He began his academic journey in art history at the University of California, Berkeley. He later read two psychedelic-inspired books by Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell - which steered the direction of his academic study.

He first became interested in psychedelics at the age of 14 after reading an essay in LIFE magazine titled Seeking the Magic Mushroom by R. He also developed a deep interest in consciousness after reading Carl Jung’s book - Psychology & Alchemy. He was passionate about science and psychology at a very young age through his experiences hunting for fossils with an uncle. Terence McKenna grew up in Paonia, California. He and his brother, Dennis McKenna, are credited with the formation of the “the stoned ape theory.” Birth & Death He’s one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. McKenna was a big proponent of psychedelic substances, which were a vital source of inspiration for his philosophy on life, his writing, and his work on the origins of human consciousness. He spent most of his time traveling to exotic regions of the world to study the use of entheogenic plants and fungi, writing books, and giving lectures. Professionally, McKenna was an ethnobotanist and ecologist. Terence McKenna (1946-2000) was once called “the Timothy Leary of the 90s” by Timothy Leary himself.

Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna