Food of the Gods, Terence McKenna. First Edition.

“You are an explorer, and you represent our species, and the greatest good you can do is to bring back a new idea, because our world is endangered by the absence of good ideas. Our world is in crisis because of the absence of consciousness.”
~Terence McKenna

Terence McKenna (1946-2000) was an interesting dude. He was a writer, ethnobotanist, psychonaut, religious mystic and a proponent for the use of psychedelic plants. He traveled extensively throughout Asia and the western tropics, specializing in shamanism and ethnomedicine and became a leading voice in the psychedelic movement. He spoke and wrote about an incredible array of topics, including philosophy, technology, religion, shamanism, botanicals and consciousness. I definitely recommend looking into his thought, as it's a wild ride and a fun trip.

Food of the Gods was McKenna's fourth book, published in 1992. The book explores the human species' symbiotic relationship with plants and certain chemicals, and that modern society needs to bring the discussion of addictive (and non-addictive substances) back into broader discussion. The most fascinating part of the book is McKenna's argument that psilocybin (magic mushrooms) were responsible for the transformation of Homo erectus into Homo sapiens. And it actually makes quite a bit of sense. He claims that psilocybin in the hominid diet would have led to enhanced eyesight, sexual enjoyment, and language ability and would have thereby placed the mushroom-eaters in the front lines of genetic evolution, eventually leading to hallucinogen-ingesting shamanistic societies, the ancient Minoan culture, and some Amazonian tribes today. McKenna also asserts that the same drugs are now outlawed in the US because of their corrosive effect on our male-dominated, antispiritual society. Fascinating stuff. This is the first printing:

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