A collection of strange objects.

Rather than leave out any reader comments that apply to Nagualism, we have created this column as a storehouse of whatever you find out there and care to send in.

Another don Juan lineage Nagual?!?!

So you ask yourself, what happened to Pablito, Nestor, the little Sisters, and the rest of the gang. According to Marilyn Tunnestende, she took them over and is leading them. At least that's what I'm told she will say in next month's issue of Magical Blend. It's issue 44 and will be available August 8th. I got the impression that she was going to say something to the effect that Carlos is an idiot. I am told that she does not share the same agent with the rest of the group (Toltec Artists).

Source: Chico, CA

How about an apprentice?

...How does Ken Eagle feather fit into all of this? I have his book, "Traveling with Power" in which he claims to be an apprentice to don Juan. The experiences he relates seem much different and even frivolous when compared to those of the other apprentices...

Source: Northbrook, IL

Editor: Personally, I hope everyone in the world is either a Nagual or an apprentice of don Juan and I'm the only idiot. That way my chances of succeeding are better. Maybe Carlos will clear this up.

No new Nagual.

... according to a guy who has been to most of the [Carlos Castaneda] seminars, and met C.C. several times, there is no Nagual in training and don Juan and Castaneda's lineage has come to an end-- the "Rule" is no longer in effect. Consequently, there is some sort of new rule that applies more to this age.

Source: Glendale, CA

Editor: Don Juan's lineage coming to an end doesn't account for the "horde of angry sorcerers". I was kinda hoping for a date with Josefina.

A bunch of squirrels.

... having met Taisha Abelar at a book signing, last year, where I became very disheartened by the overt defensiveness among the other people attending. Taisha seemed to be the only friendly and open person there.

You'd think that these folks would use her behavior as an example, and not act like a bunch of squirrels---then it dawned on me, that they're presence was not a reflection on the author or the teachings, but, the result of an unscrutinized mailing list.

Source: Glendale, CA

Editor: I've experienced the attack of the killer squirrels too.

Rituals?

One thing that I don't understand is that Castaneda says that his group doesn't use ritual. But the use of crystals and stones, the building of boxes and putting people in caves to me seems like ritual...

Source: New Bern, NC

Editor: You raise a good point here. Don Juan has mentioned the value of ritual (repetitious movements) many times in connection with shutting down the internal dialog. But the recapitulation crate is not ritual, it's technique. See the interview involving Taisha in last month's issue; any place will do, even a bus. The rocks and crystals came from the inorganic beings, not don Juan. The inorganic beings seem to love ritual. The remainder of the rituals may have come from the Death Defier and don Juan didn't seem too happy about that. He worried that the sum total of those rituals might destroy his line of sorcerers. He also implied that the power plant techniques given to Carlos came from that source.

At any rate, I can tell you from first hand experience that the use of things like the pebbles has it's price. I learned concentration clutching the pebbles. My tendons hurt for months from the pressure. I learned marvelous concentration and had enough hair-raising experiences to be satisfied I was learning something. But now I have a feeling about the stones. I like them. I associate concentration with something I can grab. I have a feeling of nostalgia for the little rocks. I believe this falls into the "liens and mortgages on awareness" category don Juan devised in The Fire from Within.

Questions, Questions....

What has happened to the original apprentices Carlos was to serve as Nagual? Where they part of the group that Carlos took into another world from the little church in southern Mexico? Does he still interact with them? What is the rule of the Three-pronged Nagual? What facets does it have besides indicating change?

Carlos says not to hunt to join the Castaneda clan; that if a person successfully recapitulates, the sorcerers will find that person. Does that promise hold true even after Carlos has left human life behind? Was doa Soledad's dog the same one Taisha Abelar knew as Manfred?

Source: Little Rock, AR

Editor: I've got an idea. Write to that address under the Nagualist Organizations heading, the Toltec Artists, and ask Carlos himself. Just don't put MY name on it...

Sad but true.

Nagualism does produce drastic results. My behavior, thoughts and feelings today are very different from what they were ... I have found that it is very difficult on those who know you when you begin to change drastically over short periods of time. People try very hard to re stabilize you into their idea of "who you are". If your relationships with other people in your life now are very important to you, it would be best to think very carefully about what you may very likely lose...

Source: Wilbraham, MA

Editor: Everything you cared about is what you lose. That doesn't mean a person would have it any other way. Still, sometimes it produces a feeling of sadness.

Well, maybe not that sad.

... I believe that the life changes [produced by Nagualism] amount to giving up stuff that wasn't worth much in the first place... Don Juan probably would have pointed out that in the case of men, what we're really worrying about is lost sex. No matter how you look at it, it wasn't worth the price. I guess the real trouble comes in when all of the people who were hanging on you find out you aren't behaving the way they want you to. They try to turmoil you into line, but it doesn't work. The recapitulation gives you a kind of immunity. In my case, I actually noticed that nervous feelings in my stomach controlled my interactions with most people. After recapitulating a particular person, the spasms were practically gone. That allowed me to stop and look at the actual interaction instead of reacting to a nervous impulse. I was always waiting for a "feeling" explosion from the other person and that made me flinch emotionally. Now I can simply watch. I'm expecting the explosion, but I don't flinch, and it comes and doesn't matter. The result is that I agree with don Juan. The only feelings a person has are those convenient to them at the time. Believing otherwise is a social construct designed to make it all seem noble.

The strangest part is that this calm appraisal of human interaction leads one to notice that people feel what they want to feel in most cases. And most of the time they like to feel all muddled up and victimized.

Source: CA

Castaneda lectures in Berkeley.

... In December, we were invited to attend a series of Castaneda lectures, followed by the teaching of Sorcerer Passes. The experience was engaging, to say the least...

Source: Berkeley, CA

Editor: As part of an ongoing project, any readers who have been taught the sorcery passes are requested to suggest corrections to the sample drawings in this issue. Eventually, we might develop perfect representations.

'Two Bears' Genaro?

Is this dreaming at all similar to the shamanic journey; specifically that done by Michael Harner? Just learned that perhaps don Genaro was Tom "Two Bears" Wilson, Navajo Medicine Man and President of the Native American Church. Now names are not important, but it is interesting. If interested, check out Star Warrior: the Story of Swift Deer by Bill Wahlberg.

Source: Bozeman, MT

Editor: Maybe he was. Don Juan was a "stockholder", so why not? Did he just disappear when don Juan did or did he die and leave a body around? If he is still alive or there was a body when he died, then he isn't Genaro according to Carlos' books. Genaro left this world, boots and all.

But is it real?

... Is this stuff real? My belly and experience agrees, but I'm not really sure. I think that something probably happened to CC, maybe to TA & FD as well. But I'm not certain that it's as they presented it, or even similar. If my experience didn't fall into place with it, I'd have definitely laughed it off...

Source: San Francisco, CA

Editor: It works, that's a good start. This reader practices Zen too. From my experience, Enlightenment Heightened awareness. It takes a certain energy configuration to enter it once and remain there permanently. In the Carlos interview in this issue, he emphasizes the concept of "IT" which is also a Zen concept. This reader suggested the Zen practice of walking for 5 minutes between meditation sessions.

The insane ape club.

... I did have the good fortune to hear Mr. Castaneda speak, once. It was last fall, in Palo Alto. The thing that struck me most vividly was his description of us as insane apes, who imitate, who copy, who start clubs and cults and groups, and who can never do anything alone...

Source: Berkeley, CA

Editor: Welcome to the insane ape newsletter. This reader also attended the recent witches' lectures in Berkeley.

Losing his edge?

Last November I experienced a lapse in my study of Dreaming. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but that's besides the point. I found myself in the middle of a sexual relationship which lasted only 4 or 5 days. The outcome- a conception of a child. I left the scene on my way to Hawaii not knowing of the conception until my return.

My lapse has continued for reasons unknown to me. I've been walking around waiting for my will to continue and I have started my recapitulation. I am in the same place as the woman who is having the baby and our relationship is nil... The thing I'm concerned about is the baby stealing my edge as don Juan put it. Is there any practices that I could undertake to prevent this? Would I have to meet a Nagual to gain this knowledge?

Source: Moab, UT

Editor: We don't have the answer, but eventually someone is bound to ask Carlos or group and report the answer here. Or you might figure out the answer by recapitulating and studying Chapter 3 of The Second Ring of Power. As a last resort, maybe you will pass the second gate and be able to ask a scout. As far as the dreaming lapse goes, I've experienced that myself. Dreaming requires freed energy. Anything that ties up our awareness can interrupt it. As I'm sure you know, that especially includes the recapitulation, and every aspect of male/female mating.  

Nagualist Newsletter and Open Forum / Issue 2 Aug. /Sept. 1994