Are we witnessing the rule of the three-pronged Nagual?

"I've said that the new seers believed that the assemblage point can be moved from within. They went one step further and maintained that impeccable men need no one to guide them, that by themselves, through saving their energy, they can do everything that seers do. All they need is a minimal chance, just to be cognizant of the possibilities that seers have unraveled."

- Don Juan, The Fire from Within by Carlos Castaneda

Since Carlos' books first came onto the scene, many readers have tried to adopt their principles in an effort to duplicate the effects of the teachings. Somewhere about the time The Eagle's Gift was released, this was more or less possible since the recapitulation was described in detail. It still didn't seem particularly practical and the number of readers who actually tried the recapitulation was few.

Don Juan has been taunting us for years with his comments about the "new cycle", the lack of a need of a guide, and his lectures about "having to believe". Many have felt that these type of comments were directed at the reader and not at Carlos. After all, why lecture Carlos about having to believe when he was practically tossed off a cliff every other day? That ought to be enough to convince anyone.

Ever since Silvio Manuel was exhilarated on discovering the rule of the three-pronged Nagual, the reader has been left to guess exactly what that rule might entail and whether it had something to do with the "new cycle". There has been every reason to believe it might be a process of increasing the number of lineages. After all, don Juan has emphasized over and over that the people of his lineage never do anything without taking into account every possible outcome. If that's true, then why expose a lot of innocent people to bits and pieces of the sorcery world with no hope of every joining themselves? Why push Carlos to write the books? He could most certainly have kept himself fed and clothed by teaching anthropology. If the books were carelessly conceived, it would be a cruel mistake.

The more obvious answer (assuming you take the books at face value) is that the books have been lures to build a population of practitioners from which new lines might spring. As the years went by, each book became closer and closer to an actual, practical instruction manual. We have finally arrived at the point where there is not only enough information, but Carlos and group are openly admitting we can join them.

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