112 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
112 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
Newsgroups: alt.self-improve
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From: stark@dwovax.enet.dec.com (Todd I. Stark)
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Subject: Carlos Castaneda references and reviews
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Date: 20 APR 92 15:43:20
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Interest was recently raised in ALT.SELF-IMPROVE about
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Carlos Castaneda's books about don Juan and Yaqui
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sorcery. I provide here some further information
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of possible value.
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An anthology of writings about Castaneda was published in
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1976 by G.P. Putnam's Sons. The anthology was called
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Seeing_Castaneda, edited by Daniel Noel.
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Studies of Shamanism in general may be helpful in understanding
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and interpreting the Castaneda writings; such as Michael Harner's
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_The_Way_of_the_Shaman_, and Mircea Eliade's _Shamanism_.
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A friend who studied a warriorship tradition similar to the Yaqui
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way described in the Castaneda books provided the following
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recommendation for reading the books :
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> Ignoring the first two books (unnecessary emphasis on drugs)...
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>
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> The books should be read in this order:
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>
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> Journey to Ixtlan
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> Tales of Power
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> Second Ring of Power
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> Eagles Gift
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> Fire from Within
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> Power of Silence
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>
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> Based upon my training in warriorship, this is the order that most
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> closely represents the evolution and training of a "warrior".
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Some reviews, gathered from various places ...
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_The_Teachings_of_Don_Juan:_A_Yaqui_Way_of_Knowledge_.
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Castaneda meets don Juan in 1960, befriends him, and becomes
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his apprentice in June of 1961. He takes drugs and explores a
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"nonordinary reality" (Castaneda's term), and learns a "way of
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knowledge" that involves these drugs. He quit the apprentice-
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ship in September, 1965, because it freaked him out. I'm sure
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this book is a dissertation of some sort, because it has a
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"structural analysis" at the end.
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_A_Separate_Reality_. In April 1968 he visits don Juan
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and starts his apprenticeship again. This time the emphasis is
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on "seeing" the other reality, which don Juan says is a prere-
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quisite to "knowing."
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_Journey_to_Ixtlan_. In May 1971, Castaneda ended his
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apprenticeship because he learned to "stop the world" with the
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help of don Juan and don Genaro. He did this without
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drugs, and
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this got him to reevaluate wqhat he learned (he had been assum-
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ing that only the drug-related stuff was important). He went
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back to his notebooks and pulled out all kinds of lessons that
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had nothing to do with drugs. The second part of the book,
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which is short, is when he "stopped the world."
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_Tales_of_Power_. Here we learn about the "tonal" and
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the "naugal" and find that there are other apprentices learning
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sorcery too.
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_The_Second_Ring_Of_Power_. Castaneda heads down to
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Mexico and learns that dons Juan and Genaro have left (gone to
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the world of nonordinary reality). He gets in trouble with a
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few sorceresses.
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The Eagles Gift is about Castenada continuing to remember what he
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was taught. It presents the Toltec view that whatever created man
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(The Eagle {it is called the Eagle because that is what it looked
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like to the early seers}) consumes our consiousness at death. It
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tells of the "gift" that the eagle bestowed upon man in the form
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of a plan to fool the eagle and retain consiousness by following
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a pattern and building a group of individuals into a team to work
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togather. Carlos remembers his lessons in dreaming and stalking
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and puts alittle of it to use.
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The Fire From Within is about Carlos continuing to remember his
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lessons. Most importantly is how he describes the Nagual's party
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breaking the bonds of life and death. The idea is that the people
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in the nagual's party allowed the tumbler to penetrate the luminous
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egg (which causes instant death). From here they were supposed to
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enter inside of a tumbler and not have their consiousness consumed.
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What I think is important about these two books is that Don Juan
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and Don Genaro are not the real bosses. Silvo Manuel is. Silvo
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is described as a man that has achieved total intent. These books
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describe the various members of the naguals party. Some members
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are very strange indeed. Anyway taken as a whole the two books describe
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"stalking", "controlled folly", "dreaming", "will" and "intent".
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I read the new book; "The Power Of Silence". It's quite good!
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The best he's done yet. It's reminiscent of "Journey To Ixtlan"
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in its organized presentation of Don Juan's ideas.
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In this book Carlos tells us about Don Juan's teachings on
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"Intent". This seems to be Don Juan's term for 'the will of the
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Spirit'. The teachings are presented as a means for
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opening one's personal channel to "intent", to the will of God.
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The sorcerer is presented here as one who can help others open
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this channel.
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hope this is helpful,
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todd
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