DENNIS MCKENNA

The Plants Are Running The Show

My guest today is Dennis McKenna, American ethnopharmacologist, lecturer and author.

Dennis is a founding member and director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit investigating the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines. He’s a sought-after lecturer and speaker, and has written several books including an autobiography, The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss, in which he shares the story of his relationship with his older brother, Terence McKenna (ethnobotanist, poet and mystic). Dennis is the founder of the newly created  McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy, something about which he’s very excited! These are not questions he typically gets asked about his childhood and peak life experiences and our chat is lively, serious and in places outrageous. We’ll discuss:

* his earliest aspirations and the pivotal figures in his childhood
* the McKenna Brothers’ impactful journey to find the secret at La Chorrera
* his insights into plant wisdom and thoughts on humanity’s future
* his founding of a 21st century mystery school echoing Eleusis
and much more…

SHOW LINKS

McKenna Academy of Natural Philosophy
Heffter Research Institute

BOOKS
The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss (Dennis McKenna)
Psilocybin Magic Mushrooms Grower’s Guide (Terence McKenna)
True Hallucinations (Terence McKenna)
Nursing Mothers Herbal (Sheila Humphrey)

REFERENCES

• George Gamow, cosmologist
• Fate (magazine)
• Breaking Convention (2017) –The “Experiment” at La Chorrera: Psychosis, Shamanic Initiation or Alien Encounter?