The brotherhood of the screaming abyss : my life with Terence McKenna / Dennis McKenna.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKenna, Dennis, 1950- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

McKenna, Terence K., 1946-2000.

McKenna, Terence K.

Ethnopharmacology.

Hallucinogenic plants.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (434 pages)

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Santa Fe, New Mexico : Synergetic Press, [2023]

Summary:

Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna, is an autobiographical account of renowned ethnobotanist Dennis McKenna's childhood, his relationship with his brother, and the author's experiences with and reflections on psychedelics, philosophy, and scientific innovation. Chronicling the McKenna brothers' childhood in western Colorado during the 1950s and 1960s, Dennis writes of his adolescent adventures including his first encounters with alcohol and drugs (many of which were facilitated by Terence), and the people and ideas that shaped them both. Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss weaves personal narrative through philosophical ideas and tales of psychedelic experimentation. In this book, Dennis describes these inquiries with the wisdom of perspective. In his account of what has become known as "The Experiment at La Chorrera"-- which Terence documented in his own 1989 book, True Hallucinations -- Dennis describes how he had visions of merging mushroom and human DNA, the brothers' predictions for the future, and their evolving ideas about society and consciousness. He also offers an intellectual understanding of the hallucinogenic effects of high-dose psychedelic mushrooms and other psychedelic substances. Dennis, now world-renowned for this ethnobotanical work, describes in Brotherhood his early interests in cosmology and astrology, his sometimes rocky relationship with his older brother and how their paths diverged later in their lives. Dennis describes his academic career in between touching accounts of both his mother's and Terence's battles with cancer. In the 10th Anniversary edition of Brotherhood, Dennis reflects on scientific revelations, climate change, and the social and political crises of our time. The new edition also features both the original foreword by Luis Eduardo Luna and a new foreword by Dr. Bruce Damer.Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss is a story about brotherhood, psychedelic experimentation, and the intertwining nature of science and myth.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Foreword by Bruce Damer

Foreword to the First Edition by Luis Eduardo Luna

Preface

Preface to the First Edition

Part One: Beginnings

1. Beginnings

2. Three Sisters

3. Roots and Wars

4. Terry and Denny

5. Happy Day Rides

6. The Nobody People

7. The Collector

8. Flying, Fishing, and Hunting

9. Goodbye to All That

10. The Big Picture

11. First Loves: 1962

12. The California Crusade

13. The Experimental College: 1965

14. Cannabis: 1966

15. The Tutor

16. A Psychedelic Education

17. Mapping Inner Space: Carl Jung

18. The Ladders of Ecstasy: Mircea Eliade.

19. Summer of Love: 1967

20. The Secret Encountered

21. The Stoners' Revenge

22. My Datura Misadventure

23. Escape from Mordor: 1968

24. The Church Lawn Bunch

25. Busted Again: 1969

26. Girl with a Gun: 1970

Part Two: Into the Abyss

27. The Brotherhood Forms

28. Our Mother's Death

29. A Narrow Passage: 1971

30. On the Edge of the Abyss

31. The Experiment at La Chorrera

32. Waiting for the Stone

33. The Bell Tower and a UFO

34. Reflections on La Chorrera

Part Three: Invisible Landscapes

35. Invisible Landscapes

36. The Timewave

37. To See the Great Man

38. Fun with Fungi: 1975

39. A Lab in Paradise

40. In the Trenches

41. An Encounter with Ayahuasca

42. The River of Poisons

43. Adulthood and Its Victims

44. The Plant Teachers: 1985

45. The Perpetual Postdoc

46. Climbing the Vine: 1991

47. New in Town

48. The Bard in Light and Shadow

49. A Desperate Situation

50. Into the Fire

Epilogue

Afterword

Acknowledgments

Patrons

Bibliography

Appendix

About the Author.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: McKenna, Dennis Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss

ISBN:

1-957869-02-X