was hardly impressive: a host of drug-induced revelations garnered from mushrooms while in the Amazon area in the early seventies. Starting idiosyncratically from the death of his mother, and working from a Jungian perspective played off against the I Ching, McKenna developed a notion of time as being being, as he puts it, "a thing rather than a place"--and this in explicit comparison to Einstein's relativity theory as regards space. In other words, time is not isometric, but varies in character in a mapable way.
McKenna, as I noted, began his map with his mother's death--hardly an auspicious beginning, given the fact that such an event is of no special, objective importance. Still, as he admits, that was only the start of his thinking on the matter, a start which may be taken to be divorced from the full-fledged theory arrived at only after years of consideration.
The full theory suggests a wave model mapped against points of what McKenna usually calls "novelty" but which sometimes seems to play up against those meaningful coincidences which C.G. Jung termed "synchronic". So doing, McKenna observed what may be described as a tightening spiral leading up to--if not ending at--the 2012 date correspondent to the end date of one of the Mayan calendars.
But, beyond the coincidences in one's own life, beyond one's own feelings about events, one wonders what might determine objective novelty or synchronicity. Here, the strongest points adduced by McKenna are also the temporally vaguest, viz. the emergence of life and the emergence of consciousness. Beyond this the novelties most often mentioned by him in his many lectures on this matter seem to be primarily technological. Here, indeed, there seems to be a accelerating cascade of innovation for some human populations, but I fail to see why to preference this over other aguable novelties such as population expansion/concentration or climactic records.
Fortunately this book offers much more than an elaboration of one path of drug-inspired thinking. It offers glimpses of many such paths, told well and very entertainingly.
I've long liked McKenna, primarily as an inspired speaker, recordings of him being a delight to listen to. Also, as someone more experienced with altered states induced by psychtropics, I must needs respect his opinions. One opinion in particular, however, has perplexed me since first encountering it, viz. the 'time-wave zero' business and the weight he put on the recently passed 12.22.12. This book, while hardly convincing, shed a great deal of light on this obscurity.
The genesis of McKenna's temporal theory was hardly impressive: a host of drug-induced revelations garnered from mushrooms while in the Amazon area in the early seventies. Starting idiosyncratically from the death of his mother, and working from a Jungian perspective played off against the I Ching, McKenna developed a notion of time as being being, as he puts it, "a thing rather than a place"--and this in explicit comparison to Einstein's relativity theory as regards space. In other words, time is not isometric, but varies in character in a mapable way.
McKenna, as I noted, began his map with his mother's death--hardly an auspicious beginning, given the fact that such an event is of no special, objective importance. Still, as he admits, that was only the start of his thinking on the matter, a start which may be taken to be divorced from the full-fledged theory arrived at only after years of consideration.
The full theory suggests a wave model mapped against points of what McKenna usually calls "novelty" but which sometimes seems to play up against those meaningful coincidences which C.G. Jung termed "synchronic". So doing, McKenna observed what may be described as a tightening spiral leading up to--if not ending at--the 2012 date correspondent to the end date of one of the Mayan calendars.
But, beyond the coincidences in one's own life, beyond one's own feelings about events, one wonders what might determine objective novelty or synchronicity. Here, the strongest points adduced by McKenna are also the temporally vaguest, viz. the emergence of life and the emergence of consciousness. Beyond this the novelties most often mentioned by him in his many lectures on this matter seem to be primarily technological. Here, indeed, there seems to be a accelerating cascade of innovation for some human populations, but I fail to see why to preference this over other aguable novelties such as population expansion/concentration or climactic records.
Fortunately this book offers much more than an elaboration of one path of drug-inspired thinking. It offers glimpses of many such paths, told well and very entertainingly.
July 26, 2016
This is far-out, man. I was having multi-hued Castaneda flashbacks. Reading this account of the search for the ultimate mushroom trip—which would connect the author to ancient wisdom drawn from the planet’s roots and first brought to Earth by UFO (an oversimplification, of course)—is like watching ‘My Dinner with Andre’ and having only Andre talk. McKenna is an entertaining writer but I was often lost in the cosmic goo of his sentences. I had the same reaction to some of Robert Graves’ ‘The White Goddess’: I kept thinking, what is this guy on about? I admit the shortcoming is in me: I wanted to follow but often could not. Plus, whenever I read non-fiction I get antsy to get back to my first love, those deceitful parcels of authentic truth, novels.
April 24, 2019
I don't care if it is ultimately to me a bunch of over-educated hippies tripping and mythologizing near the Putumayo River in South America. I love hearing Mckenna courageously objectify the psychedelic experience into "vegetable TV" and intelligent mushrooms propagating themselves through the galaxy by opening doors to other dimensions to fortunate species as ourselves. Plus: bonus cameos from UFOs and absolute zero.
Thus audiobook includes songs and sounds from Nomad Band (probably a one-off project as individual musicians including Roy Tuckman are credited at the end), cheesy hallucinogenic sound effects, and a few guest voices.
Thus audiobook includes songs and sounds from Nomad Band (probably a one-off project as individual musicians including Roy Tuckman are credited at the end), cheesy hallucinogenic sound effects, and a few guest voices.
March 15, 2024
In Terence McKenna's seminal work, True Hallucinations, the reader is thrust into the heart of the Colombian Amazon alongside McKenna and his brother Dennis, embarking on an exhilarating voyage of psychedelic exploration. What begins as a quest for a mystical hallucinogen unfolds into a profound odyssey through the depths of consciousness and the mysteries of existence. At the core of this journey lies the Stropharia Cubensis, a potent psychedelic mushroom that serves as the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe's fourth dimension.
McKenna's narrative transcends the mere recounting of drug-induced visions; it serves as a gateway to a deeper understanding of reality itself. Through encounters with elf-like beings, holographic mirages, and futuristic technologies, McKenna challenges conventional notions of time and space, inviting readers to question the very fabric of existence. The Amazon morphs into a surreal landscape where the boundaries between inner and outer worlds blur, offering a canvas for McKenna to paint his vivid prose and beckoning readers to join him on a journey of self-discovery and transcendence.
Central to McKenna's exploration is his eclectic and idiosyncratic approach to spirituality, one that defies easy categorisation within conventional paradigms. His forays into consciousness expansion, shamanism, and the transcendental experiences facilitated by entheogens like psilocybin mushrooms reveal a profound engagement with spiritual themes. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources including Jungian psychology, Eastern mysticism, quantum physics, and the enigmatic depths of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, McKenna traverses the realms of spirituality with an insatiable curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.
In a world where the boundaries between truth and illusion are increasingly blurred, McKenna's insights serve as a beacon of light, guiding readers towards a deeper understanding of themselves and the universe. Through True Hallucinations, McKenna invites us to reconsider our perceptions of reality and embrace the infinite possibilities of the human mind.
McKenna's narrative transcends the mere recounting of drug-induced visions; it serves as a gateway to a deeper understanding of reality itself. Through encounters with elf-like beings, holographic mirages, and futuristic technologies, McKenna challenges conventional notions of time and space, inviting readers to question the very fabric of existence. The Amazon morphs into a surreal landscape where the boundaries between inner and outer worlds blur, offering a canvas for McKenna to paint his vivid prose and beckoning readers to join him on a journey of self-discovery and transcendence.
Central to McKenna's exploration is his eclectic and idiosyncratic approach to spirituality, one that defies easy categorisation within conventional paradigms. His forays into consciousness expansion, shamanism, and the transcendental experiences facilitated by entheogens like psilocybin mushrooms reveal a profound engagement with spiritual themes. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources including Jungian psychology, Eastern mysticism, quantum physics, and the enigmatic depths of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, McKenna traverses the realms of spirituality with an insatiable curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.
In a world where the boundaries between truth and illusion are increasingly blurred, McKenna's insights serve as a beacon of light, guiding readers towards a deeper understanding of themselves and the universe. Through True Hallucinations, McKenna invites us to reconsider our perceptions of reality and embrace the infinite possibilities of the human mind.
January 24, 2018
I enjoy reading about other people's drug experience and theories, but this book felt like just too much. It started with some history about Terrence, his brother and the rest of the group. Their plan for the big Amazonian adventure and upcoming "scientifical breakthrough" ... which didn't come. Most of it was just rambling about pseudoscience and them tripping their balls off. I felt like the author himself got lost and too deep in his thoughts and imaginaries which he tried to present as "the truth". Three people of five, from their group, didn't believe / see what he and his brother did. Plus his brother got depersonalised and schizophrenic for around 20 days. I tried to force myself to finish the book but I just couldn't. I'm sure it'll find its readers, but I definitely don't belong into this category, even though I like his newer work in form of lectures, which was the first reason for me to grab the book.
September 27, 2025
As much as I love me the dude McKenna, reading his stuff is sometimes a bit of a chore. It's a case of you had to be there I think.
The details of the brothers McKenna South America trip (word used in every sense of the term!) is ok but a little repetitive at times and can be heavy on the crazy science. There are some golden nuggets dotted between but overall the reading of this became a bit of a slog.
Love how the suggested reading list at the end is pretty much McKenna, Dennis, McKenna, Dennis over and over again! 😂😂
The details of the brothers McKenna South America trip (word used in every sense of the term!) is ok but a little repetitive at times and can be heavy on the crazy science. There are some golden nuggets dotted between but overall the reading of this became a bit of a slog.
Love how the suggested reading list at the end is pretty much McKenna, Dennis, McKenna, Dennis over and over again! 😂😂
September 10, 2017
I appreciate his storytelling and experiences as such but there is a lot of woo, pseudoscience, and plain nonsense within this book which was unnecessary.
March 14, 2026
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."
Ta on väga nunnu oma toretseval skiso viisil. Samas kõik kes tahavad öelda midagi metafüüsilise maailma kohta, mis pole silmale nähtav ja käele katsutav kõlavad paratamatult veits nii. Kui aplju tema timewavei teoorias peidus on ma ei tea. Aga see oli vähemalt meelt lahutav lugemine.
"The mushroom, with its habit of living off nonliving organic matter and its cobweb-fragile underground network of ephemeral mycelium, seems an organism designed with Buddhist values of noninterference and low environmental impact in mind.
"We are asked by science to believe that the entire universe sprang from nothingness, at a single point and for no discernible reason. This notion is the limit case for credulity. In other words, if you can believe this, you can believe anything. It is a notion that is, in fact, utterly absurd, yet terribly important to all the rational assumptions that science wishes to preserve. Those so-called rational assumptions flow from this initial impossible situation. Western religion has its own singularity in the form of the apocalypse, an event placed not at the beginning of the universe but at its end.
"I have come to believe that under certain conditions the manipulative power of consciousness moves beyond the body and into the world. The world then obeys the will of consciousness to the degree that the inertia of pre-existing physical laws can be overcome. This inertia is overcome by consciousness determining the outcome of the normally random, micro-physical events. Over time the deflection of micro-events from randomness is cumulative so that eventually the effects of such deflections is to shift the course of events in larger physical systems as well. Apparently, when want-ing wishes to come true, patience is everything. Is this just a fantasy, a grown man trying to explain to himself how wishes can come true? I don't think so.
Ta on väga nunnu oma toretseval skiso viisil. Samas kõik kes tahavad öelda midagi metafüüsilise maailma kohta, mis pole silmale nähtav ja käele katsutav kõlavad paratamatult veits nii. Kui aplju tema timewavei teoorias peidus on ma ei tea. Aga see oli vähemalt meelt lahutav lugemine.
"The mushroom, with its habit of living off nonliving organic matter and its cobweb-fragile underground network of ephemeral mycelium, seems an organism designed with Buddhist values of noninterference and low environmental impact in mind.
"We are asked by science to believe that the entire universe sprang from nothingness, at a single point and for no discernible reason. This notion is the limit case for credulity. In other words, if you can believe this, you can believe anything. It is a notion that is, in fact, utterly absurd, yet terribly important to all the rational assumptions that science wishes to preserve. Those so-called rational assumptions flow from this initial impossible situation. Western religion has its own singularity in the form of the apocalypse, an event placed not at the beginning of the universe but at its end.
"I have come to believe that under certain conditions the manipulative power of consciousness moves beyond the body and into the world. The world then obeys the will of consciousness to the degree that the inertia of pre-existing physical laws can be overcome. This inertia is overcome by consciousness determining the outcome of the normally random, micro-physical events. Over time the deflection of micro-events from randomness is cumulative so that eventually the effects of such deflections is to shift the course of events in larger physical systems as well. Apparently, when want-ing wishes to come true, patience is everything. Is this just a fantasy, a grown man trying to explain to himself how wishes can come true? I don't think so.
January 21, 2026
As McKenna says so himself “I am in the absurd position of being an unsung Newton or completely nuts”. How far are you willing to stretch your imagination? You can never underestimate the power of psilocybin.
One must imagine what one can imagine 💭
Thank you for the beautiful trip 🍄🟫🌞❤️
One must imagine what one can imagine 💭
Thank you for the beautiful trip 🍄🟫🌞❤️
October 17, 2019
In this book McKenna explores his adventures in the Colombian Amazon mostly focusing on his experimentation with hallucinogenic mushrooms. Mckenna is joined by others including his brother Dennis on this somewhat scientific expedition. Most of the book revolves around the mushroom experiments. The group ups their doses to the point where the McKenna brothers allegedly experience telepathy, see trans-dimensional elves and witness a UFO in broad daylight. This is all according to Terence as Dennis can not remember most of the events. Dennis loses his mind during the later experiments essentially ending the expedition. He later makes a full recovery.
I found the book fascinating, the stories are strange and funny at times. I wish McKenna would have written more about the Amazon jungle and edited out as much of fifty pages of rambling. McKenna was a talented writer in need of a good editor. The rambling took away from this strange tale at times.
I found the book fascinating, the stories are strange and funny at times. I wish McKenna would have written more about the Amazon jungle and edited out as much of fifty pages of rambling. McKenna was a talented writer in need of a good editor. The rambling took away from this strange tale at times.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2016
Meget snodig bok fra Terrence McKenna. Etter å ha lest denne forstår man faktisk at McKenna har blitt mer konservativ med årene, utrolig nok. Men fascinerende som alltid å høre han legge ut om sine ville opplevelser og teorier – en psykedelisk reise i seg selv. Anbefaler denne på lydbok, hvor det er lagt inn mye merkelig musikk, effekter og mellomspor, som får deg til å klø deg litt i hodet.
January 14, 2023
Interessante, prezioso per gli psiconauti, ma è praticamente impossibile capire e seguire (per chi non ha mai provato allucinogeni) i discorsi intricati e non scientificamente provati dei fratelli McKenna.
April 24, 2008
A classic of psychedelic drug literature. More later
November 17, 2020
A beautiful, wild tale. No one thinks or writes like McKenna, and I doubt anyone else ever will in his specific way. As he puts it, this is a ripping good story.
May 1, 2023
Whether or not you put much stock in the conclusions Terrence McKenna reached as a result of his journey into the Amazon basin and associated experimentation with psilocybin mushrooms and DMT, his account of the experience is utterly compelling, authentic and wonderfully written. I was pleasantly surprised by how thoughtfully provocative McKenna’s arguments turned out to be; it’s an extraordinary proposition in every sense. There seems to be an incredibly thin line between genius and delusional mania, and I’m still not sure where I’d place the author after reading, but I sure enjoyed the speculation.
November 8, 2022
Terence McKenna is a verbose guy with a creative mind capable of unique and abstract thought. His book has showed me a new way of perceiving the universe and is a good place to start if you are comfortable with scientific theories and interested in shamanic/spiritual purpose and reasoning. Some may say he is crazy but I think he is not afraid to venture and discuss things that seem rather rash and out right ridiculous, like the chemical, physical and spiritual potential of psilocybin which is not a ridiculous topic but a necessary one. The book is well written with a weak plot and time line but Terence's ramblings make up for it. There is some down time in the book where nothing much happens but it is still nice to read because of the description and connection you build with Terence. Overall a great book that everyone should have a Crack at. 4.5 stars but could be a 5 and I will rate it so on the star things cause why the hell not.
July 29, 2024
"That's how it is with the cosmic giggle."
April 26, 2025
the self-narrated audiobook is so good. Terrence is an incredible storyteller and the little tunes and sound effects are very charming. the second half does get a little nutty but it’s cool…
July 29, 2021
Terence McKenna... Terence is a lot of things, in many different circles, but one thing is irrefutable: the man is a wonderful writer. He captures the mystical and the metaphysical strangeness of this hyper-spatial vehicle we call consciousness better than most; perhaps better than any. And he has that quality present in some writers where he always, at all times, seems to say exactly what he means to.
True Hallucinations differs from Food of the Gods in that this one is a bit more fun to read. If that one was more psychedelic manifesto, this one is more psychedelic travelogue. McKenna's voice and power of descriptions is such that one feels themselves pulled, viscerally, along in this journey with him. And it's a grueling journey, in some ways. Terence's penchant for travel and the freedom with which he employed it were sort of remarkable, but roughing it in the jungle is no walk in the park. It was as much sweating, walking, and waiting, as it was insect-collecting and swimming in paradisal lakes. The image of Terence McKenna wandering the Amazonian jungles armed only with a butterfly net is vastly appealing, but that's the beginning. And so you accompany him on the second half of this journey...
The experiment at La Chorrera was a journey both physical and mental for Terence, brother Dennis, and their companions. It encompassed the melding of spirit and of mind, of substance and science. It was the delving into a realm alchemical, even science-fictional, and it was intoxicating; even if it was sometimes unbelievable. I can't help but be skeptical about certain conclusions drawn in these types of hallucinogenic "experiments" (and additionally Terence's time-wave theory has been largely disproven, in so much as it can be disproven), but one thing is certain; reading about them from the perspective of someone with the knowledge and conviction of Terence does remind me to keep my mind open, and to entertain the possibilities. An unknown is not a falsity after all, but a potential truth. And for as out there as some of Terence's assertions and convictions are—and they are—he is someone who asks the right questions. He didn't embark on drug-fueled jaunts for reasons of triviality, he was looking for something. So yes, when things get a little too far out there I do question the "reality" of such experiences. But I do not question them to the extent that I do not see their value or effect, or their unique ability to teach us things about ourselves or our reality.
And it's a simple fact that—at least for me—drug experiences are just fun to read about. Whether fictional or otherwise, they seem to tap into something deeply relatable, I find. Perhaps even for those who have never partaken. And when it comes to describing a brush with the cosmic giggle, Terence is beyond compare.
Whatever it says about me personally, I do not know, but if nothing else Terence's writing and his studies remind me to keep my imagination running. The boy who dreamed of alien planets and who was lost in cosmic scale; that boy is me. It's simply more fun to suspend your disbelief sometimes.
So, here's the thing. You don't have to go hunting through the Columbian Amazon to find mushrooms. You don't have to achieve the proper harmonic resonance to encode your DNA with psilocybin. You don't have to commune with Mantis-pirates in a ship made of light. You don't have to commune telepathically while your brother completely loses his wig for two weeks. You don't have to condense the spirit into translinquistic matter. You don't have to contact the Strophariad across dimensions to acquire the key to the philosopher's stone. You don't have to do any of that, because Terence already did. Check it out.
We were operating in a world where scientific method, ritual, and participation mystique were inseparably intertwined. Our own minds and bodies were to be the retorts, the vessels, of the psycho-alchemical transformation that we were experimenting with.
True Hallucinations differs from Food of the Gods in that this one is a bit more fun to read. If that one was more psychedelic manifesto, this one is more psychedelic travelogue. McKenna's voice and power of descriptions is such that one feels themselves pulled, viscerally, along in this journey with him. And it's a grueling journey, in some ways. Terence's penchant for travel and the freedom with which he employed it were sort of remarkable, but roughing it in the jungle is no walk in the park. It was as much sweating, walking, and waiting, as it was insect-collecting and swimming in paradisal lakes. The image of Terence McKenna wandering the Amazonian jungles armed only with a butterfly net is vastly appealing, but that's the beginning. And so you accompany him on the second half of this journey...
The experiment at La Chorrera was a journey both physical and mental for Terence, brother Dennis, and their companions. It encompassed the melding of spirit and of mind, of substance and science. It was the delving into a realm alchemical, even science-fictional, and it was intoxicating; even if it was sometimes unbelievable. I can't help but be skeptical about certain conclusions drawn in these types of hallucinogenic "experiments" (and additionally Terence's time-wave theory has been largely disproven, in so much as it can be disproven), but one thing is certain; reading about them from the perspective of someone with the knowledge and conviction of Terence does remind me to keep my mind open, and to entertain the possibilities. An unknown is not a falsity after all, but a potential truth. And for as out there as some of Terence's assertions and convictions are—and they are—he is someone who asks the right questions. He didn't embark on drug-fueled jaunts for reasons of triviality, he was looking for something. So yes, when things get a little too far out there I do question the "reality" of such experiences. But I do not question them to the extent that I do not see their value or effect, or their unique ability to teach us things about ourselves or our reality.
And it's a simple fact that—at least for me—drug experiences are just fun to read about. Whether fictional or otherwise, they seem to tap into something deeply relatable, I find. Perhaps even for those who have never partaken. And when it comes to describing a brush with the cosmic giggle, Terence is beyond compare.
Whatever it says about me personally, I do not know, but if nothing else Terence's writing and his studies remind me to keep my imagination running. The boy who dreamed of alien planets and who was lost in cosmic scale; that boy is me. It's simply more fun to suspend your disbelief sometimes.
So, here's the thing. You don't have to go hunting through the Columbian Amazon to find mushrooms. You don't have to achieve the proper harmonic resonance to encode your DNA with psilocybin. You don't have to commune with Mantis-pirates in a ship made of light. You don't have to commune telepathically while your brother completely loses his wig for two weeks. You don't have to condense the spirit into translinquistic matter. You don't have to contact the Strophariad across dimensions to acquire the key to the philosopher's stone. You don't have to do any of that, because Terence already did. Check it out.
We were operating in a world where scientific method, ritual, and participation mystique were inseparably intertwined. Our own minds and bodies were to be the retorts, the vessels, of the psycho-alchemical transformation that we were experimenting with.
June 9, 2022
Not being into drugs and not taking any, it is still super interesting to read about other’s experience with psychedelics and the whole trop around it.
And what better than to start with the story of Terence McKenna, who’s devoted his life to experimenting and understanding the processes of drugs?
The book recalls his expedition to the Amazon Basin, to the little mission of La Chorrera in the Seventies. It’s funny to imagine their group of five friends wandering in the jungle, with no cellphones, no gps, no real idea of where they were going. Real adventurous trip back then. You understand they took risks trying what they were trying and mixing different drugs together, although they already knew much about it.
The fact that the psilocybin mushroom opens doors in your mind that would be unreachable sober doesn’t make any doubts. The interpretation of the visions is very subjective. But the ideas and theories it brought to Terence are fascinating.
Minus one star because some chapters were really intense, hard to read and hard to understand. Among which, the one where Dennis describes the experiment they’re about to do.
Overall a good book for all of us freaks who believe in miracles and the higher power of the universe. Makes your imagination go free. Loved it.
And what better than to start with the story of Terence McKenna, who’s devoted his life to experimenting and understanding the processes of drugs?
The book recalls his expedition to the Amazon Basin, to the little mission of La Chorrera in the Seventies. It’s funny to imagine their group of five friends wandering in the jungle, with no cellphones, no gps, no real idea of where they were going. Real adventurous trip back then. You understand they took risks trying what they were trying and mixing different drugs together, although they already knew much about it.
The fact that the psilocybin mushroom opens doors in your mind that would be unreachable sober doesn’t make any doubts. The interpretation of the visions is very subjective. But the ideas and theories it brought to Terence are fascinating.
Minus one star because some chapters were really intense, hard to read and hard to understand. Among which, the one where Dennis describes the experiment they’re about to do.
Overall a good book for all of us freaks who believe in miracles and the higher power of the universe. Makes your imagination go free. Loved it.
Read
April 22, 2026I’d like to imagine McKenna as a human-corgi hybrid person and that makes his theories, and by extension this book, a hell of a good time.
#bedroomshelf
#bedroomshelf
October 18, 2023
This book is an absolute trip. Terrence could be one of the best fiction writers, but this is his real experiences embellished by his psychedelic adventures with sometimes no connection back to reality but that makes it all the more fun to read. Terrence’s accounts are bonkers, UFOs and machine elves from hyperspace, this book is a fascinating travel journal viewed through the prism of the psychedelic experience. I love how he was subject to no authority. Truly entertaining read. Terrence was a true word artist and this book is just fun.
September 17, 2014
I recently read Food of the Gods and was intrigued by the plausibility of McKenna's claims. True Hallucinations, not so much.
The trip report stuff was interesting, but it too often delved into explanations of hyper carbolation, UFOs, the alchemy stone, and making all sorts of pseudo scientific claims based off of nothing but their experiences tripping balls on mushrooms. There was so much BS that it was difficult to finish this book.
The trip report stuff was interesting, but it too often delved into explanations of hyper carbolation, UFOs, the alchemy stone, and making all sorts of pseudo scientific claims based off of nothing but their experiences tripping balls on mushrooms. There was so much BS that it was difficult to finish this book.
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