The Leap
Terrence McKenna’s “Stoned Ape Theory” is, to my mind, as plausible an explanation accounting for the "Missing Link" between the Animal Kingdom and Humanity as any. Granted, I acknowledge that I am no scientist and suffer from the Dunning-Kruger Effect to an unknown degree. Nonetheless, the mind-blowing revelations and abstract, alien insights bestowed upon the experiencer of high doses of psilocybin are convincing to say the least. Under the influence of this super salient psychedelic one feels deep nostalgia and intense familiarity with a sense of being that has been handed down through aeons of repeated incarnation. Worldly application and integration of these otherworldly events are key. The syncretic, amalgamated spirituality and resultant creativity bestowed by the collision of psilocybin and one’s life itself is true art.
Below you will find some detailed shots of "The Leap" and some explanation of the symbology embedded in this work.
The Stoned Apes
The idea behind the "Stoned Ape Theory" first postulated by Terrence McKenna, points to a resolution of the "Missing Link" dilemma often touted as a cure-all term to remedy the uncomfortable mystery connecting Homo Sapiens Sapiens to the Animal Kingdom. As we know well, scientists are not keen to admit the existence of genuine mystery nor concede acknowledgement that there is something that they do not "know" and especially so in the case of evolution. The "Missing Link" is analogous to the thoughtform called "Dark Matter" in that there is literally nothing in the scientific lexicon to explain a whole range of phenomena that clearly exists but remains inexplicable. Calling 97% of the Universe "Dark Matter" allows nearly infinite leeway for future revelation while still maintaining the monopoly over explicit cause and effect. And so I have attempted to visually elucidate what McKenna theorized in the late 20th century.
The situation seems to have unfolded (loosely) as follows.
As the climate of North Africa shifted some 2 million years ago from lush forest to open grassland, the apes came out of the receding trees in search of alternative food sources. As they took to a bipedal lifestyle, walking the open landscapes in search of sustainability, they inevitably encountered the grazing cousins of Zebu cattle. Inevitably the primates' interest would have been peaked by the little, phallic growths lumped upon the excrement of the cattle and taste tests would have ensued. As is quite common knowledge, fungi were some of the first multicellular organisms to colonize the planet and indeed there were psychedelic, coprophilic species growing throughout the "Cradle of Civilization" during this era.
As the psychedelic species were eventually deemed safe to consume, the obvious side effects would have become recognized and consummately regarded as special. Now if you have never had a psilocybin trip of any significant measure then the following will seem preposterous but, I assure you, the experience is wide open and testable by anyone with the courage to make "The Leap"
Evolution
McKenna went to great lengths to describe the almost obvious transmutation of imaginary insight beheld by monkeys to outward application and evolutionary advantage toward humankind; for all objects begin as ideas. Anyone who has ever had a revelatory experience on psilocybin and then catalogued the experience in a journal or sketchbook knows that there is much to be gained from intentional psychedelic use. Ideas effortlessly cascade down into the mind under psilocybin, almost intelligently desiring to be transformed into reality. I personally have seen unimaginable technology, unbelievably meaningful linguistic pictographs, uncannily creepy living art and experienced unfathomably deep revelations concerning the meaning of life and purpose of existence. My ability to translate the psychedelic realms has come from repeated encounters with the inward dimensions and endless hours of work refining my technique in order to most accurately convey these mysterious happenings. One could say, I have evolved into an artist through the conjunction of intentional psychedelic use and will. And so, from this perspective, we might view our early ancestors as pioneers of the acquisition of possibility within the psilocybin trance. It is possible that they too received vision and inspiration to overcome their dilemma of survival and it is most possible that concepts of language, record keeping and primitive tool use were accelerated upon such a trajectory that resulted in an unstoppable explosion of culture, war and victory over the elements.
Ascending to the Heavens
And here we arrive at the most personal element of my experience on this planet. The psychedelics have brought about huge insights into my deep character and patterns of behavior but they have always lacked a crucial element in my own life. This is the most valuable of all insights to me and that is the necessity of faith. I wont bore you with my coming to Jesus moment but I will say that there is always the greatest space reserved for the sanctity of one's soul. To me, the revelation that you exist in some way, on some plane as a pure, unadulterated manifestation of perfection is so exquisitely beautiful that it is almost too much to attempt to convey. This reality of our quintessential self is the true missing link. Existing on the verge of apocalyptic collapse it is now more important than ever to move inward, into the space of the heart and among the cathedrals of the mind to bring back to our shared planet the best ideas, the sharpest insights, and the purest intentions. The psychedelics carve out a space within in us to be filled with love, to overflow with joy and to share as much as we have to give. How else shall we make it, in one piece, to our destiny as Humankind 2.0?
The Psilocybin Space is Alive with Syncretic Meaning and Delightful Linguistic Creatures
A most mysterious aspect of the psilocybin space is the immediate impression that your mind has been colonized by living entities. This is no trivial statement. The collision of awareness and whatever it is that is happening behind your eyelids is utterly disconcerting and potentially maddening without some type of spiritual or shamanistic framework to rely on. It is from the acknowledgement of the undeniable reality of these hyperspatial entities that our deepest questions and resultant revelations stem. How can something so Real exist in the ethereum of the mind, absent corporeal bodies and integrated nervous systems? Where did this space originate and is there a way to effectively navigate it, if not manipulate it in someway? What are the implications heaped upon ordinary reality when a tiny psychoactive molecule alters everything one knows about the world? And what does it say about our sober, mechanistic agreements with the sciences and their maps of consciousness if there is a dimension as vast as physical space that exists within?
In conclusion, our civilization is quite literally a stack of ideas made manifest through strata of time and manipulation of available resources. If a monkey spent enough moments interacting with the vast strangeness of the psychedelic space coaxing poetic shrills into assigned meaning and subsequently agreeing upon this meaning with other monkeys then who is to say that this was not enough to catalyze a future inextricably bound to communication. It is obvious to me that an insight capable of being communicated advances all who have understood the insight. For as unbearably weird as the psilocybin space is I am under no illusions that the chipping away of a flint stone or the nervous scraping of a stick could have a profound impact on the future of an entire species, especially one that understood the value of an opposeable thumb.
Adieu
Thank you for reading. I am not completely sure this piece is totally cogent or even readable but if it peaks your interest please do leave a comment and we can discuss it further.
You may find more of my works at - https://elohprojects.com/
and you may purchase prints of The Leap here -
https://elohprojects.com/eloh-projects-store/#!/The-Leap/c/22194246/offset=0&sort=normal
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Thank you for your interest
Sean Allum
