Terence McKenna Interview by James Kent

Terence McKenna Interview by James Kent at tripzine part 1 and 2:

JK: I want to talk a little bit about the elves. I think that when you say DMT elves people picture, you know, Tinkerbell flying around.

TM: Well, this is what I call the Disneyfication of elf land, and people expect cheerful friendly places that they know and can recognize. But it's much wierder and much more scarier than that; more like the lower-east side than it is like Wonderland.

JK: So, when you say elves, they're not in the shape of human elves.

TM: No. Here's what is elf-like about them. You have the impression that you're underground. Elves live in the center of the earth. They make things. This is what elves are traditionally said to do. They are makers of jewelry and fine machinery. These things are involved in language somehow. They're involved in pun and riddle. This is standard elf material. And there is this very peculiar kind of out-of-control, madcap humor. Also, elves are tricky.

JK: Plus there's the singing...

TM: Yes, and the singing. I haven't carried out a study of the evolution of the image of the elf in the Western mind, but I think probably Disney and Grimm obliterated whatever had come before. But these things up until that time were very ambiguous creatures of the threshold and woodland. They were known for stealing babies primarily.

JK: Have you ever considered they might be a reflection of some sub-atomic phenomenon?

TM: Quantum creatures? Yes, I've thought of that. Because I take very seriously the question, 'Where are they?' You know, are they here but invisible? Are they locked in the quantum realm? Are they on a planet around another star that we can somehow punch into on DMT? I take it seriously. I think it is like any other phenomenon of nature, it should be studied on its own terms.
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JK: (Laughs) Well, to go along with the common view you don't need any support to back you up. If you have a scent of an opinion you have to have thousands of references and citations. You must do the research.

TM: You have to be impeccable, because they're gonna come after you every way they can think of.

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