Inner Space/Outer Space : Terence McKenna’s Jungian Psychedelic Ufology

Partridge, Christopher (2020) Inner Space/Outer Space : Terence McKenna’s Jungian Psychedelic Ufology. Nova Religio, 23 (3). pp. 31-59. ISSN 1092-6690

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Abstract

This article discusses the relationship between “inner space” (the mind/consciousness) and perceptions of “outer space” (the extraterrestrial) in Western psychedelic cultures. In particular, it analyses the writings and lectures of Terence McKenna, the most influential psychedelic thinker since the 1960s. Assimilating a broad range of ideas taken from esotericism, shamanism, and science fiction, McKenna became the principal architect of an occult theory of psychedelic experiences referred to here as “psychedelic ufology.” The article further argues that McKenna was formatively influenced by the ideas of Carl Jung and that, as such, subsequent psychedelic ufology tends to be Jungian.