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The Nagualist Newsletter and Open Forum / Issue 4 Dec. 1994/Jan. 1995

Copyright 1995 by Nagualist Newsletter, all rights reserved. Individual submissions by readers and staff of the newsletter are also protected under copyright law. No portion may be reproduced without the written permission of the Nagualist Newsletter and of the individual who made the submission. Additional copies may be available at no charge.

HEY, THAT'S JUST LIKE...

We receive continuous comparisons of the techniques in Carlos' group's books and the techniques practiced by other groups. Some of these are really stretching things and up until now we have resisted printing these accounts. More often than not, a would-be Nagualist is simply putting things off and living vicariously by claiming their favorite practice is the same thing as Nagualism. Occasionally, we receive a very intelligent comparison that is interesting to read.

We've finally decided to give up and print a few of these accounts, with the goal of one per issue. We will select these at random from those a majority of the staff feels are interesting to read. Personally, I'm against it because it puts us in the position of deciding who's personal belief system is worth looking into. I strongly believe that no one gets interested in Nagualism for the "right" reasons in the first place, and no matter what state of mind a potential practitioner is in when he or she starts, it will change radically after fully committing to the practices. So I'd prefer to just toss out all accounts of other practices as bad memories and wasted time. But the newsletter is a collection of reader input, and readers are asking to read these accounts.

In case you haven't figured it out, I fit into don Juan's "old fart" personality category.

This month, we've selected interesting input from a reader who sees a connection between the recapitulation crate and the practices of true mediums. Please don't assume that all comparison input we receive is this good. Some is good, some is way off base.

The enclosure used for mediumistic seances, was called a spirit cabinet. The medium would sit in the cabinet, usually made of curtains of canvas, or thick material hung from poles in a box-like structure. They also used a wooden structure, like a self-standing closet, to sit in for doing deep trance work. The pressure of the enclosure was said to aid the spirits in building up ectoplasm from both the medium and those gathered, to make visible, tangible vehicles for the spirit's projection into our dimensionality. The suggestion here, is that the use of a closet, or other construction, could produce very powerful results, like those of the early mediums.

Those mediums would sit for years to produce phenomena. Theirs was an exercise in patience unlike what we are able to produce in today's world of instant gratification. They weren't predicated by instant successes or failures. So possibilities were based on their explorations over long periods. They were not deluded, but patient, explorative, evolved practitioners.

It may be that in the west the process of Realization comes closest to the Nagual's burning from within. (I am interpreting here.) But the work of mediums, clairvoyants, and Spiritualists, goes to a certain point on that same road. Some mediums are held back by the beliefs and conditioning of those systems, but there are bright jewels on their path which we ought to study and not prejudge. Perhaps some mediums were naguals who did not know that they were. They certainly produced the same effects as described by Carlos in his books. The things which seem to elude them, and which are not taught: are the recapitulation, existing in the second attention, identifying and shifting the assemblage point, stopping the internal dialogue, dreaming, stalking, and impeccability. Perhaps the Spiritualist version of "entering the silence" can be equated with stopping the internal dialogue.

Exploring through the psychic faculties seems identical to being in the second attention: Astral projection making accessible the ethereal double: Healing work on auric energy giving direct perception of the spirit's energy: Demonstrations of physical and mental mediumship proving more than ever before that spirit exists. Realization demonstrating that some individuals may have experienced the totality of being, although it is doubtful that they passed from this realm in any way similar to don Juan Matus and his band.

The realization experience may come for all humanity in a flash, and it will be considered as either the universe's greatest gift, or the rudest awakening imaginable, Either learn or be taught, a dear friend used to say. Either we are a friend to learning, or the universe may tear us to shreds.

The freedom of the Nagual isn't explicit in our western system, but it ought to be. I wonder if the mediums got caught up by the Tonal, because they had not known better. There is no deep lineage for mediumistic training as yet, although the attempt was made earlier this century, by Spiritualists, mediums, and clairvoyants who use psychic training to produce a working relationship between "the other side" and the students. By using direct apprehension of auric energies and spirit communication they are able to effectively increase their awareness while expanding beyond their limitations. This info may prove useful to those interested in being trained psychically by mediums. The draw-back is that you have to disengage yourself from Spiritualism's christian trappings, while sifting out useful techniques to aid in the practice of seeing. I found it easy to shut off the internal dialogue during the period I was practicing mediumship. I was also seeing, and hearing spiritual phenomena. There was also a profound sense of quickening, as though my spiritual batteries were being charged. There was lots of power to shift the attention. I was able to produce minimal physical mediumship, and used distant seeing as part of a rescue attempt in the Virgin Islands, thousands of miles away. I list these as examples of what others may also experience, if an exploration of the psychic were attempted in this fashion.

Some of my experiences of Castaneda-like phenomena:

*Fibers of energy from the area of the solar plexus. I actually felt tugs, as if I had an umbilical-like rope coming out of my solar plexus, which an invisible hand pulled three times to the left. This event led me to enter a bookstore I had not seen before, and meet people who changed my life. These individuals consisted of psychic explorers, a top notch medium, and a group of occultists in the San Francisco area.

*An Animal-like Being (drawing enclosed) observed during spontaneous astral projection. Around my early teens I had this experience. I heard a slow rhythmic drum beat. Boom. Space. Boom. Space. Etc. The next thing I knew I was drawn into a current of energy. I had floated out of my body, face towards ceiling in my Bronx bedroom.

Suddenly I was flipped over in a current, which had the dual qualities of magnetism and water. The current carried me toward my third-floor window. I was terrified that if I was swept out of the window by it, I would be drawn downward and die in this state. As I struggled to grab at something, I felt strangely elastic and boneless. I was able to grab the window-frame and stop my descent.

The current pulled me slightly out of the window. The maple tree in front of me as well as the walls and fire-escapes to the left and right, had several creatures on each of them. Some crouched, others squatted or clung to the walls and branches. Right below my face, clinging to the vertical surface of the brick wall was a creature. Its back twitched as I locked my eyes on it. It seemed large, one and a half feet perhaps, to my perspective. It was dark grayish black, and some brown. It had many long, sharp teeth in its long snout. Its tail curled tightly about it on its left side. Instead of eyes it had big glowing red orbs, which were lights in its head, rather then physical objects. Due to this event I changed my sleeping patterns and was terrified of ever having such an experience again.

Much later in life I learned of parallel experiences from others. Castaneda is shown a similar creature, in a stream, using a mirror to see it, and Oliver Fox repeatedly describes energy streams like the one I experienced, in his book Astral Projection, A Record of Out-of-the-Body Experiences. It was a talent which he naturally had. I too have had many sorts of psychic experiences, but never had another out of body experience of such intensity and vividness and recall. Fox says that there are streams of energy which carry us to other places. The spots he was carried to, then offered him a specific perspective, or lesson.

*Seeing the aura directly. I attended a class in psychic development at a local Spiritualist church. Under red light I was able to see the aura of a man who did not say so, but was suffering severe lower back pain. I saw a tendril of shadow in his light body. It went out six inches from the back of his pelvis, over the area of the disk. I was able to touch this energy and felt a tick as my fingers crossed it. I then decided to use the glow from my fingers to "patch" the dark tendril in the flow of his aura. When I did so, from behind him, he felt a distinct pop in his disk and the pain vanished instantly. So did the darkened area. It now glowed at the same intensity as his visible aura.

Source: Milwaukee, WI

Editor: This reader is interested in hearing if other people have had experiences with creatures like the ones described here in his second story.

Nagualist Newsletter and Open Forum/ Issue 4 Dec. 1994/Jan. 1995