I think he's my favorite.

"Psychedelics will do for Psychology what the the telescope did for Astronomy." These words of Terence's are unknown to the vast majority of today's psychologists, even the man himself is vastly unknown in the mainstream. This will change. The legacy of Terence Mckenna, will create the cultural shift away from ethnocentric empowerment into the neo-shamanic mindset that can ultimately join the people of this planet and perhaps other worlds, into a singular perspective and understanding.

It was Alan Watts that first brought me into belief. As Terence also said, "If the truth can be told as it is understood, it will be believed." There's no better way of explaining it. What Alan Watts was describing in his article "Psychedelics and Religious Experience," hit an initial chord with me that brought me to tears, and a devotion for research and education followed. Through further use of the internet, I came to know Terence and a river of resonating chords followed. I like to think of Mckenna as a good friend of mine. One day I hope to have a library and last week I decided I would have a bust made of him.

The legacy of Terence Mckenna will live on through the internet and through events such as this. One day I hope he will be recognized in academia as a pioneer, visionary, and perhaps revolutionary. Primarily Mckenna is a philosopher. Without any scientific methodology, he can't be classified by anything else if he is to be recognized in academia. I once heard him say "You can't get a degree in shamanism." Well not yet, but when something like psychedelicology comes into academia, his name will be found on page one of the text book.

So what exactly is so great about Terence? Although I think of him as a friend, he's more of an acquaintance. I'll have to admit I'm not that well versed on his history. Sure I've read his wikipedia, gone through MckennaLand, and listened to his vast supply of videos on YouTube. But the fact of the matter is I don't have to know any more than what I do. I didn't have to know any more than what I heard on the first YouTube video I listened to. I think it was the one entitled "Culture is an Operating System." Oh yes. This is why anthropology is so important. Terence's major message to society is that we need to "wake up" individually, but all of us must. It get's difficult if you've had this experience at a young age and start to waver. But that's why Terence is so amazing. That man never gave up! Have you ever heard a sense of doubt in any of his speeches? He lived his life the way he saw he would after his first psychedelic experience, I'm sure of it. I commend him for such bravery. Courage like that is rare. MLK had it, Ghandi, Socrates, Jesus, all the greats had courage to stand up for what they believe, despite the mainstream views placed against them. And it wasn't just the mainstream, it was his own personal views. He held on to his own traditions. He would take large doses to ensure the experience he was looking for. He held that the psychedelic experience was the necessary experience. A brave explorer, he never seemed to forget his way.

Besides his steadfastness, Terence was a phenomenal public speaker. Forget about doubting himself, did you ever hear a sense of stage freight in his voice? No way. His rhetoric was phenomenal. It's really funny thinking back to when he tries to describe the inexplicable DMT experiences. It must have bothered him a little not being able to find a word for what he wanted to talk about. In the future, as the new maps of consciousness will be formed as he talked about, we will be able to describe these experiences easier and there may be a point on these maps we may call by his name. I'm very excited to see the taboos fall, and new research grow. It will bring together so many aspects of academia, and link science with religion, this is truly an amazing time.

But what can his legacy do for the common man? As psychedelically inexperienced people are exposed to his perspective, they become aware of something. They become aware that a man lived his entire life devoted to a particular belief, the belief in the psychedelic. This man had a very particular set of personal experiences, and he believed in the significance of these experiences and wanted to share them with the world. They showed him away from the capitalistic selfish mindset and towards a peaceful, content state of mind with the planet. Passion like this is the characteristic of the great men and women that have carved the best out of the society we are all a part of, and his pure message refreshingly stands out amongst all else.

The more we can expose the life of Terence Mckenna, the closer we can come to explaining the significance of the psychedelic experience and the implications it has on the future of our society.