Terence Mckenna, Neo-Shaman

By Aaron Schafer

Terence McKenna was a student of shamanism and consequently played a shamanic role in his use of trance states to procure knowledge that he spread to others. McKenna’s dedication to shamanism is evident in his books and speeches although some of his views go beyond certain widely held themes in academic literature on the topic. McKenna’s empiricist approach to knowledge acquisition is reflected in this literature and its theoretical content challenges the very foundations of contemporary western society. He documented a number of instances in which he consumed “Psychedelic plants”, as a shamanic tool and brought back knowledge that he believed was otherworldly as opposed to literature which suggests that such knowledge is most likely culturally learned. He played the role of teacher in his theories about human evolution and the plight of western civilization which is further evidence that he was a shamanic guide in a wider social sense.

Shamanism is a spirituality that stems from the experience of altered states of consciousness instead of the deductive reasoning of religious dogma. In this sense, shamanism is in opposition to western spirituality in which beliefs precede religious experiences whereas those in trance states develop religiousness from the experiences themselves (Wooten 2007). McKenna stated that breaking down this learned religious culture and other such boundaries is an affect of the psychedelic plants that he used to achieve altered states. These boundaries are said to be undesirable qualities and it is McKenna’s belief that it is the shamans, (and notably his own) role to show people that they can be overcome in order to save the world. According to McKenna, a shaman is one who has traversed this limitless landscape and therefore who understands the way the world works (Mckenna 1993).

McKenna’s views on shamanism mirror that of academic research in some respects but in other instances he seeks to move beyond this generic structure. McKenna believes that psychoactive compounds unlock a state of being that is beyond the confines of mind/body and other such restrictive dualisms within physical reality. He experimented with LSD, Psylocibin Mushrooms, DMT and Ayauasca with the conscious intent to replicate shamanistic methods of knowledge acquisition (Mckenna 1999). His preferred method of altered state inducement was these tryptamines because of the intensity of hallucination they induced. Academic literature confirms the use of such altered states as a valid method to make contact with a spirit world and that this non-ordinary, non-dual reality contains information about the universe (Noll 1985).

McKenna differs from certain academic literature in his belief that shamans are not merely experiencing and reciting reflections of learned cultural knowledge. Instead, they are tapping into a source of wisdom that is beyond that of ordinary reality by experiencing aspects of the universe that are deeper and more profound than the understandings of humans that are limited by physically perceivable reality. This is in opposition to the idea that shamanic visionary insights are merely a repetition of wisdom that has been passed down through generations by the cultural group and is experienced emphatically in trance states that are simply a subconscious affirmation of externally learned ideas (Noll 1985). Mckenna, and the shamanic cultures he replicates, believe that they are traversing other planes of existence and although they deny that their journeys are subjective they affirm that the knowledge they bring back can be applied and communicated to their cultural group.

Luke supports McKenna’s suggestion that trance states can reveal experiences that do not have obvious cultural links for the individual. In a study of mystical experiences in trance states it was reported that a variety of visions containing seemingly random creatures and objects similar in their peculiarity to those described by McKenna were experienced. These creatures could not be attributed to any obvious cultural link for the people involved much like the machine elves reported by Mckenna. These random beings acted as guides and purveyors of knowledge and were separate from any traceable cultural source (Luke 2006).

Mckenna played the role of a teacher in the books he wrote about these experiences in which he vividly described the visions themselves. Academic literature does not frequently portray descriptively the occurrences in trance states. Most evidence is purely anecdotal as is the case with Mckenna’s descriptions which he himself readily admitted were inadmissible scientifically. He proclaimed that his field of research was beyond the ability of science to record at any length. He also developed unique theories about the plight of western civilisation including an apex of evolution which he believed would occur in the year 2012.

One of the primary roles of the shaman is to develop a relationship with people by bringing back information from this other world to share with them (Wooten 2007). McKenna did so within his theories and his warnings as to the plight of western civilisation. In a shamanic sense McKenna’s spiritual students were members of western culture that sympathised with his rejection of its methodology. Some of the issues that McKenna mentioned frequently in his teachings include; The need to move beyond an unchallenged dominant culture that has reigned supreme for thousands of years; The suppression of the ego to defeat the proliferation of the dominators and materialists within modern culture; A renewed focus on immediate experience as opposed to living in the glories of the past or desires of the future, and, the importance of the self in its ability to achieve states of consciousness that he considers to be more profound and significant than exploring the outer regions of physical space. There is also a denial that science should be the only approved method of obtaining valid knowledge (Mckenna 1992, 1993, 1999). Science may be just another culturally specific phenomenon that is superseded in the near future. Such social commentary is a common element within neo-shamanism according to a study of experienced neo-shamans (Burkett 2005). To travel to another dimension and return with an ominous warning and proposed methods of action is central to shamanic practise and widely evident in McKenna’s writings and experiences.

Mckenna’s life work was essentially to present an antithesis to the popularised reality construct associated with western society. He did so by connecting with the reality construct of shamanistic cultures that taught him practical methods for obtaining knowledge through trance states. He played the role of a pioneer by seeking methods of interpreting reality that are beyond the scope of science. Mckenna employed a method that was used in the past in a smaller cultural or tribal setting and applied it in a wider social sense. This correlates with the idea that the shamans visions are applicable to a cultural context with appropriate spirits and knowledge being relayed back to the people. Mckenna’s cultural context or tribe was contemporary western society and the knowledge he brought back and conveyed contained information that was relevant to this wider social group. This may also suggest that the kind of knowledge obtainable in forays to the spirit world is universally true, a kind of over-arching wisdom. It has been applied in unrelated nomadic cultures across the world for thousands of years and can also be applied to the complexities of a massive global society which is reflected in the comparative complexity of the knowledge put forward by Mckenna.

References
Burkett, T. (2005). “A Psychological Inquiry into Neoshamanic Practise”, Revision, vol. 27 no. 3. pp. 3-7.
Goulet, J. & Young, D. (1994) “Theoretical and Methodological issues”, pp. 298-335.
Luke, D & Kittenis, M. (2006). “A Preliminary Survey of Paranormal Experiences with Psychoactive Drugs”, The Journal of Parapsychology, pp. 305-327.
Mckenna, T. (1999). “Food of the Gods”, Bantam New Age Books.
Mckenna, T. (1993). “The Invisible Landscape”, Harper Collins, New York.
Mckenna, T. (1992). “Tryptamine Hallucinogens and Consciousness”, Harper Collins, San Francisco.
Noll, R. (1985) “Mental Imagery Cultivation as a Cultural Phenomenon: The Role of Visions in Shamanism”, Current Anthropology, vol 26. No. 4. pp. 443-461.
Wooten, R. (2007). “The Shamanic Journey: Tapping the Spiritual Wisdom Within”, Journal of Heart-Centred Therapies, vol. 10. no. 1. pp. 3-8.
Winkelman, M. (1997) “Altered States of Consciousness and Religious Behaviour”, Anthropology of Religion, ch. 15. pp. 394-428.