We have had some debate recently on the spirit of various plant psychedelics compared to synthesized substances like LSD. I think the answer lies in perspective and may answer some nagging questions. The hole in Terrance McKenna’s “stoned ape” hypothesis has always been a lack of known psychedelics available to early man in certain regions. But I think we are once again discounting our ancestors’ ability and ingenuity. LSD is derived from ergot, a fungus that grows on rye. While direct consumption of ergot can cause hallucinations, and we have many historical examples of this, it is also poisonous. Yet, Albert Hofmann is quoted as saying, the ability to extract the psychedelic compounds from ergot were, “well within the range of possibilities open to Early Man.” So in essence, LSD is most likely a direct lineage of the shaman’s medicine as used in the West. Northern African and European prehistoric hunter-gatherers did have access to a psychedelic compound. This is another way in which EMK attempts to re-make the esoteric tradition of the West.