I read Castaneda in the 70s. It never once occurred to me to take it as word for word literal truth, instead of as good storytelling to get some points across. I was actually surprised to realize that there were people who took it as documentary.

I think the four of them went in four different directions in the desert since witches usually associate with the cardinal directions

Sean, thank you. Only just stumbled on your KZread posts. Castenada's books profoundly influenced me. And even after I concluded he was a fraud, the books continued to impress me. The prose alone is beautiful. This is how English should be written. More importantly, don Juan's concept of "controlled folly" is the essence of how one lives one's life after enlightenment. Only an enlightened person could have written that. Castenada may well have attained this through psychedelics, or reading the works of others, or some combination. In any event I knew nothing of his later life, or the women. And the thing that really struck me about the whole episode was the parallel with the death of Jesus. His death was not meant to happen either, and it left his disciples in total crisis and bewilderment.

@Off-Grid-World

4 ай бұрын

When reading the first book, I felt saddened that Carlos would have to possibly face the death of Don Juan before he attained the gift of seeing through the teachings. Tears me apart even more to learn of the whole fictional aspect. I took it as a sign of no time to waste in finding my own knowledge and peace within the universe.

In 1990, I was in London and working on my writing. I decided to part with a facsimile copy of Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' and went to an antique book dealer in the Chelsea Market. The dealer and I got chatting and I mentioned that I was having difficulty deciding how to write about my journeys in philosophy in a way that wouldn't bore potential readers. He suggested that I write it as fiction, which gave more leeway for expressing my ideas. I think this is what Castaneda was doing - trying to express his ideas.

Your guest touched on a very interesting and non intuitive observation that I've felt for a long time. With the passage of time, the critical analysis of Richard De Mille and the testimony of those who knew Castaneda personally during the latter years of his life, there really is no doubt that Castaneda himself was a charlatan and a fraud. He did not live the life of a "man of knowledge" or nagual as he claimed. In fact his personal life was diametrically opposed to the message he preached in his books. Nonetheless the substance of his books (particularly the issue of self importance) has always resonated as profound to me. It is very difficult to reconcile this contradiction. How can one dismiss the messenger but accept his message? I still struggle with this contradiction.

@GizzyDillespee

3 ай бұрын

He was a "do what I say, not what I do" style of leader. Those guys project the things that they hate about themselves onto others, and claim the characteristics that they admire in others. This particular guy even claimed a shamanic appreciship that didn't happen. Guys such as him have charisma. I read all of his books, years ago. Since then, I've lived with a couple of people who similarly try to create realities for people, impeccably... they could pass a lie detector test. When they didn't know I was there, I watched one of them run up the stairs, and jog outside... He looked like he was in his 40s! Then he saw me and other people (who hadn't noticed), and transformed into a decrepit old man, hunched over and sunken face, in about 2 or 3 seconds. It was one of the creepiest things I've ever seen a person do. He turned old and retarded a couple of years earlier, and I could see what was happening, but his family still doesn't seem to know. I've seen him transform since then, too. His dad knows, because he's the same way, but his daughters and others don't seem to!🤣 Anyway, my main point is, if you want to pull such manipulative stuff as that, and more, I'd suggest to live with authentic con artists and pay as much attention to what they do, as to what they say to whom and when. I think that's more valuable than reading what they publish under their name.

@buddhamack1491

3 ай бұрын

Ignore the charlatan and find someone else's teachings that are similar to his. There are so many better teachers out there that have integrity and actually practiced what they preached. I'm sure much of what he taught was just stolen from others anyway, there were so many people tapping into spiritual teachings at the time that I'm sure he just butchered a bunch of others' teachings anyway.

@Unit8200-rl8ev

2 ай бұрын

As Jesus Christ amply demonstrated, you only have to utter a few Neoplatonic platitudes to be seen as a World Savior.

In the early 1970s I was a university student in Canada. I had studied eastern philosophy for some years and had become involved with psychedelics. I would not discover the Don Juan books for some two or three years. Casteneda's books would eventually explain a number of baffling experiences I had during this period. Firstly having discovered the Christian mystics; Theresa of Avalon, Meister Elkhart, St John of the Cross etc. through Aldous Huxley's Perennial Philosophy I had developed my own meditation to subdue my ego. One afternoon while walking alone on campus I was pursuing the censorship of my thoughts. Suddenly a disembodied voice loudly and clearly said "If you continue to pursue your practise you will die". I immediately heeded the warning and ended my practise. I intuitively treated this voice as having simply conveyed information. I sensed no personality, God or angel. When years later I read the Don Juan saga I learned that this is the Voice of Seeing and yes there was no one home. In another section of the books Don Juan explains that mystics in aggressively assaulting their selves are actually attacking the egg of energy enveloping us and protecting us from death. The mystic unwittingly rips open his or her cocoon of energy and perishes. Another uncanny incident occurred when home from school for a long weekend. I awoke on Sunday morning with the feeling of a heavy sphere in my head. It gradually descended through my body all day long and disappeared though my feet in the evening. Years later I read Carlos Casteneda's account of his losing the human form. It was exactly as I had experienced it. After finally discovering the Don Juan stories, so perhaps under their influence, I had other experiences as described by Carlos. I moved my assemblage point in an encounter with a telepathic young woman attacking me emotionally (magically). The most disturbing was a year and half of revelations, mind altering and often terrifying. I was forced to review many incidents from my life infusing them with new meaning and destroying my belief in my mundane life. I have only recently realized this was the Recapitulation of one's life practised as a discipline amongst warriors, but forcefully imposed upon me, having no teacher I suppose. As I am not a joiner I never sought out Carlos or his organization. But I cannot deny the power of these works. I am definitely not a nagual. Strange things happen to me but I cannot accomplish anything through my will. So now to discuss the fraud charges levied against Carlos which appear to be well authenticated. The later books of Castaneda have much to do with Stalking. Stalking is the creation of a false crisis designed to move a student's assemblage point and push them into magical realms. I believe the whole Castaneda phenomena was an exercise in Stalking. The World was Stalked. To what end. Sorry no idea.

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

Castaneda was a charlatan who made millions from his lies; he passed off fiction as fact, and that made him EVIL.

@JeffBostick222

2 ай бұрын

I think your last thoughts on this are the most important to me. I believe people like Castaneda can have pure motives when sharing spiritual insights. But often what happens is, these metastasize over time as the proponent begins to collect adherents to their philosophy, and then power over others takes over their minds, even though they may not intentionally desire this at first. It seems it is just mere narcissism hiding in *priestly* robes.

@katerwriter

Ай бұрын

The Castaneda story is a complex one. In a sense, millions of readers both received gifts of insight - clearly his books incorporate some metaphysical truths - but were abused too by his deceptions - hallmarks of narcissistic personality disorder. Castaneda has every behavioral trait of NPD.

I read his first book in the 70’s and found it kinda trippy and I moved on. This is the first time I’ve heard any of this background on CC. I’ve always been adverse to any cult-like situations. So sorry about the women. They really must have been locked in tight.

So you're saying that they didn't "burn with the fire within" and transcend to another level of reality? Bummer. Still some good reading though. But kinda lost me after "Fire from Within". I wish he had stopped writing after that. Like so many others, I was very taken with Castaneda's books. Ate them up. Of course there was always a niggle of doubt since his experiences were so far removed from conventional reality. But the first big "hang-on-a-minute" moment was when he started over from the beginning because he suddenly "discovered" that Don Juan had been teaching him on two levels and it all came back to him later. It seemed very convenient. But the material was so good that I continued to eat it up. 40 years later and here I am still struggling to get by in the mundane world. But at least my bones aren't lying out in the desert somewhere. It would be really interesting to know definitively what happened to the rest of the witches though! Great presentation, thanks for posting this.

All I can say is I do those Tensegrity exercises and somehow there's something deep whether he made it up or borrowed, they are good for stopping the internal dialogue. Yeah, he's a fraud in one way, but the message from the books that stayed with me is nature is mysterious, one can have similar experiences to what Carlos had. I've reread those books 10 times over because that sense of mystery, of there being something more is on every page- sad to see his end, his family getting nothing and the witches disappearing with the bread- cool topic

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

Read something else; there are lots of good, honest books out there.

ha the dude on the left perfectly summarized.... Castaneda may not have met any one he wrote about but if you take some mushrooms, lsd or what not and practice the techiques...like the man said it will freak you out because there is something to it.

[This is my third attempt to post a comment re: Morris Berman. Perhaps the previous ones were removed because I included a link to Berman's blog? Well, here goes attempt # 4 without the link.] Morris Berman asserts that the first two books in Castaneda's series are true on the basis of some insider authority whose name he doesn't reveal. Don Juan was real but living on the outskirts of LA, according to this authority. That would explain the discrepancy between the dates of books that Castaneda checked out from the UCLA library and his chronology in Sonora, Mexico that Richard DeMille pointed out.

@SeanMunger

2 жыл бұрын

Convenient "insider authority," especially one who is nameless. Isn't it much more logical to believe that Castaneda just made the whole thing up? Literally all of the evidence points in that direction.

@suryadas6987

2 жыл бұрын

@@molocious KZread automatically deletes comments with links now. There is no "conspiracy" on anyone's part to hide the "truth" about Castaneda. The man was a fraud.

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

LOL

One quick question: Who inherited Castaneda's money/property? And was it a lot??

@SeanMunger

2 жыл бұрын

That's a great question. It is my understanding that Castaneda's property went back into the for-profit enterprise that continued to run the Tensegrity workshops long after his death. I suspect it was substantial, given the value of the L.A. compound in which he was living at the time of his death.

Great video ... looking at it as unbiased , honest as possible .

'They made love in the desert and that's the whole movie...' Have you watched it, or just heard about it? Doesn't seem you've seen it at all; or maybe, you just didn't understand it?

@SeanMunger

Жыл бұрын

I saw it. Frankly part of me wishes I hadn't, it was such a God awful boring mess of a movie. On the other hand it's perversely enjoyable, like watching an Ed Wood picture.

I think that this "window" you talk about opened up at least once before. If you look at late 19th century career of Madame Blavatsky, the Theosophists, up through Aleister Crowley, and culminating and sputtering out in the spiritualist crazes of the 1920's and 1930's. It all looks really similar. Blavatsky claimed that the amazing progress made in the sciences during the 19th century needed a parallel in the spiritual world and that she was just the gal to do it.

I’m surprised you didn’t mention, or are possibly unaware, that the soundtrack to Zabriskie Point famously contains music by Pink Floyd.

Yes, the perennial philosophy - classic Huxley - I read more of his writing than Castañeda's...we were so lucky to live during those times. OTOH having the internet now, it's hard to imagine that Castañeda's books would be popular today...

I have read his books. I don't think that taking these books seriously was meant to be.. It was more the idea represented that mattered. To bad so many people get lost on that path. I see it way too many times.

I read Carlos Castaneda in 1969, when his first book came out. It was recommended by a friend, an artist, and Native American with a severe psychiatric disorder, while in art school. He did a series of paintings on paper inspired by the teachings of Don Juan and with the help of various psychoactive drugs. He decided to cook the paintings in an oven, for some reason, and nearly burned down the apartment building where he was living. He was a restless soul and avid reader, and later recommended The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, and George Gurdjief's Meetings with Remarkable Men. Both Crowley and Gurdjief were charlatans but brilliant, each in his own way. I would also add Madam Blavatsky to the list. And, of course, Florinda Donner.

There are so many parallel's to Scientology ...

It's been ages since I read any of this stuff, but I seem to recall there was a story in one of Carlos' books about the death of Don Juan. Evidently the souls of accomplished sorcerers, upon expiring, fly up into the air, and circle the earth multiple times before "unwinding and vanishing." It's possible the witches in question went out into the desert to ... uh, acknowledge Carlos' passing overhead. Or possibly they went to join him in his final flight. The desert does seem to be the key.

It sounds like they had a plan to "meet him in the desert" 🏜. Not surprising for a cult or neo-cult.

As insane as Castaneda's Stories are , they seemed "very much Saner" than most of what was Happening in the 1970's !

Decades ago it was reported that Castaneda did his research in libraries. Then he decided to write the books in first person as a journey, making it more accessible

Thank you, Sean, for your videos as it got me interested in investigating the writings of these women. It turns out that I read Taisha’s book in the 1990s and it had a powerful effect because there were so few texts of a woman’s spiritual journey at that time. Amy Wallace’s book reveals that Carlos loved life (and herself) too much to put into effect the marvelous exit performance as he described it for the last Nagual. My theory is the witches did it instead as ritual to transform their devastation & embarrassment for their Nagual exiting the earth in such a human manner. The key is the final words spoken to Amy after the ritual gift of her jewelry repeated in her memoir: “Do you mind if I ask you another favor? You’re not too busy? No? You know how harried I’ve been cleaning the garage-would you give me a call at 3:30 tomorrow? There’s a hardware store I’d like you to go to, to pick up a window. That’s fine? It’s the very last thing to be done-a window. I love you.” The “Window” symbolizes the passage and 3:30 adds up to six, the hexagon structure of the archetype of the HIEROS GAMOS, the sacred marriage of Heaven & earth and the Aquarian icon. Your reference to Zabrinski Point is apt. The film reflected the era in that the quest of the Castaneda group was to embody the archetype by way of Tensegrity exercises (the name implies holding the tension of the opposites). The multiplying images of the coupling on the dunes was a literal sexual interpretation of the quest of the sixties to experience this archetype sought by yogis and sorcerers alike. From a passage in Amy’s book, I suspect Carlos secretly took many of his ideas in the cult from the Bolivian mystic Oscar Ichazo. My father was in Oscar’s cult in the early seventies and there seemed to be a similarity of techniques. It turns out the ad for the kundalini equinox on your video is all about the timing (Equinox and eclipse) and techniques of embodying this archetype! Nice synchronicity!

After discovering an interview in a New Age magazine about Castaneda's meeting with Swami Muktananda in 1972 or 1973, and then reading Carlos' questions and Muktananda's answers, it all became clear. Search no further. Carlos was a master of taking Yogic truths and repackaging them. Brilliant, though a liar.

Carlos Castaneda's PhD Thesis came from a single informant on his own mind. But drugs are very hard on your liver, as musician David Crosby learned. I wonder if Carlos and Crosby ever tripped together.

Don Juan is as real as big bird.

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

Mothman?

Do you know of any youtubes of Him talking? I saw this other brief documentary about him with. people that knew him. I guess he had a real funny personality to\.

Interestingly, as with Joe Bui , I read the first 4 books and found truths and experiential validity to some of the exercises. When I read, “The Eagle’s Gift,” the 5th book, I thought, “Nonsense!” I read his 6th book and said to a friend that Castaneda had, “Gone Hollywood.”

According to Wikipedia, Castaneda claimed that at the death of his teacher Don Juan, Don Juan's closest followers chose to "follow him into Eternity", which I guess means that they committed suicide. Also according to Wikipedia, apparently it was part of Castaneda's teachings that the sorcerer's spirit would survive the death of his or her body. If Castaneda told the women in his compound this, it may well have been a strong motivating factor for their disappearances (and probable suicides) after his death. I'm astonished you didn't discuss this, since you can find it by just clicking around on Wikipedia for a few minutes.

Castaneda's work , I believe is somewhat embellished for story telling purposes, but the information is very true in sense that it is ancient thought brought to the reader. It gave us a very different way of visiting reality that was and is unknown presently.

@wbeaty

11 ай бұрын

Really we must treat those books as Alchemy texts ...full of gold-formulas which actually produce high explosives. If you do what Carlos says, you'll come to a bad end, as designed and intended. (Heh, so only do what Juan Matus says.) In hindsight, Juan Matus was very precognitive, saying that the arrival of Carlos signified an ending of his century-old line of practitioners. He'd mistaken Carlos' aura for that of a natural sorcerer, later describing that he was wrong, and the aura-structure was slightly off (and so totally misleading.) Oops. In hindsight, Carlos became a parasite, a spotlight-chasing petty dictator, harvesting energy from hoards of victims, while carefully concealed. Well, concealed from his close followers at least.

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

It's the same old shit repackaged

L Ron Hubbard was the master of the modern new age con

yes, joe...but Carlos lied to bring us the "truth"

The New Age fruity cuties flocked to Castanetta like moths to a flame.

Just like Carlos Castaneda's books, you have to ingest the mushroom to really understand Zabrinsky Point.

It looks like Carlos Castaneda and Charles Manson attended the same New Age Guru Seminars.

In Part 1 you mention a follower who was associated with the The Eagles...who were associated with the Laurel Canyon weirdness (see the book Weird Scenes in the Canyon). Many deaths are linked to this 'scene'. Is there a link with Casteneda?

The movie slumberland was exactly the same as the art of dreaming.

Michelangelo Antonioni's--the director of Zbriskie Point--L'Avventura coincidentally has a character, the lover of the male lead, who mysteriously disappears during a boating trip to the Aeolian Islands and is never heard of again, although her disappearance provides the plot impetus for the rest of the film in that her lover and her girl friend become involved while trying to solve the mystery.

Thanks for your work. Wasted only a few hours and now feel let down, as I was really impressed for a bit, but at least I didn’t buy any of his books. Same thing happened with Sadguhru for me when I found out he is fraudulent and likely killed his wife.

I've watched a few videos on this subject, never hearing about it until just after watching your excellent Manson study. I'm no expert but it seems everyone is approaching this subject from the psychological aspect of his followers reactions to his death. I would think a more pragmatic investigative path would be to follow the money. The stated philosophy of many if not all cults is just a smokescreen. Money is the real goal. The power struggle to control his finances after his impending demise could cause many to disappear by many reasons and means. One aspect of this subject I find tangentially interesting is that Castaneda chose not to live in a remote isolated area.

Why does it always end with a guy amassing lots of money and having sex with more than one much younger women? The first books were fascinating but what a tacky end. And tragic for the families of those women. Amy Wallace’s book solved the mystery for me. Sean you’re the best!

whats funny about the original printing of whitley strieber book COMMUNION is how thats an image of whitley on the front cover...take a look at it....its him, stylized ,of course, but him.....

I think it is not fair to compare Whitley Streiber with Carlos Castañeda. Streiber accounts maybe not true, but I think he may believe in them. Besides Streiber was a TV author so nobody really took it seriously (one critic referred to the movie based on the book as "science fiction memories"). And he didn't used it to fake his way to a PhD or formed a cult that secluded people from their families. Streiber is inoffensive, Castañeda was not, and he caused harm to the culture of the indegenous people he pretend to describe.

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

Frauds always cause offense to someone. Whitley's stuff pisses me off.

These woman were attempting to perhaps do things similar to witches but different.

Fascinating. Thanks from 🇬🇧 ~ Two days ago I had not even heard of Carlos Castaneda. I kid you not🙃

Whitley Strieber, believe him or not, does not to seem have become a cult leader.

Btw there is a series pilot called "The spot" on yt. I f'n want it to be made as a series. The story itself is huge.

I found an old Castaneda book when I was 11-12 and immediately concluded that Carlos himself was Don Juan and he took the name from Quixote as a tongue in cheek joke about belief in imaginary things that if u believe strongly enough others will be drawn into yr delusion or game - Many things we believe because we want to believe or need it - prophets, authors, actors, almost all characters on the stage of real life or a make believe construct are nothing without a audience, even an audience of 1 and surprisingly a audience in our mind, an audience of ourselves critiquing our own performance. 1l

@almightyyt2101

7 ай бұрын

Sorry, he was kind of an aaahole if he didnt have a plan to take care of his adopted daughters brainwashed lovers after his departure

@katerwriter

Ай бұрын

His first wife Margaret Castaneda said in her memoir about her life with Carolos that Don Juan Matus was named after their favorite wine - Mateus - that they used to drink while having philosophical discussions. Apparently he liked to add some clever allegories to his narratives.

non reader who starts reading CC and believed him? Glad he matured and woke up to the con

I was fascinated by Strieber's Communion.....for about the first 2/3, then I had a facepalm moment. He's a very successful novelist. Makes his living by making sh$t up. and he's real good at it. If you check out his claims now they go WAY beyond believable. I dont believe a word he says. Keep making it up, Whitley. You do you.

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

Whitley is another bullshit artist, like John Mack.

I'm glad you brought up Zbriskie Point. I haven't seen the film in a few years, but it's a revelation to see that the racism, police brutality, gun violence, tawdry materialism of the American Dream (represented in Rod Taylor's character's development projects) are still very much with us and, I'm afraid, will always be, because it has been in the DNA of this country since its inception. In earlier times, it was Manifest Destiny and the subjugation of Native Americans. But perhaps that wasn't the point of the film. Incidentally, it occurred to me that the scene with the plane buzzing the female lead's car in the desert is Antonioni's homage to Hitchcock's North by Northwest, specifically, the scene in which Cary Grant is nearly killed by a crop dusting airplane in an extremely flat terrain. Truffaut, French New Wave director, helped to elevate Hitchcock's reputation for technical innovation and artistic accomplishment.

I think the young woman commited suicide. Castaneda adopted her and then married her! and then Casteneda died. Add on top of that his guru status and the small coven of 'witches' around him .......well, couldn't that really completely screw your sense of orientation about who you are and your path through life. Casteneda abused her and the unfortunate young woman couldn't cope and so she walked off into the desert. And yes,she may have had some delusion that she would be reconnected with Casteneda through her desperate act. Very very tragic.

@melvynobrien6193

2 ай бұрын

Sleazy groupies is what they were.

As a gringo born in San Antonio, Texas, there is not a single statement, verbal or written, in Spanish in any interview or documentation concerning Casteneda. Meanwhile, in his texts, he repeatedly discussed going back and forth into Mexico across the frontier. Being born in Peru, despite identifying as an "European" repeatedly in interviews, Casteneda's primary language would have been Spanish. My point is (and I would beg you to take it with the "puro San Antonio" humor with which it is related): this is about White people eating nachos and drinking tequila and claiming it's Mescal, and then disappearing in the desert because their stupidity caught up with them.. There is one L.A. white woman who disappears in a desert and 20 years later she gets 2 podcasts, meanwhile the bodies of 200+ Mexican women are buried in a field outside of Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso, and absolutely no one cares at all. My point is the absolute segregation of White culture, Castillean Spanish culture, and indigenous First Nation cultures crated this entire dynamic. For instance, no one doubts the legitimacy of R. Gordon Wasson's mushroom research in the Oaxaca with Robert Graves, and much of what Casteneda conveyed is consistent with this other research. However the only paying audience was White hippy children. What could go wrong? Do you really think a single Yaqui or Hispanic from that region would really feel bad for a privileged White woman from L.A.? People are stupid and they die. White women from L.A. die quicker in the desert than indigenous folk in tune with the divine!??! Go figure....

@lynnhubbard844

Ай бұрын

I don't think you really don't have to explain that to the viewers here...bet none of them were sucked into the cult

A little kid, trying to fly, jumps off the ground. What, jump off your garage roof? That's stupid. If you cannot fly from the ground, or fly from a short chair, then you haven't yet learned to fly. And, to teleport to a parallel world, either you can learn the technique ...or you can threaten your life. Really do it. Jump off Don Juan's cliff. Drive at 150MPH into death valley. If you fail, they'll find dry bones at the base of the cliff. ...but if you learn to switch universes, then there's no need for personal physical threats. (But if you aren't an advanced practitioner, healing amputations and bringing dead animals back to life, then there's no way you can perform a much bigger miracle. There'd only be those bones, at Don Juan's cliff-base.) Hint: CAN YOU HEAL LIVER CANCER? No? Then no universe-switching is going to happen, and you're just lying to yourself. In Toltec world, lying to yourself is the ultimate "sin," and weird rapid deaths are the result that everyone expects.

Yeah, man, just like we shouldn't cofllate the Science Fiction books of Elron Buzzard with the Cult of Sciemtology.

People approach cults from many directions. The BS used to frame an idea doesn't lessen the idea. I am still a Church of The SubGenius cult member but know it is not real, yet somehow fulfilling. It is parody. The Scientologist began as fun. Great video.

Check out the book " Thy Neighbour's Wife" by Gay Talese

For the algo .

omg, i was thinking whitley strieber one minute before you name dropped him at 10:20