“The Words of McKenna”: Healing, Political Critique, and the Evolution of Psychonaut Religion since the 1960s Counterculture

Terence McKenna's advocacy for the religious use of hallucinogens shaped a countercultural movement called Psychonauts, who see humanity as undergoing rapid evolutionary change aided by substances and other entities. This American Psychonaut religion evolved in opposition to the Drug War, which treated these sacraments as illegal, thereby catalyzing the movement's anarchist and anticapitalist ideology that idealizes archaic society over modern 'dominator' society. The Drug War also hindered scholarly study of substance use as religious practice.

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Abstract

Terence McKenna (1946–2000) spent thirty years advocating for the religious use of hallucinogenic substances. Picking up where Timothy Leary left off, McKenna inspired later generations of Psychonauts (“consciousness explorers”) and continues to do so even today. McKennan religion treats humanity as in flux, with imminent evolutionary milestones rapidly approaching. These metamorphoses will occur in conjunction with substance use and the help of other entities. American Psychonaut religion developed alongside the Drug War, which has had far-reaching consequences for its evolution. In establishing an enforced state opposition to substances that Psychonauts consider sacraments, the American legal system catalyzed the development of countercultural religion. Psychonauts following McKenna's philosophy have embraced anarchism and anticapitalism, adhering to an ideology that presents “archaic” society as an ideal set against America's current “dominator” society. Beyond the Psychonauts themselves, the Drug War also appears to have inhibited scholarly inquiry into how substance use can function as a religious practice.