Novelty, Time-Wave Zero, & the Transcendental Object at the End of Time
"The Eschaton is not something that happens at the end of time. It is something that is pulling us toward itself from the end of time." — Terence McKenna
Terence McKenna (1946–2000) was an American ethnobotanist, mystic, psychonaut, and philosopher who proposed a radical theory of time, consciousness, and the approaching end of history. His ideas, while controversial, represent one of the most creative and provocative modern visions of the Eschaton.
The Core Ideas
Novelty Theory & Timewave Zero
McKenna proposed that the universe is not merely expanding in space but is increasing in novelty — in complexity, interconnection, and creative expression — at an accelerating rate. He developed a mathematical model (the "Timewave") that mapped this increase, suggesting that novelty approaches an infinite singularity — a point where everything becomes possible simultaneously.
This is the Eschaton — the transcendental endpoint of history.
The Transcendental Object at the End of Time
McKenna's most poetic concept: that the Eschaton is not merely an event that happens at the end of time, but a kind of attractor — a transcendent reality that exists at the end of time and pulls history toward itself. Just as a whirlpool draws water toward its center, the Transcendental Object draws all of evolution, all of consciousness, all of history toward a moment of infinite convergence.
"History is the shockwave of eschatology."
This resonates deeply with Teilhard's Omega Point — and with the mystical teaching that God is not only the Alpha (the source) but the Omega (the destination).
The Archaic Revival
McKenna believed that as history approaches its end, humanity would experience a return to archaic values — to direct spiritual experience, to plant teachers, to shamanic consciousness, to the partnership model of society. The modern world's obsession with technology and materialism is the final, most extreme expression of the separation from nature — and its inevitable collapse will return us to a more integrated, magical, participatory relationship with reality.
The Psychedelic Dimension
McKenna's work cannot be separated from his exploration of psychedelic consciousness, particularly through psilocybin mushrooms and DMT:
- Psychedelics dissolve the boundary between self and other, between the perceiver and the perceived
- They reveal the logos — the living Word that underlies reality
- They provide glimpses of the Eschaton — moments of infinite novelty and connection
- They are, in McKenna's view, among the tools that catalyze the evolutionary convergence
Connection to the Apocalypse
McKenna's vision parallels the Apocalypse of John in striking ways:
- The Strange Attractor at the End of Time = the New Jerusalem descending from heaven
- The increase in novelty = the progressive intensification of the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls
- The dissolution of ordinary reality = the apocalyptic upheavals — the stars falling, the sea turning to blood
- The Transcendental Object = the Throne of God, the Lamb, the Alpha and Omega
- The Archaic Revival = the return to the Garden, the New Earth
"Time is a topological manifold over which the Eschaton is casting a very large shadow."
Whether or not one accepts McKenna's specific predictions or mathematical models, his contribution is profound: the re-enchantment of eschatology — the recovery of the Apocalypse as a living, felt reality rather than a dusty theological abstraction.