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The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss

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The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss reveals the story of the McKenna brothers' eye-opening expedition to the Amazon in 1971 for psychedelic research. Once introduced by famed psychedelics advocate Timothy Leary as "one of the most important people on the planet," radical philosopher Terence McKenna was an iconic legend in the psychedelic community. He died in 2000, but his ideas live on in the writings of author Dennis McKenna. On their Amazonian journey together, the brothers explored the outer limits of psychedelic experience and were haunted ever since by the curious events that overtook them in that primeval rainforest.

508 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

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About the author

Dennis J. McKenna

15 books175 followers
Dennis Jon McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer and author. He who has studied plant hallucinogens for over forty years.
He earned his Master's degree in botany at the University of Hawaii, and his Doctorate in Botanical Sciences from the University of British Columbia.
Since that time, he has conducted extensive ethnobotanical fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon.
He is the brother of well-known psychedelics proponent Terence McKenna.
He is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.

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5 stars
253 (46%)
4 stars
188 (34%)
3 stars
80 (14%)
2 stars
16 (2%)
1 star
5 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
2 reviews
March 25, 2013
The chorizo was needed for stamina, the coffee to keep me awake because as soon as I picked this book up I couldn't put it down - and at over 500 pages all told, this is no skimpy volume so it took me two days and two all-night sessions to get through it. In the absence of amphetamine, thank God and the swine for chorizo.

Ripped on coffee and sausaged-out in the cold light of my last day with Dennis, the question is 'Was it worth it?' And the only answer I can give you besides hard-wired caffiene gibberish is YOU BET. This is one of the best books I have read in a VERY long time. (Parallels for me are "One River", Dale Pendell's "Pharmo" books and "The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky" - not because they're similar but because I stayed up nights with them as well, but it's rare.)

The subtitle - "My Life with Terence McKenna" - was unnecessary I thought since this is a Dennis McKenna book through-and-through and it should say so loud and proud. In fact, if anything, the subtitle could be "His Life with ME" since it really is Dennis' story - and better for it. Dennis has a wonderful writing style and, while Terence (much like Leary) was always ready with a soundbite, a cackling eldritch laugh and the story of another hero's journey to a place no map has seen, some of it was (as Dennis admits) more down to the blarney than the facts of the matter, whereas I believed every word that Dennis said.

Of course we all want to know "what the hell was going on" at La Chorrera (to use Dennis' words) but take your time with this book and don't rush ahead to that. The early sections on family life and ancestry make for an admittedly slow start, but I see why Dennis included them, because they are a valuable record in their own right and also help to explain what comes later for both the brothers. As an archive of how the boar ate the cabbage (or whatever the saying is), they're essential. And then there are some wonderful essays (on Jung and Eliade for example) which are insightful, eminently re-readable, and which demonstrate Dennis' uniquely thoughtful and intelligent nature. The stories of Dennis' work and relationships post-Chorrera (in fact, throughout) are equally riveting. There are whole sections where Terence isn't mentioned at all in fact - and, as much as I respect the man, I, for one, didn't miss him.

Towards the end of the book where Dennis draws some conclusions about his life, his work - and in particular the messages of the teacher plants he has worked with - my mouth fell open more than once because they are exactly the same conclusions I have reached, most notably in my latest book on Salvia; even the words sound like mine. It just goes to show that when the plants have a message they make sure it's heard and there's even a consistency to the language they use... almost... as if... all this talk of alien civilizations and guided evolution might even be... "real". Or if not real, then at least right.

If I could give this more than 5 stars I'd do it - and that's for Dennis not Terence, and the nights we shared on my sofa with a sausage and a flask of coffee. At the end of this book I had the sense of Terence giving Dennis a big high-five across dimensions and passing him the bud and the baton, and I really hope we get to hear more from Dennis in his own write soon.
Profile Image for Tiger.
36 reviews2 followers
September 27, 2018
If anything, this self-publication shows the value of professional editors, as it should have been cut down to a 10th of its size. It's nothing but an overly detailed account of a man still living in his brother's shadow a decade after his death, so stuffed with uninteresting facts and minute details, that the McKenna brothers aren't even born until page 80 or so, and only smoke their first joint at around page 150.

The author starts the book by explaining it took him a while to get to writing because he was smoking a lot of pot. And apparently he did not put down the pipe during writing either, as the text is overflowing with sentimental reminiscing of who his great grandparents were, what certain buildings looked like in his hometown, and how he felt towards a girl sitting next to him in class at grammar school. None of this is related to Terrence McKenna in any way.

It's painfully obvious this was not written with people interested in learning more about Terrence McKenna in mind. Rather, his little known younger brother is still trying hard to prove that "I am also intelligent", as he continuously repeats throughout the book.
Profile Image for Cypherks.
9 reviews
November 9, 2013
Currently reading this book after waiting over a year when I first heard Dennis talk about the project.

I don't want to reveal the contents of the book - it's just too good to "spill the beans" on, let me just say that it's been hard to put down and I've fallen asleep reading this book more than a few times...just a few pages more! Let me finish this chapter! Zzz and I'm asleep :-(

Dennis McKenna is, in my mind, and I'm sure that of many others, somewhat of a myth, legend and psychonaut. He's also very human, a father, a son, a brother, and many other things. Read this book to find out more!

Update: November 2013:

Finally finished this after reading, and re-reading a few chapters. I am very lucky in that I have met Dr. McKenna and talked with him in person - this book gave me the "back story" of his life.

Really well written, not exactly what you think it will be, truthful, speaks to the soul and lots of fun. Well worth buying and adding to your library.
Profile Image for David.
227 reviews33 followers
April 21, 2017
This is the story of the McKenna brothers, told from Dennis McKenna's perspective. Having familiarized myself with Terence's side of the story over the past several years, it was very enlightening and rewarding to look at things from Dennis' eyes. Terence McKenna was a well-known Irish bard who travelled the world during the '80s and '90s on a lecture circuit, speaking about esoteric subjects and advocating the use of psychedelics. I was first introduced to his work by Lorenzo Hagerty's "Psychedelic Salon" podcast in 2007, and since then have listened to many hours of Terence's lectures, watched dozens of his videos, and devoured most of Terence's books. (I still have yet to read "Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide: A Handbook for Psilocybin Enthusiasts" by the two brothers, written under the pseudonyms O.T. Oss and O.N. Oeric.) I must admit that I had placed Terence on a psychedelic pedestal of sorts; his gift of gab has a way of anesthetizing its listeners, and I have not placed as much energy into seriously investigating Terence's wild ideas as maybe I should have. This book opened my eyes to a lot more of the McKenna mindset and has further developed my understanding of Terence's work, in addition to providing background information that could only come from someone as close to him as his brother.

Dennis' attention to detail and ability to remain honest, often blunt at times, in his description of his and his brother's lives, makes for an extremely interesting read. I read this book fairly quickly, considering the extreme depths it plunges and the complex topics and events it describes. I would recommend it to anyone familiar with Terence's work or an interest in psychedelics. There are several great suggestions for reading material found within the book that I will be following up on during the next few years. In this sense it makes a great resource for someone who wants to know more about the psychedelic tribe.
Profile Image for Cathie.
11 reviews3 followers
December 22, 2012
A many-layered, multi-dimensional narrative that chronicles the early life, formative influences, and lifelong (if erratic) interplay of ideas between the McKenna brothers. This book is a labor of love, catharsis, and integration. Dennis's story is at times slowed down by an overabundance of personal detail, but ultimately it succeeds in bringing the reader to a deeper appreciation of his views on many of Terence's ideas, as well as the trajectory and impact of his own career. Their life-changing adventure in the Amazon is recounted from Dennis's perspective, which brings new dimension, if not clarity, to the famous Experiment at La Chorrera.

I was particularly touched by Dennis' description of Terence's battle with brain cancer and their last days together. Knowing of Terence's lifelong affinity for plant medicines, I wondered at the time why he didn't appear to consider a shamanic approach to dealing with the tumor. It turns out that while Terence, the spokesman for psychedelic shamanism, pretty much stuck with Western allopathic treatment (gamma knife surgery, chemotherapy), Dennis, the scientist, wanted to try a shamanic treatment involving tryptamines and vocal toning. In the end, sadly, neither approach worked, and Terence departed this world...nested in a star, as some would say.

Dennis's book, released just in time for the long-awaited 2012 Winter Solstice, and funded by a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, is a fine tribute and celebration of two lives in and out of time, entwined like strands of DNA or a woody liana vine, opening our minds and hearts to the mysteries of healing and love -- for each other, for life, and for our planet.
Profile Image for Brian.
223 reviews2 followers
August 4, 2019
As another one-star review said, you can tell the importance of a professional editor in books like these. His storytelling is verbose and boring, choosing to go off on uninteresting tangents. If he doesn't want to go to a certain city, why is he describing it to us? He glosses over the entire point of the book and leaves people in the dark about the brotherhood of the screaming abyss, simply stating it was something he did with his brother in the forest.

It's clear he has resentment towards Terrance and his success. Seems like he wrote this book so he could get acclaim through him and finally take his turn in the spotlight... Maybe someone else will be able to write a proper biography of the psychedelic archeologist.
Profile Image for Jim Brannon.
1 review
January 16, 2016
As the author reflects, "Time, in its way, just keeps flowing," in this epic memoir that spans a man and his brother's journey from innocent beginnings to childhood's end, from the peaks and valleys of his everyday experiences to their combined attempts to chart a vast unmapped hyperspace.

This is The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss, and it was a hell of a ride.

Along the way, Scientist and Ethnobotanist Dennis J. McKenna and his famous raconteur brother Terence McKenna (written from the perspective Dennis who authored the book after a successful kickstarter campaign made the project possible) details circumstances surrounding their early lives and the events leading up to and following "the Experiment at La Chorrera" that has come to define them and their impact on the world.

The result is an attempt by Dennis to point out themes of interconnectedness and the quest for the philosopher's stone in a series of inward journeys via psychedelic drugs; he points out that his and Terence's mutual love of science fiction, Jungian psychology, Eliade's definition of shamanism via states of drug-induced ecstasy and many more influences no doubt shaped the mind that was transformed by mushroom trips and Ayahuasca sessions, while also making note of the universality of many particular aspects or characteristics of psychonautic excursions by all human beings.

While Terence is known (and infamous to some for the allegedly "psuedoscientific" Timewave theory) for the countless hours of speech available freely on the internet which have captivated many millenials in particular (many of whom Dennis remarks, in that wonderful and distinct McKenna sense of humor, were in diapers when Terence was in his prime) the fact that Dennis set out to do his best to objectively recount their experiences lends a credibility to the book that wouldn't be there had his artistic, bardic brother endeavored to do the same. Which is not to suggest any dishonesty in Terence's work, rather it was a willingness to embellish some "funny ideas" for the sake of weaving a more entertaining and entrancing story.

The book was a thrilling and somber look at one of the most charismatic minds of the information age, whose effects on human society have arguably only begun to have an effect on the public consciousness. But it also did so much more than that.

The abyss could be considered a psychological state that the author thankfully emerged from intact with the aid of his brother as they became entangled at La Chorrera after conducting an experiment utilizing psilocybin mushrooms and Dimethyltriptamine (known colloquially as DMT) that did not exactly fulfill their hypothesis, however, it did recount some interesting phenomena taking place in the aftermath such as telepathy. Essentially, Dennis believes, he became what some cultures refer in no certain terms to as "shaman" and because of his close link to his brother could hear his thoughts and became privy to details of Terence's life that he couldn't possibly know. Dennis choose to become a Scientist to become more grounded in reality and contribute to actual science (which he explains in understandable terms and teaches a great deal about to the reader in the course of the story, as the science does hold, in his opinion, great importance in the context of those journeys) while Terence railed against Science as an institution and what he viewed as an over-emphasis on Western Materialism; that Science could not possibly ever explain many of the key aspects of his life's work, while he held out hope for reason itself as a vehicle to navigate toward the truth.

Sadly, the brothers drifted apart as we all do as life happens, and Dennis relives the emotional turmoil of a difficult and turbulent relationship with his older brother, who is described as an emotionally-guarded, but brilliant and lovable, trickster. When Terence tragically passed away in 2ooo, Dennis lost a piece of himself.

This book is must-read for those who want to learn more about the psychedelic community, for these McKenna brothers have become giants after standing on the shoulders of the giants who came before them, scientific figures such as Richard E. Schultes, Albert Hofmann, and Sasha Shulgin, as well as the (counter)culture counterparts like Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Carl Jung, and Philip K. Dick. The McKenna brothers are two sides of the same coin, one put into a psychedelic machine we call history and interacting with the gears of technology in the same way these different drugs interact with our neurotransmitters, revealing light and darkness, not inherently good nor evil but always carrying the potential to change one's entire mode of thinking.

I am convinced of one thing that Dennis suspected throughout the book: that Dennis and Terence we almost one person between the both of them, that he suspected that there must be some special connection between siblings who share the same mother and sometimes that bond can become so strong that it defies the conventional wisdom about the limits of reality which we are encouraged to accept without question.

Reading this book will not only give you insight about Terence and Dennis McKenna or the influence of psychedelic thinking about a society or the community, it will also provide you with historical context, a survey of the landscape of works for the reader to examine further concerning these subjects, an introduction to pharmacology and ethnobotany and the virtues of the scientific method, but it also connects you emotionally to all of these fields and adventures through the experiences of a modest and wise mentor.

The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss is the hero's journey as two brothers make a formal attempt to re-introduce shamanism and neoplatonism to a western mind which desperately needs it now more than ever.

Perhaps the "end of the world" or the end of history of some specific event did not take place in December 2012 as Terence had predicted, however, it is the opinion of this reviewer that the combination of the publication of this book along with the legalization of Marijuana in Washington and Colorado and worldwide protests and public demonstrations (such as Occupy Wall Street and the Arab spring) may have precipitated an upcoming global transformation.

As McLuhan and the McKenna brothers observed: we will live in a global village.
It is how I now share this review with you, possibly separated by many miles and existing in a different language domain. The psychedelic characteristics of future technology and their potential to break down cultural barriers is one of the best hopes we have for saving our species from extinction and charting the stars as our forefathers had only dreamed.

Will we fulfill their vision, or go extinct trying but failing to realize it?

As the author remarks, once again:
"Time, in its way, just keeps flowing, no matter how much we might wish it would stop for a moment and let us catch our breath and gaze back along the distance we have traveled."

There are still monsters out there spreading lies about these visionary plants and perpetuating the war on drugs that hold back our species from evolving further and advancing on the frontiers of consciousness.

It is an observation that reminds me of another quote, this one by Nietzsche:
"He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee."

Let us never sacrifice who we are or how far we have come to seek truth in this life, and let us follow the examples and learn from our elders in respect.
Profile Image for Theresa Jump.
58 reviews4 followers
September 5, 2013
Dennis McKenna’s contribution and introduction of plant medicine to occidental culture is immeasurable. Co-authorship (with brother Terence) of “The Invisible Landscape” (1975) and “Psilocybin, Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide: A Handbook for Psilocybin Enthusiasts” (initially published in 1976, a 2nd edition in 1986 and again in 1991) laid the foundation for a career path as educator, scientist and a voice of the (visionary) plant world. His articles published as early as the mid-eighties were some of the few I could find on ayahuasca in 2006 via my university’s exhaustive database during my own academic research. He continues to produce important and relevant work based on scientific research and personal experience.

With great anticipation anchored with no expectations, I was delighted by McKenna’s recount of his colorful life. He writes like he interviews – I love the words he chooses in the order he delivers. As I read, I heard his voice telling the story. The pace (for me) gradually built up and once it got going, I didn’t want to put the book down. I resorted to reading more slowly in order to prolong the ride.

I admire McKenna’s courage in ‘laying it all out there’ and telling his side of the story: Agreeing to give up a substantial degree of privacy to satisfy the curiosity of a cult following is a sacrifice. Navigating the waters of family dynamics can be tricky. I appreciate the breadth, depth and clarity of his narrative. I loved this story.

Profile Image for Nikita Petrov.
6 reviews1 follower
June 19, 2016
Just finished the book and am left with a sentimental feeling. There's a soothing element to how matter-of-factly the remaining McKenna tells his and his brother's story—the way your grandpa would tell stories of his youth—except these particular stories include an abundance of magic mushrooms and DMT, wacky adventures in the jungles, a story of going legitimately mad for a couple of weeks, some drug smuggling, a UFO, a fake passport, issues with Interpol, a number of scientific discoveries, friendships with shamans, a good deal of "funny ideas" that combine philosophy, alchemy, and science fiction—and also some death. A very touching and somehow reassuring read.
Profile Image for JJ W.
106 reviews17 followers
October 4, 2013
I couldn't put it down, partly because of the voyeuristic thrill of getting closer to a brotherhood that has touched my lifecourse in so many ways. nicely written. an excellent Kickstarter project brought to fruition.
Profile Image for Will.
194 reviews1 follower
January 7, 2023
Psychedelic delusions. Powerful substances. It makes sense that those who take them can feel like they’ve discovered the answers to the universe. But that is not the case. What they have discovered is the fallibility of the human mind. And because that organ is home to our perceptions of the universe, delusions of grandeur can emerge.

Yet, the discovery of our fallibility is powerful. It can help us to grow, to change, to love, to be compassionate, and to create. Thus, in terms of psychedelics, one should focus on the mental processes it reveals, not the actual thoughts it creates. As he says, “it’s important to keep one’s critical faculties tuned to the highest level of sensitivity in order to filter what you’ve learned, or think you’ve learned, from mushrooms.”

Also a memoir: a cultural artifact of the 70s-80s, a story of older & younger brothers, of teenage rebellion, of growing up, of finding a path in life, and of living that life.

McKenna is pretty damn cynical about a the future though (makes sense considering his hippie roots), and this book is full of speculative tangents on a wide variety of issues.
Profile Image for Seth.
59 reviews1 follower
February 28, 2014
a must read for fans of the mckenna brothers.

the first half of the book i especially enjoyed - the origin of their interests growing up as children, their coming of age tales of romance and drugs and mischief, and their adventures into the amazon basin. dennis's first hand recounting of the events during 'the experiment at la chorrera' is fascinating, and colors in lots of particular details for those of you who listen to many of terence's raps (via the psychedelic salon or the countless recordings floating around online).

as the brothers grow older and embark on their distinct careers, marry and start families, and encounter the frustrations of both bureaucracy and the pitfalls of celebrity - the book descends from the peaking highs of their psilocybin colored endeavors into the valleys of the mundanities of day to day life. this is to be expected as it is an accurate depiction of the rollercoastery nature of life as we age.

i was saddened to learn about the pain caused (and the great loss for humanity - psychonauts or otherwise) by the two fires that consumed terence's personally curated libraries from his travels around the world. what a shame for his legacy and for his family.

as far as any [recent] conspiracy theories linking the bard himself to various espionage outfits and government cooperation - i say NONSENSE! however, if terence was here himself he'd probably just chuckle and say 'everything is possible, even the most impossible permutation you may conceive of - so follow what your heart and firsthand experience and intuition are telling you'.

regarding the amounts of psychedelics terence consumed later in his life, there has been a lot of ruckus from a small statement dennis makes in the book about 'walking the walk and not just talking the talk'. without terence here to tell us himself, we'll never really know. but it doesn't matter. it's irrelevant (and a personal matter for terence as he grew older and developed brain cancer). what terence did best, perhaps better than anyone else in the community, was tickle our imaginations and invite us to examine vast myriads of possibilities regarding the universe, the human species, language, and anything and everything else. he was the pied piper for mashing critical thinking and imagination together into a wonderful brew of curiosity. whether he was high or not when conceiving of his ideas or expounding on them makes not a lick of difference.

nice job on the research dennis. much of the data regarding ethnobotany and psychopharmacology (particularly molecular structures) sailed above my head, but then again, i was never much of a science student.

i hope to one day meet the author and several of the characters who played key roles in his and terence's life. the book only enhanced my already piqued interest into the worlds of ideas that these brothers bravely and diligently made into their life missions - the ultimate quest for knowledge!
Profile Image for Robin Billings.
18 reviews3 followers
May 12, 2015
Terence and Dennis deeply influenced my life from afar in 1976, with the publication of their first book, and again in 1982, when I heard Terence interviewed on New Dimensions radio with Michael Toms. I subsequently read their second work, The Invisible Landscape, carefully following Dennis' method to achieve "hypercarbolation," and was forever changed. I was amused, bemused, and inspired by Terence's audio tapes and the audio edition of True Hallucinations, released by his mail order company, Lux Natura, in the mid 1980's due to Terence having no success in finding a publisher during the repressive Reagan/Bush era. I corresponded with Terence via snail mail throughout the mid 80's (before the internet), finally meeting him in Chicago in 1987. Dennis' book puts much in perspective and brings clarity to the life journey of not only the McKenna brothers, but to all of us who journeyed with them into the uncharted territories calling our generation of explorers to take the plunge into the depths of the Soul. It is a must read for everyone who has been called into a relationship with the ancient teaching plants of the Earth.
June 24, 2018
The book is a great read to understand Dennis and the life of those he is surrounded with. It gives a perspective on why he does what he does along with his brother Terrence McKenna. The author has a flair for writing and writes beautifully and eloquently most times. I also learnt a lot of new phrases and got an understanding of Catholic life and its impact on children.

The book seemed to have hints of the privileges, biases of heteropatriarchal, cisgendered, able-bodied White men. The book furthers his interest with the science in Ayahuasca and does not include the stories of those who consume and use it and their relationship to it. I wasn't looking for an anthropological perspective but rather a note on Dennis' understanding of the relevance of ayahuasca in the lives of the Indigenous people.

With this other narrative missing, this book comes across to glorify Western-backed scientific experiments rather than understand and consume Ayahuasca with the respect and trust that the Amazonians do.

Otherwise a well-written biography of their lives. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Profile Image for Emily Butler .
Author 1 book48 followers
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
September 3, 2020
DNFing for now...

I will definitely return to this, but I will be skimming it. I agree with many others who have pointed out that this book needed editing- namely, cutting. I highly respect and admire both Dennis and Terence McKenna. But this book feels like a draft. Dennis includes *everything.* He needed a good editor to help him whittle down to what readers would want to know.
Profile Image for Aleksa Rakic.
1 review
September 29, 2018
If you are interested in what was it like to grow up as an open-minded nerd in the heart of psychedelic revolution, during the amazing period that seventies were, essential read! Dennis is good story teller (almost good as his brother Terrence was :))
Profile Image for Willem Myburgh.
79 reviews
February 26, 2024
Dennis's retelling of the pivotal moments that shaped his life and career is at times mundane and at others filled with sheer awe. His passion for his search for knowledge and understanding is inspiring and I deeply appreciated vulnerability.
Profile Image for Joe.
81 reviews
July 21, 2019
There are some interesting anecdotes in this 500 page autobiography but the main things that stands out are the lack of an editor and abundance of information of interest only to Dennis McKenna.
Profile Image for N..
28 reviews
August 2, 2019
Read to the 52% mark before setting it aside.
Profile Image for Matthew.
44 reviews1 follower
May 1, 2020
Fantastic story, well written and contains Dennis’ usual insight and sense of humour. A must read for any psychonaut or anyone whose a fan of his older brother Terence McKenna.
Profile Image for Chris Hall.
438 reviews2 followers
March 11, 2018
Interesting at times but often dull. There's also this irritating habit of repeating set phrases throughout the book.

Dennis has said that he didn't really want to write this book but ended up having to because the work had met it's crowdfunding target and I think it shows.

The subtitle ('My Life with Terence McKenna') is also misleading as most of the content is concerned only with Dennis.
Profile Image for Open Books.
44 reviews48 followers
June 7, 2015
"Tripseeker's guide to the Galaxy"

What is human being? Obiectively speaking, we are drops of protein, self-replicating on provintional planet revolving around one of lesser stars in the far corner of insignificant Milky Way galaxy. The civilisation we have created can be destroyed in a collision with a middle sized meteorite. What makes human being great is a power of his imagination and curiosity that leads us to stating big questions and courage in looking for the answers. Reaching beyond limitations not only of our bodies and senses, but also our beliefs, traditions and thinking schemes.
It's been almost half a century ago when Dennis McKenna together with his brother Terrence set off a journey, that made them legends later on. A deep, inevitable need to find the answers to basic questions lead them to far corners of South America but also to even further twisted nooks of human mind. Their quest demanded not only a courage of venturing into the dark paths of unexplored lands of knowledge, but also courage of undermining social, religious and scientific defaults of that era. The SCREAMING ABYSS they challenged was not only a vaste emptiness in human expertise but also a huge gap in experience that Western culture lacked and - as next decades shown - needed. The sign of that is a fact that one of books by Dennis and Terrence sold 100,000 copies since it's release in 1976. And also a fact that it was issued under nicknames. The title was Psilocybin - Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide and described first reliable method of home cultivating mushrooms that can open human mind. Well this is our greatness - we can reach the stars without leaving home.
It shows that Dennis McKenna is not a shaman who keeps his secret cognizance for himself, but willingly shares it with others. In his memoir, The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss, writer shares his memories about his brother and their common quest.

First published in 2012, McKenna’s The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss has attracted greate reviews and provides an honest and heartfelt account of his life and experiences with his brother Terence McKenna. They not only explored the secrets of psychedelic trips and biophysical experiments, but also gave them an intellectual and scientific dimension. This made them influential and respected by many different types of people around the world.

Terence (legendary philosopher, writer, ethnobotanist and shaman) was the one who had written extensively about the brothers’ shared interests and adventures. That’s why Dennis (scientist, ethnopharmacologist and lecturer) decided to write The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna:
"No one had ever heard my side of the story, directly from me. I wanted to share my own story, from my perspective. It was personally important for me to do that."

The result is an unusual, intellectual, biographical and social account of the mysteries of consciousness, magic and reality, as well as an interesting commentary on the so-called “Timewave Theory”. Dennis’s account of how he struggles with the interpretation of his memories regarding the famous Experiment at La Chorrera in 1971, which Terence chronicled in his book True Hallucinations, is also very informative. About La Chorrera Dennis once wrote: "What began as a search for exotic hallucinogens in the jungles of the Amazon (...) rapidly turned into a curiosity-driven quest for the ultimate truths of time and life and mind. We didn’t know what we would find when we set out for La Chorrera in the dawning months of 1971; only that it was a great mystery, a ‘Secret’, that would change us, and everything, forever. We were right on both counts, though not in the ways we had anticipated."

"True Hallucinations". To those who question such experience as "untrue" I can answer with Morpheus words said to Neo: "What is real? How you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." As one of the greatest poets in Polish literature Adam Mickiewicz wrote: "reach where sight cannot reach; break, what can't be broken by reason". (So you will not be surprised that OpenBooks idea, which Dennis supports with a great engagement, also originates from Poland :-)

"The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss" by Dennis McKenna is available at OpenBooks.com, where you download and read first and then decide if and how much to pay. Price recommended by author is 9,99$. You may also copy and share the eBook with no restrictions. It is legal - those who receive file from you can pay after reading also if they decide to do so.
"The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss" by Dennis McKenna at OpenBooks.com
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Profile Image for Gabrielle Mathieu.
Author 7 books50 followers
February 12, 2017

The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss is a strange memoir. I can’t say it’s a fantastic read, and then again, I can’t dismiss it either. A Kickstarter project by Dr. Dennis McKenna, this biography not only explores the lives of Dennis and his more famous brother, Terrence, but also contains a fair amount of philosophy and science. It obviously has a niche audience, people who take and enjoy hallucinogens, and see a potential for consciousness-altering botanicals to be ingested as psychic medicine.
Because of my own novels in the Falcon series deal with a fictionalized psychedelic toxic botanical, I was obviously curious to see what Dr. McKenna had to say about his experiences with mushrooms and the consciousness-altering brew in use in in Brazil (and probably Northern California) called ayahuasca.
This is quite a long book, and I’m sure many readers skipped through the painstaking recollections of Dennis and Terrence’s childhood, and went for the main event: an incident in La Chorrero, in which Dennis and Terrence confabulated complicated theories about the universe while consuming mind-boggling amounts of mushrooms. Not being a fan of Terrence McKenna’s, I was till now unacquainted with the theories this event spawned. I am open to the idea that plants and animals may be influencing our consciousness and evolution in subtle ways, yet the verbiage emerging from La Chorrero seemed way out. I’m also not a confirmed stoner, many of the group’s musings left me scratching my head. I remember from my own days smoking pot with a troubled Vietnam vet, that things often seemed to make sense when stoned though.
What I did like about this book is that Dennis McKenna stayed scrupulously honest. He didn’t try to idolize his brother or profit from his brother’s cult reputation. Dennis spoke with heartfelt regret and mature understanding of the various events of a long and rich life. Often, he digressed into philosophical abstractions I barely understood. Other times, his dry sense of humor made me smile. The book was professionally copy-edited, and the writing completely competent. I loved sentences like “From an early age I was a junkie for proprioceptive novelty.” As an extended biography, it gave me yet another glimpse into the turbulent sixties, and I appreciated that, and its candor.
Profile Image for Mark.
111 reviews4 followers
January 2, 2019
A must read.

Lightly details the McKennas' escapades and how it all came to fruition. Their goal at La Chorrera was to end time and enter hyperspace. However, the success of this is debated. Dennis remains critical of Terry's timewave theory. It has been heavily criticized by others too.

This book is part autobiography and part biography.

Mostly, though, it just details Dennis's life growing up and the women he did and didn't make it with. Not sure why so much space was used for that when the book was supposedly supposed to be about Terence.

It was plentily detailed but not as much as I would have thought or expected. Still worth a read for additional insight on the McKenna's including Terence's hash smuggling days where he was, apparently, a fugitive on the run. Well traveled, he had to fake a passport to get back into the states and visit family. People are also fascinated by how well read he is.

It sounds like, as is typical, the psychedelics didn't do that much in the long run although he remains grateful for the experiences. Some of this text is just reprints from previous works; Dennis infamously during an ayahuasca session experienced the process of photosynthesis as a water droplet moving through a plant's system.

He describes the birth of his daughter as something that can't be replicated. It was the highest he had ever been. Curiously, there's a strong birth-death/rebirth message with psychedelic drugs. While it might be true nothing is like having a child born, psychedelics come close in their message and function.
Profile Image for Bryan Winchell.
Author 1 book3 followers
February 14, 2013
Over the past decade and a half, I've enjoyed listening to the "bard" Terence McKenna, who is something of a legend in the psychedelic community for his ability to rap poetic on a number of far-out topics. As a result, I was introduced to his more grounded brother Dennis, who I've heard on several podcasts and who, while not as wild as Terence, is still a visionary thinker and can spin a good yarn. I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the latter half, mostly because the craziest stories took place then, but also because I felt letdown by how Dennis didn't address some of the failures of Terence in the latter years, notably how he was preaching the gospel of mushrooms after having sworn them off because of a scary trip he'd had. I would have loved to hear more about this decision and conversations Dennis might have had with Terence about it, but instead we just got a brief mention of it. Anyway, the book is still enjoyable and, considering Dennis is more of a scientist than a writer, well-written.
Profile Image for U Recife.
122 reviews12 followers
August 6, 2016
If you heard about Terence McKenna, you probably know how weird, and inspiring, his ideas were. If you know Terence McKenna well enough, you also know who Dennis McKenna is and how instrumental Dennis was in Terence’s life. If you know a bit about Terence’s self-proclaimed biography, his experiments at La Chorrera, his predictions and how incredibly weird the whole experience was to Terence and Dennis, you probably want to know a bit more about it from a different perspective.

So this is it. This is that new perspective onto Terence’s life and thought. Well written, engaging at times (for all lives have those meh moments that look like filling-ins to a major thrust of the whole story), and providing new insights onto how McKenna deal with his normal life, relations, and people around him.

If you’re a Terence McKenna’s buff, you won’t be disappointed to read this biography. If you don’t know who he is, you better start elsewhere — probably by Terence’s own works and, more importantly, by his talks (most of them available for free on youtube).
Profile Image for Pat Rolston.
347 reviews17 followers
December 2, 2021
This is a very entertaining read for those who enjoy the writing of his brother Terrence and nicely fills in the adventures in search of Amazonian plant pharmacology. There is lots of family history that gets painful in so far as the difficult and complex relationship between the brothers. The path Dennis took ending up in Marine on St Croix, Minnesota provides much to enjoy. The encounters with shaman and the "vine of life" continue as a thread throughout as does the speculation as to the true nature of our reality. The treatment of consciousness as being dependent on the botanical and man made chemistry that so intrigues Dennis makes for very thought provoking reading in the context of his life. A must read for all who wish to contemplate new perspectives and our place in the universe.
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