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Food of the Gods was an amazing read but IMHO the audio lectures of Terence McKenna completely changed the way I look at the world.

If you're curious about the ties between religion, shamanism and psychedelics theres a great book by Terrence McKenna on this subject called Food of the Gods: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553371304?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_...

I would suggest Food of the Gods by Terrence McKenna as it brings an interesting angle over religion related to our consciousness: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51660.Food_of_the_Gods

Terrence McKenna explores this hypothesis in his book 'Food of the Gods.' Part speculation, part historical account of the role of chemicals in human culture. Great read if you're interested in this kind of thing.

Recommended short story Food of the Gods -Arthur C. Clarke

https://books.google.com.au/books?id=hbAqAAAAQBAJ&lpg=PT75&o...

> or even legal

Food of the Gods, by Arthur C Clarke (1964)

https://write.as/r9ov30n76ib5u.md

"Food of the Gods" by Terrence McKenna was a revelation and led me to dive into his other books and lectures (and many topics spawned from it). Complete shift in baseline perception. Though not his quote, he said it frequently: "The truth is not only stranger than you suppose, it is stranger than you _can_ suppose."

I recommend “Food of the Gods” https://www.amazon.com/Food-Gods-Original-Knowledge-Evolutio...
to anyone that’s interested in what role magic mushrooms may have played in the evolution of humans. It also does an interesting job in talking about what drugs are legal and what drugs are illegal (and the somewhat arbitrary demarcation line between what’s socially acceptable (alcohol, caffeine, sugar, tobacco) and what is not and will put you behind bars).

Take it w/ a grain of salt but it’s definitely thought provoking.

Also keep in mind that it was written in 1993 but does a pretty good job of anticipating the legalization of marijuana and the eventual decriminalization of moslty all drugs on Schedule I that were put there without any kind of research or backing data (psilocybin, DMT and friends)

"Gaining acceptance into graduate school or medical school and achieving a PhD or MD and becoming a psychologist or psychiatrist means jumping through many hoops, all of which require much behavioral and attentional compliance to authorities, even to those authorities that one lacks respect for. The selection and socialization of mental health professionals tends to breed out many anti-authoritarians. Having steered the higher-education terrain for a decade of my life, I know that degrees and credentials are primarily badges of compliance. Those with extended schooling have lived for many years in a world where one routinely conforms to the demands of authorities. Thus for many MDs and PhDs, people different from them who reject this attentional and behavioral compliance appear to be from another world—a diagnosable one."

— http://www.madinamerica.com/2012/02/why-anti-authoritarians-...

There are too many everyday people armed with psychiatric terms.

Stop it. Many nootropic and psychotropic drugs induce many of those hallucinations. Accept it. And learn how to understand what your body is telling you, rather than treating it like it's some operating table experiment that you'd being graded to poke and prod. Your body is a diagnostician, albeit a cryptic one that has needs, demands and quirks of its own. Most of you simply do not know how to live in your skin because, for one, you were likely raised religious and you've learned how to spite your own "holy temple," not only with deeds but in your minds, your mental habits and cognitive hygiene.

Read a book, like Food of the Gods or something about the organic complexity and biodiversity of this world. Understand.

Stop fearing Nature, and understand how to become harmonious with it.

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test - Tom Wolfe
Food of the Gods - Terence McKenna

> In the case of, say, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” you sort of want Hunter S. Thompson to just keep doing drugs, if only so he’ll see more giant lizards.

In the very first paragraph, the author makes abundantly clear that he experienced a major whoosh while reading one of the greatest American novels and drug sagas of all time.

The "Fear and Loathing" books were only about giant lizards, Richard Nixon, or LSD on the thinnest of surfaces - the author needs to re-read.

> What most drug books don’t do is make the reader, upon closing the book, feel as though he or she really ought to think more seriously about experimenting with drugs.

Really? The Invisible Landscape? Food of the Gods? The Human Encounter With Death? The Doors of Perception? The Spirit Molecule? PIKAL: A Love Story?

What exactly is the author reading? Of all the classic "drug books," the only one I can think of that matches the author's description is Be Here Now, which the author does not mention.

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I'm not sure, after reading this review, whether I'm more or less inclined to read Clune's book - probably less.

In this review, such as it is, Lewis-Kraus makes the (sadly still common) mistake of assuming that the reader has an identical understanding of what a "drug" is, and that the category of "drugs" is well-defined and discrete. Are LSD and heroin in the same category of thing? Is sugar in this same category?

It seems useless in this context to compare a book about the highs of heroin with other books that happen to feature "drugs" in completely different contexts or as metaphorical devices.

Reading this, I learned nothing except that pharmacological contrivances still have a grip on the editorial 'we.'

Food of the Gods by Terrence McKenna (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/111941/food-of-the-...)

How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/529343/how-to-chang...)

Fellowship of the River by Joe Tafur, MD (https://www.drjoetafur.com/the-fellowship-of-the-river)