Good things come to those who wait….
This proverb without known origin may not be shamanic wisom, or maybe it is, but in either case I have found the statement to be true for filmmaking.
In the early Fall of 2013 I was looking at a festival poster on the wall of an empty theater in Nevada City, CA that announced that over the full moon weekend of September 19-23 Symbiosis Events was organizing a festival with over 200 musical acts on 4 main stages. One of my friends from Chicago, a great DJ and music Producer Radiohiro was playing - so I took a closer look.
It was a good thing I did as I also noticed that Dr. Dennis McKenna (see bio below), the Ethnopharmacologist and brother of Terrence McKenna would be giving a presentation about psychadelics. Dennis is one of the foremost authorities on psychedelics and in particular medicinal plants such as ayahuasca. The festival was taking place close to where I was living so I took a chance and contacted Dennis to see if it would be possible to meet him at the festival and conduct an interview for the film.
Dennis responded immediately and said he would be very interested in the interview and being a part of the Path of the Sun. Unfortunately, the organizers of Symbiosis refused to provide me with a press pass so Dennis and I agreed to do the interview at another time. I am happy to say that interview took place over the holidays this year. The footage of Dennis is a great addition to the film and in my opinion because of his presence the project has been taken to a new level.
The interview with Dennis took place at Dennis’ home in Minnesota. Since I am in California I contacted my friend and world renouned Techno DJ and producer Woody McBride DJ ESP through another Chicago connection at the new post production house Burbank AV, who recommended a filmmaker and artist Jonn Robinet of Robinet Productions.
Jonn is a talented cinematographer in his own right and he shoots with a Black Magic Cinema Camera. While Jonn took care of the filming I conducted the interview via Skype - it was if I was there and the interview went flawlessly.
Dennis made some excellent points during the interview that included his view that ayahuasca and other psychedelics will play a key role in modern day pharmacology and psychotherapy. He predicts that within 10-years psychotherapy will actively use and prescribe psychedelics as part of an integrated therapeutic approach that includes these types of medicines.
Here is a You Tube video of Dennis talking about Ayahuasca:
Dennis McKenna PhD*
Dr. McKenna received his Master's Degree in Botany from the University of Hawaii in 1979, and his Ph.D. in Botanical Sciences from the University of British Columbia in 1984. He received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dennis McKenna is an ethnopharmacologist who has studied plant hallucinogens for over forty years. He is the author of many scientific papers, and co-author, with his brother Terence McKenna, of The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching, and Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide. He holds a doctorate from the University of British Columbia, where his research focused on ayahuasca and oo-koo-hé, two hallucinogens used by indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. He received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health, and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine. In 1990, he joined Shaman Pharmaceuticals as Director of Ethnopharmacology, and in 1993 became the Aveda Corporation's Senior Research Pharmacognosist. Dennis has been an adjunct assistant professor at the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota since 2001, where he teaches courses in ethnopharmacology and botanical medicine. He has taught summer field courses in Peru and Ecuador, and has conducted fieldwork throughout the upper Amazon. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization focused on the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.
Dennis McKenna currently holds an appointment as an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Center for Spirituality and Healing in the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota. Dr. McKenna received his Master's Degree in Botany from the University of Hawaii in 1979, and his Ph.D. in Botanical Sciences from the University of British Columbia in 1984. His doctoral research focused on phytochemical and pharmacological investigation of Amazonian ethnomedical plants. He received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. McKenna serves on the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council, and on the Editorial Board of Phytomedicine, International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute (www.heffter.org) a non-profit research and educational institution focused on investigations of the therapeutic applications of psychedelic medicines. He has conducted extensive ethnobotanical fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brasilian Amazon. He was PI on a project funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute, to investigate Amazonian ethnomedicines for potential applications in the treatment of cognitive deficits. McKenna is author or co-author on over 40 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. His publications have appeared in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, European Journal of Pharmacology, Brain Research, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Neurochemistry, Economic Botany, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, and elsewhere. Dr. McKenna and two colleagues are co-authors of a widely recognized reference work on herbal medicines, Botanical Medicines: the Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements (Haworth Herbal Press, 2002)
Dennis has written the following books:
The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss
The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching
Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements, Second Edition
Bibliography
Mishor Z. McKenna D.J. Callaway J.C. 2011. "DMT and Human Consciousness." In: Altering Consciousness: Multidisciplinary Perspectives Vol. 2: Biological and Psychological Perspectives. Edited by Cardea E. and Winkelman M. Praeger Publishers.
McKenna DJ. Ruiz JM. Hoye TR. Roth BR. Shoemaker AP. 2011. "Receptor screening technologies in the evaluation of Amazonian ethnomedicines with potential applications to cognitive deficits." Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 134:475-492.
McKenna DJ. 2007. "The Healing Vine: Ayahuasca as Medicine in the 21st Century." In: Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for Hallucinogenic Substances as Treatments. Edited by Winkleman MJ, Roberts TB. Praeger Publishers.
McKenna DJ. Kingston R. Harris I. 2006. "Introduction to Botanical Medicines." Peer-reviewed online learning module offered by the Center for Spirituality and Healing. URL: http://www.csh.umn.edu/modules/index.html
McKenna DJ. 2004. "Clinical investigations of the therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca: Rationale and regulatory challenges." Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 102:111-129.
Lebot V. Johnston E. Zheng QY. McKern D. McKenna DJ. 1999. "Morphological, Phytochemical, and Genetic Variation in Hawaiian Cultivars of Awa (Kava, Piper methysticum Forster F., Piperaceae)." Economic Botany. 53:407-418.
Callaway JC. McKenna DJ. Grob CS. Brito GS. Raymon LP. Poland RE. Andrade EN. Andrade EO. Mash DC. 1999. "Pharmacokinetics of Hoasca alkaloids in healthy humans." Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 65:243-256.
Grob CS. McKenna DJ. Callaway JC. Brito GS. Neves ES. Oberlender G. Saide OL. Labigalini E. Tacla C. Miranda T. Strassman RJ. Boone KB. 1996. "Human pharmacology of hoasca, a plant hallucinogen used in ritual context in Brasil." Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease. 184:86-94.
McKenna DJ. Luna LE. Towers GHN. 1995. "Biodynamic constituents in Ayahuasca admixture plants: an uninvestigated folk pharmacopoeia." In: Ethnobotany: Evolution of a Discipline. Edited by S. von Reis and R. E. Schultes. Portland: Dioscorides Press.
Dennis J. McKenna, Kerry Hughes, Kenneth Jones, Sheila Humphrey (coauthors & editors). 2002. Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Herbal Press.
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