Terence McKenna
American ethnobotanist and mystic (1946-2000) · United States · On the map · Writers · Died at 53
Terence Kemp McKenna was an American ethnobotanist, lecturer, and author who advocated for the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants and mushrooms.
Terence McKenna is read about 930 times a day, in 35 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 10 November 2026
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Photos 6
A 2006 photograph of Paonia, Colorado, where McKenna was born
Botanical Dimensions ethnobotanical preserve in Hawaii
Psilocybe cubensis: the psilocybin-containing mushroom central to McKenna's "stoned ape" theory of human evolution.
The 64 hexagrams from the King Wen sequence of the I Ching
A screenshot of the Timewave Zero software (written by Peter J. Meyer) showing the timewave for the 25 years preceding a zero date of December 21, 2012Listen
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He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including psychedelic drugs, plant-based entheogens, shamanism, metaphysics, alchemy, language, philosophy, culture, technology, ethnomycology, environmentalism, and the theoretical origins of human consciousness. He was called the "Timothy Leary of the '90s", "one of the leading authorities on the ontological foundations of shamanism", and the "intellectual voice of rave culture". Critical reception of Terence McKenna’s work was deeply polarized, with critics accusing him of promoting dangerous ideas and questioning his sanity, while others praised his writing as groundbreaking, humorous, and intellectually provocative.
