Is it really possible that Don Juan could command the movement of Carlos’ point of attention or time reference point into another dimension that he calls the Nagual and sorcerer’s perspective? Can a person’s ability increase to know you better than you know yourself, even at the level of body-conscious focus in the material world? Is INFINITY like the multidimensional soul that at some point becomes so attuned in ethics that it laughs at the stupidity of soul entities exploring naive denial and rationalizing the games our personalities play to circumvent our soul’s purpose? Could Don Juan shapeshift into his alter egos and energy from another dimension to become the reflection or mirror of the inner character of the student who seeks to label something he knows so little about, into an “elaborate” construct that would be akin to a thief but academically sound? Did he order this laughing response in another so easily?
Have you ever looked so deeply into yourself that you “didn’t mind apologizing” and “found the thought inadmissible”? What a life and what little holes in your soul you would have if only you were so wise, and yet what a curse and what a blessing that would be. Your knowledge of others and their intentions would make you feel so alone and so devastatingly unable to convey to others the games the ego plays. You could try to use your intellect and be found arrogant. You can use love and empathy and be found invasive and intense. You may develop the austere distance of a flawless warrior as Carlos was taught, and then you no longer need it. No more needed! Anything! This is the world of Carlos Castaneda calling on humanity to look at itself and know how sensationally gifted our souls can be, and ultimately how terrifying it would be to not truly care about another person at an intense level of need. But if there is no need in those dimensions, what is there? Love and connectivity as we have said; or purpose and productive participation in creation on a collective and common basis, where each separate energy can never feel anything but what it wants.
In Don Juan we see laughter and its great power that has no application except to help the truly interested and committed student who sincerely commits himself to the path without knowing what is about to happen. The awesome and inspiring nature of courage makes the word warrior seem like the only appropriate word to use. Without fear! This part of the Keltic Creed that the Toltecs knew and used so well to make other people rise within their own soul to achieve great unity and beauty, is the most important. Less happens between teacher and student than I would like, but ultimately I envy Carlos, while I question Don Juan.
INITIATION: – What does it take to learn the secrets of esoteric scholars and experts? Does one have to commit to paying money and be willing to attend endless lectures like Carlos did at UCLA with Professors Meighan and Garfinkel? Perhaps it takes the willingness and intense desire that he showed when he saw or felt the opportunity to learn the ways of the self-proclaimed last Toltec or a shaman from a lost culture? In some situations one has to jump through so many hoops and obstacles with many tricks and traps that one wonders if there really is more than sorcery at work. Don Juan had to fool Carlos at first because he knew that there was no way for Carlos to really believe the simple truths of our cosmic and spiritual world. Is that a rationalization? Today you can learn many of these things from books and seminars. In most cases, you should do this and then determine if there are any groups that meet your own interests and requirements. Because we just treated it as a highly shamanic experience and because that is what the druids and alchemists really were or are, and we treated it recently; we are going to quote a good explanation about shamanism that you can use as your own initiation if you wish.
“Shamanism Perhaps the oldest system of healing in the world, shamanism is prevalent in tribal cultures which, although isolated from one another, have developed beliefs and techniques with initial similarities {unless you believe in world travel throughout of time or in astral and akashic cognition.} The shaman is an individual who enters an ecstatic altered state of consciousness, which allows him to communicate with guardian spirits and helpers and tap into enormous sources of power.The primary purpose of shamanism is healing body and mind.It is also used for divination and to ensure good hunting and prosperity for a tribe or people.
According to archaeological and ethnological evidence, shamanism has been practiced for about 20,000 to 30,000 years. {The recent discovery of 90,000 year old drugs or herbal remedies at Neanderthal sites, as well as the Mungo Man, clearly pushes this back a long way from the point of view of purely physical evidence}. It may be much older, perhaps as old as the human race. It is found throughout the world, including very remote parts of the Americas, Siberia, and Asia, Australia, northern Europe, and Africa.
Shamanic systems vary greatly, but there are basic similarities in most systems {The Judaic Tree of Life and The Tree of Yggdrasil are more than just basic similarities}. The shaman must function comfortably in two realities, the ordinary reality of the everyday waking world and the non-ordinary reality of the shamanic state of consciousness. Non-ordinary reality is reached in a trance, which varies from a very deep coma to a deep coma and allows the shaman to see and do things that are impossible in ordinary reality. Once in a trance, the shaman enters the lower world by slipping into a hole or opening in the ground. In the lower world, he sees the cause of illness in a patient and knows the cure for him, and he sees his guardian spirit and his helper spirits. He can shapeshift into these spirits and fly through the air. He performs the cures on him and can see the future. When he finishes his shamanic work, he re-emerges from the lower world into ordinary reality. Shamans are also said to ascend to heaven in spirit boats or astride the spirits of sacrificed horses.
Nonordinary reality is as real to the shaman as ordinary reality. The things he sees are not hallucinations but externalized. The shamanic state of consciousness is induced through drumming, rattles, and dancing or, in some societies, through the ingestion of hallucinogens.
Shamans tend to be male {Women have more of these abilities in their natural state and require less altered consciousness}, although women can become shamans as well; some female shamans are extraordinarily powerful. In some cultures, the spirits involuntarily choose the shamans; they realize their calling in a transformative experience, often a serious illness that brings them closer to death {eg, today’s Damion Brinkley} and heals themselves. In other cultures, people with natural shamanic gifts are selected at a young age, trained, and initiated.
The shaman must obtain a guardian spirit, which is the source of his spiritual powers. The guardian spirit is also called a ‘power animal’, ‘tutelary spirit’, ‘totem animal’ or ‘familiar’. A common method of discovering and connecting with the guardian spirit is an all-night solitary vigil in the open air {It’s often a death-defying experience to try to lie to your tribe about any skill if it can’t get the job done}. The guardian spirit usually manifests as an animal, bird, fish, or reptile, but can also appear in human form. It is both beneficent and beneficial, giving the shaman the powers of an entire species {or wise-conscious inanimate life forms such as trees and mountains}. The shaman invites the guardian spirit to enter his body; he protects him from disease and hostile forces in the lower world. Guardian spirits change over the years as the needs of the shaman change.
After acquiring a guardian spirit, healing and divination can be performed. Healing techniques vary. A shaman can gather spirit helpers, which are the causes and cures of disease {The church believed this by excluding people’s free will and the active ingredients of physical nature. Few good shamans would do this today, if ever.}. Spirit helpers are represented by plants, insects, small objects, worms, and the like. When the shaman sees, in a trance, the cause of an illness, he places one of these objects in the back of the mouth and another in the front. He then begins to “suck” the disease from the patient’s body. The disease-causing energy is absorbed by spirit helpers in his mouth that protect the shaman from absorbing the disease himself. The helper in the back of the mouth acts as a backup, in case the disease passes to the helper in front.
In other techniques, the shaman descends into the underworld, or realm of the dead, to retrieve a patient’s soul or retrieve a patient’s guardian spirit. Some shamans exorcise disease-causing spirits in seance-like procedures or by summoning or coaxing them to leave the patient.
Sleight of hand tricks are sometimes used, but they don’t necessarily negate a cure.
Western interest in shamanism has been on the rise since 1951, when Mircae Eliade {Another Eranos Conference Attendee} published his landmark study, Shamanism. Since then, an increasing amount of literature has been written on shamanic systems and the uses of hallucinogenic drugs.
Some traditions of contemporary paganism and witchcraft incorporate shamanic practices. Most of these deal with raising energy, traveling to other worlds, and healing. Some witches, such as STARHAWK, consider witchcraft to be essentially a shamanic religion because raising energy, contact with the other world, and healing are central to it. Some pagans say the same thing about various forms of contemporary paganism. Wiccan and pagan shamanism encourages a closer connection to the Earth and plays a role in the environmental and ecological interests of many people. It also plays an important role in the creation of healing therapies specially adapted to pagan and wiccan spirituality.
OTHER READINGS:
Harner, Michael. The Way of the Shaman, New York: Bantam. 1982.
Harvey, Graham. Contemporary paganism: people who listen, land that speaks. New York, New York University Press, 1997
Kalweit, Holger. Dreamtime & Inner Space: The World of the Shaman Boston, Shambala Publications, 1984.” (7)
There are many things that we would have to agree on that seem unlikely to have the attributions that people who have done these things for millennia do. That doesn’t detract from the actual result and it can easily be said that science has made some similar false attributions. The difference for us should be that the shamans were doing something and rarely did the scientists achieve a great result.
