Dennis Mckenna Torrent

[Cyjack]

From http://www.mininova.org/tor/218937

Dennis McKenna audio and video collection - 2 audio lectures, 1 video lecture, readings from 1971 journal, 1 radio interview & 1 trailer for upcoming film featuring the McKenna brothers)

Dennis McKenna is an ethnopharmacologist and has studied plant hallucinogens for more than 20 years. In 1975, he co-authored the book Invisible Landscape, with his brother Terence McKenna. The book was based on their investigations of Amazonian hallucinogens in 1971. He also acted as co-star of his brother's book True Hallucinations, which further described their experiences while in the Amazon.

Dennis went on to study the botany, chemistry, and pharmacology of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, which he wrote about for his thesis work. He earned his Master's degree in botany at the University of Hawaii in 1979 and his Doctorate in Botanical Sciences in 1984 from the University of British Columbia. Since that time, he has conducted extensive ethnobotanical fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon.

In 1990, he joined Shaman Pharmaceuticals as Director of Ethnopharmacology and in 1993 he joined the Aveda Corporation as Senior Research Pharmacognosist. In 1998 Dennis co-founded the non-profit Institute for Natural Products Research (INPR) to promote research and scientific education with respect to botanical medicines and other natural medicines. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, serves on the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council, and has served as a board member for Botanical Dimensions.

Alkaloids & Evolution: (lecture from http://www.botanicalpreservationcorps.com/ converted from cassette to .wav to four 48kbps mp3 files)

The actual title of this lecture is "Plant Allelochemicals and Plant/Human Co-Evolution", but it was abbreviated for economy of space. This should be of great interest to anyone who has pondered or actually studied the relationship between plant chemistry and human evolution. Dennis speaks from a well-informed and scientifically based perspective, but he is not afraid to elucidate his own theories about this important subject. Included among the issues he discusses is the question of why alkaloids and other so-called "secondary" plant compounds exist at all. While being somewhat technical in nature, this lecture should he accessible to anyone who has even the most rudimentary knowledge of plant chemistry.

The Ayahuasca (Hoasca) Project: (lecture from http://www.botanicalpreservationcorps.com/ converted from cassette to .wav to two 48kbps mp3 files)

The scarcity of hard data on the biodynamics of the long-term consumption of consciousness-altering plants has hindered scientific discussion on the subject, and has also allowed opponents of sacramental plant use to continue their demonizing of such plants while remaining largely unchallenged. Through the efforts of Dennis McKenna and a dedicated, multidisciplinary team of scientists that information void may eventually be replaced by an abundance of conclusive data. Following rigorous scientific methods, the Hoasca Project is conducting an ongoing, double-blind study of members of a Brazilian church who regularly ingest an ayahuasca potion as their sacrament. The participants constitute a typical cross-section of mostly middle-class Brazilian society, citizens in good community standing who are proud to take part in such an unprecedented study. The importance of this project to science cannot be overstated, and this report provides a comprehensive overview of the work in progress.

The Experiment at La Chorrera: (from the talking book 'True Hallucinations' read by Terence and Dennis McKenna - notes from Dennis' journal brought on their 1971 journey of discovery in the Amazon - five 48kbps mp3 files)

A technology that would internalize the body and exteriorize the soul will develop parallel to the move to space. The Invisible Landscape, a book by my brother and myself, made an effort to short-circuit that chronology and, in a certain sense, to force the issue. It is the story, or rather it is the intelectual underpinnings of the story, of an expedition to the Amazon by my brother and myself and several other people in 1971. During that expedition, my brother formulated an idea that involved using harmine and harmaline, compounds that occur in Banisteriopsis caapi, the woody vine that is the basis for ayahuasca. We undertook an effort to use harmine in conjunction with the human voice in what we called "the experiment at La Chorrera." It was an effort to use sound to charge the molecular structure of harmine molecules metabolizing in the body in such a way that they would bind preferentially and permanently with endogenous molecular structures.

Our candidate at the time was neural DNA, though Frank Barr, a researcher into the properties of brain melanin, has made a convincing case that there is as great a likelihood that harmine acts by binding with melanin bodies. In either case, the pharmacology involves binding with a molecular site where information is stored, and this information is then broadcast in such a way that one begins to get a mental readout on the structure of the soul. Our experiment was an effort to use a kind of shamanic technology to bell the cat, if you will, to hang a superconducting, telemetric device on the Overmind so that there would be a continuous readout of information from that dimension. The success or failure of this attempt may be judged for oneself.

Art Bell interviews Dennis McKenna on Coast to Coast AM - March 8th 2001: (from http://mckenna.psychedelic-library.org/ two 20kbps mp3 files)

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2001/03/08.html

Psychoactive Plants

Ethnopharmacologist and author Dr. Dennis McKenna (the brother of Terence McKenna) discusses his research into psychoactive and healing plants.

Neuroscience and Spirituality: (from the 2004 Altered States and the Spiritual Awakening conference in San Francisco, California http://www.assacon.com/2004/media.html four low-quality mpg video files)

Recent scientific advances and new techniques in neuroscience have enabled scientists to study the relationships between brain function and spiritual experiences. This presentation will provide an overview of current research.

'Cognition Factor' teaser 2005: (from http://www.headspace-studios.com/ one small .mov video file)

The South African Indie film movement has been quietly bubbling for some years now and the time has come to admit that we're partly to blame for what's in the pot. Wait for it! Or have you been in synchronomous orbit for too long? Whatever your current coordinates or heading, Headspace Studios is soon, in the immortal words of the 'Great Librarian' in San Francisco, "about to unleash a McKenna movie on the world". In the tradition of 'What the Bleep', 'Cognition Factor', (Provisional Title), is aimed at the DNA in your pineal but this does not mean we wont be heading directly for your E-spot. It's a Mckenna movie, after all. In the can is a series of sublime interviews with Dennis Mckenna, shot on the Costa Del Sol last year, which will be reverse engineered with CGI to enter the domain of visual language, the language of 'becoming'. Clips melded together out of the mess we've got ourselves into help you cognise that only you can save this world.

Honor the Code - Keep the Faith, Mike Kawitzky

The movie, draft titled, 'Cognition Factor', will ask us to question our current belief structures by sharing the thoughts and hopes of some of the most creative scientists, philosophers, artists and writers of our times. People like Prof. Dennis J. Mckenna, Terence Mckenna, Rupert Sheldrake Ph.D, Alex Grey, Ralph Metzner Ph.D, David Jay Brown, Barry Lategan, Stan Krippner Ph.D, amongst others...stay tuned...Dennis McKenna audio and video collection - 2 audio lectures, 1 video lecture, readings from 1971 journal, 1 radio interview & 1 trailer for upcoming film featuring the McKenna brothers)

Dennis McKenna is an ethnopharmacologist and has studied plant hallucinogens for more than 20 years. In 1975, he co-authored the book Invisible Landscape, with his brother Terence McKenna. The book was based on their investigations of Amazonian hallucinogens in 1971. He also acted as co-star of his brother's book True Hallucinations, which further described their experiences while in the Amazon.

Dennis went on to study the botany, chemistry, and pharmacology of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he, which he wrote about for his thesis work. He earned his Master's degree in botany at the University of Hawaii in 1979 and his Doctorate in Botanical Sciences in 1984 from the University of British Columbia. Since that time, he has conducted extensive ethnobotanical fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon.

In 1990, he joined Shaman Pharmaceuticals as Director of Ethnopharmacology and in 1993 he joined the Aveda Corporation as Senior Research Pharmacognosist. In 1998 Dennis co-founded the non-profit Institute for Natural Products Research (INPR) to promote research and scientific education with respect to botanical medicines and other natural medicines. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, serves on the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council, and has served as a board member for Botanical Dimensions.

Alkaloids & Evolution: (lecture from http://www.botanicalpreservationcorps.com/ converted from cassette to .wav to four 48kbps mp3 files)

The actual title of this lecture is "Plant Allelochemicals and Plant/Human Co-Evolution", but it was abbreviated for economy of space. This should be of great interest to anyone who has pondered or actually studied the relationship between plant chemistry and human evolution. Dennis speaks from a well-informed and scientifically based perspective, but he is not afraid to elucidate his own theories about this important subject. Included among the issues he discusses is the question of why alkaloids and other so-called "secondary" plant compounds exist at all. While being somewhat technical in nature, this lecture should he accessible to anyone who has even the most rudimentary knowledge of plant chemistry.

The Ayahuasca (Hoasca) Project: (lecture from http://www.botanicalpreservationcorps.com/ converted from cassette to .wav to two 48kbps mp3 files)

The scarcity of hard data on the biodynamics of the long-term consumption of consciousness-altering plants has hindered scientific discussion on the subject, and has also allowed opponents of sacramental plant use to continue their demonizing of such plants while remaining largely unchallenged. Through the efforts of Dennis McKenna and a dedicated, multidisciplinary team of scientists that information void may eventually be replaced by an abundance of conclusive data. Following rigorous scientific methods, the Hoasca Project is conducting an ongoing, double-blind study of members of a Brazilian church who regularly ingest an ayahuasca potion as their sacrament. The participants constitute a typical cross-section of mostly middle-class Brazilian society, citizens in good community standing who are proud to take part in such an unprecedented study. The importance of this project to science cannot be overstated, and this report provides a comprehensive overview of the work in progress.

The Experiment at La Chorrera: (from the talking book 'True Hallucinations' read by Terence and Dennis McKenna - notes from Dennis' journal brought on their 1971 journey of discovery in the Amazon - five 48kbps mp3 files)

A technology that would internalize the body and exteriorize the soul will develop parallel to the move to space. The Invisible Landscape, a book by my brother and myself, made an effort to short-circuit that chronology and, in a certain sense, to force the issue. It is the story, or rather it is the intelectual underpinnings of the story, of an expedition to the Amazon by my brother and myself and several other people in 1971. During that expedition, my brother formulated an idea that involved using harmine and harmaline, compounds that occur in Banisteriopsis caapi, the woody vine that is the basis for ayahuasca. We undertook an effort to use harmine in conjunction with the human voice in what we called "the experiment at La Chorrera." It was an effort to use sound to charge the molecular structure of harmine molecules metabolizing in the body in such a way that they would bind preferentially and permanently with endogenous molecular structures.

Our candidate at the time was neural DNA, though Frank Barr, a researcher into the properties of brain melanin, has made a convincing case that there is as great a likelihood that harmine acts by binding with melanin bodies. In either case, the pharmacology involves binding with a molecular site where information is stored, and this information is then broadcast in such a way that one begins to get a mental readout on the structure of the soul. Our experiment was an effort to use a kind of shamanic technology to bell the cat, if you will, to hang a superconducting, telemetric device on the Overmind so that there would be a continuous readout of information from that dimension. The success or failure of this attempt may be judged for oneself.

Art Bell interviews Dennis McKenna on Coast to Coast AM - March 8th 2001: (from http://mckenna.psychedelic-library.org/ two 20kbps mp3 files)

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2001/03/08.html

Psychoactive Plants

Ethnopharmacologist and author Dr. Dennis McKenna (the brother of Terence McKenna) discusses his research into psychoactive and healing plants.

Neuroscience and Spirituality: (from the 2004 Altered States and the Spiritual Awakening conference in San Francisco, California http://www.assacon.com/2004/media.html four low-quality mpg video files)

Recent scientific advances and new techniques in neuroscience have enabled scientists to study the relationships between brain function and spiritual experiences. This presentation will provide an overview of current research.

'Cognition Factor' teaser 2005: (from http://www.headspace-studios.com/ one small .mov video file)

The South African Indie film movement has been quietly bubbling for some years now and the time has come to admit that we're partly to blame for what's in the pot. Wait for it! Or have you been in synchronomous orbit for too long? Whatever your current coordinates or heading, Headspace Studios is soon, in the immortal words of the 'Great Librarian' in San Francisco, "about to unleash a McKenna movie on the world". In the tradition of 'What the Bleep', 'Cognition Factor', (Provisional Title), is aimed at the DNA in your pineal but this does not mean we wont be heading directly for your E-spot. It's a Mckenna movie, after all. In the can is a series of sublime interviews with Dennis Mckenna, shot on the Costa Del Sol last year, which will be reverse engineered with CGI to enter the domain of visual language, the language of 'becoming'. Clips melded together out of the mess we've got ourselves into help you cognise that only you can save this world.

Honor the Code - Keep the Faith, Mike Kawitzky

The movie, draft titled, 'Cognition Factor', will ask us to question our current belief structures by sharing the thoughts and hopes of some of the most creative scientists, philosophers, artists and writers of our times. People like Prof. Dennis J. Mckenna, Terence Mckenna, Rupert Sheldrake Ph.D, Alex Grey, Ralph Metzner Ph.D, David Jay Brown, Barry Lategan, Stan Krippner Ph.D, amongst others...stay tuned...

[AndyAmine.]

Ive got some good stuff by him on his work with Psilocybin and OCD or was it cluster headaches cant remember, if in anyone is interested in it.

[folias]

I recorded Denis McKenna's talk at the ayahuasca conference... and will post a url on it soon on this forum (have been meaning to get around to it!)... at the end of it, I am pestering him for quite some time to explain his theories about how beta carbolines and tryptamines work... he didn't bite! ;-)

Julian.