Carlos Castaneda

In 1974 his fourth book, Tales of Power, chronicled the end of the story of his apprenticeship with Matus. Despite published questions and criticism, Castaneda continued to be popular with the reading public, and subsequent publications appeared describing further aspects of his training with don Juan.^[citation needed]

Castaneda wrote that don Juan recognized him as the new nagual, or leader of a party of seers of his lineage. He said Matus also used the term nagual to signify that part of perception which is in the realm of the unknown yet still reachable by man—implying that, for his own party of seers, Matus was a connection to that unknown. Castaneda often referred to this unknown realm as "nonordinary reality."^{[citation needed]}

While Castaneda was a well-known cultural figure, he rarely appeared in public forums. He was the subject of a cover article in the March 5, 1973, issue of Time, which described him as "an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a tortilla". There was controversy when it was revealed that Castaneda might have used a surrogate for his cover portrait. Correspondent Sandra Burton, apparently unaware of Castaneda's principle of freedom from personal history, confronted him about discrepancies in his account of his life. He responded: "To ask me to verify my life by giving you my statistics ... is like using science to validate sorcery. It robs the world of its magic and makes milestones out of us all." Following that interview, Castaneda completely retired from public view^[1] until the 1990s.^[12]

Tensegrity

In the 1990s, Castaneda once again began appearing in public to promote Tensegrity, described in promotional materials as "the modernized version of some movements called magical passes developed by Indigenous shamans who lived in Mexico in times prior to the Spanish conquest".^[12]

Castaneda, with Carol Tiggs,

Castaneda married Margaret Runyan in Mexico in 1960, according to Runyan's memoirs. He is listed as the father on the birth certificate of Runyan's son C.J. Castaneda, even though the biological father was a different man.[14] In an interview, Runyan said she and Castaneda were married from 1960 to 1973; however, Castaneda obscured whether the marriage occurred,^[3] and his death certificate stated he had never been married.^[14]

Death

Castaneda died on April 27, 1998^[3] in Los Angeles due to complications from hepatocellular cancer. There was no public service; he was cremated and the ashes were sent to Mexico. His death was unknown to the outside world until nearly two months later, on June 19, 1998, when an obituary, "A Hushed Death for Mystic Author Carlos Castaneda" by staff writer J. R. Moehringer appeared in the Los Angeles Times.^[15]

Castaneda's students

After Castaneda stepped away from public view in 1973, he bought a large multi-dwelling property in Los Angeles which he shared with some of his followers, including

Around the time Castaneda died, his companions Donner-Grau, Abelar and Patricia Partin informed friends they were leaving on a long journey. Amalia Marquez (also known as Talia Bey) and Tensegrity instructor Kylie Lundahl also left Los Angeles. Weeks later, Partin's red Ford Escort was found abandoned in Death Valley. Luis Marquez, Bey's brother, went to police in 1999 over his sister's disappearance, but could not convince them that it merited investigation.[6]

In 2003, Partin's sun-bleached skeleton was discovered by a pair of hikers in Death Valley's Panamint Dunes area and identified in 2006 by DNA testing. The investigating authorities ruled the cause of death as undetermined.^[6][17] However, Castaneda often talked about suicide, and associates believe the women killed themselves in the wake of Castaneda's death.^[6]

Reception

The veracity of these books, and the existence of don Juan, was doubted from their original publication,^[6] and there is now consensus among critics and scholars that the books are largely, if not completely, fictional.^[9][10][11]

Early responses

In the early years after the publication of Castaneda's first book, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (1968), there was significant positive coverage and interest in his work.

The Los Angeles Times reviewed the book positively, emphasizing its impact on readers and its exploration of consciousness and reality. The Saturday Review highlighted the vividness of Castaneda's descriptions and his portrayal of Don Juan's teachings as thought-provoking and transformative. The Guardian's review of the book acknowledged Castaneda's skill as a writer and his ability to create a sense of immersion in his narrative.

Later responses

The veracity of Castaneda's work has been doubted since their original publication, even while reviewers praised the writing and storytelling.^[6] For example, while Edmund Leach praised The Teachings of Don Juan as "a work of art," he doubted its factual authenticity.^[10] Anthropologist E. H. Spicer offered a somewhat mixed review of the book, highlighting Castaneda's expressive prose and his vivid depiction of his relationship with don Juan. However, Spicer noted that the events described in the book were not consistent with other ethnographic accounts of Yaqui cultural practices, concluding it was unlikely that don Juan had ever participated in Yaqui group life. Spicer also wrote, "[It is] wholly gratuitous to emphasize, as the subtitle does, any connection between the subject matter of the book and the cultural traditions of the Yaquis."^[11]

In a series of articles, R. Gordon Wasson, the ethnobotanist who made psychoactive mushrooms famous, similarly praised Castaneda's work, while expressing doubts about its accuracy.^[18]

An early unpublished review by anthropologist Weston La Barre was more critical and questioned the book's accuracy. The review, initially commissioned by The New York Times Book Review, was rejected and replaced by a more positive review from anthropologist Paul Riesman.^[6]

Beginning in 1976, Richard de Mille published a series of criticisms that uncovered inconsistencies in Castaneda's field notes, as well as 47 pages of apparently plagiarized quotes.^[6]

Those familiar with Yaqui culture also questioned Castaneda's accounts, including anthropologist Jane Holden Kelley.^[19] Other criticisms of Castaneda's work include the total lack of Yaqui vocabulary or terms for any of his experiences, and his refusal to defend himself against the accusation that he received his PhD from UCLA through deception.^[20]

Modern perspectives

According to William W. Kelly, chair of the anthropology department at Yale University:

I doubt you'll find an anthropologist of my generation who regards Castaneda as anything but a clever con man. It was a hoax, and surely don Juan never existed as anything like the figure of his books. Perhaps to many it is an amusing footnote to the gullibility of naive scholars, although to me it remains a disturbing and unforgivable breach of ethics.^[6]

Sociologist David Silverman sees value in the work even while considering it fictional. In Reading Castaneda he describes the apparent deception as a critique of anthropology field work in general—a field that relies heavily on personal experience, and necessarily views other cultures through a lens. He said that the descriptions of peyote trips and the work's fictional nature were meant to place doubt on other works of anthropology.^[21]

Donald Wiebe cites Castaneda to explain the insider/outsider problem as it relates to mystical experiences, while acknowledging the fictional nature of Castaneda's work.^[22]

Existence of Don Juan Matus

Scholars have also debated "whether Castaneda actually served as an apprentice to the alleged Yaqui sorcerer don Juan Matus or if he invented the whole odyssey."^[9] Castaneda's books are classified as non-fiction by their publisher, although there is consensus among critics that they are largely, if not completely, fictional.^[23][24][6]

Castaneda critic

According to Jeroen Boekhoven, Castaneda spent some time with Ramón Medina Silva,[30] a Huichol mara'akame (shaman) and artist who may have inspired the don Juan character. Silva was murdered during a brawl in 1971.^[31]

Related writers and influence

• Michael Korda, editor-in-chief at Simon & Schuster, was Castaneda's editor for his first eight books and discusses their work together in an essay in Another Life: A Memoir of Other People.^[6]
• George Lucas has stated that Yoda and Luke Skywalker were inspired in part by don Juan and Castaneda.^[32]
• Octavio Paz, Nobel laureate, poet, and diplomat. Paz wrote the prologue to the Spanish language edition of The Teachings of Don Juan.^[33]
• Amy Wallace wrote Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda, an account of her personal experiences with Castaneda and his followers.^[34]

Publications

Books

• ISBN 978-0-520-21757-7
  . (Summer 1960 to October 1965.)
• ISBN 978-0-671-73249-3
  . (April 1968 to October 1970.)
• ISBN 978-0-671-73246-2
  . (Summer 1960 to May 1971.)
• Tales of Power, 1974.
  ISBN 978-0-671-73252-3
  . (Autumn 1971 to the 'Final Meeting' with don Juan Matus in 1973.)
• The Second Ring of Power, 1977.
  ISBN 978-0-671-73247-9
  . (Meeting his fellow apprentices after the 'Final Meeting'.)
• The Eagle's Gift, 1981.
  ISBN 978-0-671-73251-6
  . (Continuing with his fellow apprentices; and then alone with La Gorda.)
• The Fire From Within, 1984.
  ISBN 978-0-671-73250-9
  . (Don Juan's 'Second Attention' teachings through to the 'Final Meeting' in 1973.)
• The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan, 1987.
  ISBN 978-0-671-73248-6
  . (The 'Abstract Cores' of don Juan's lessons.)
• ISBN 978-0-06-092554-3
  . (Review of don Juan's lessons in dreaming.)
• Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico, 1998.
  ISBN 978-0-06-017584-9
  . (Body movements for breaking the barriers of normal perception.)
• The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe, 1998.
  ISBN 978-0-9664116-0-7
  . (Selected quotations from the first eight books.)
• The Active Side of Infinity, 1999.
  ISBN 978-0-06-019220-4
  . (Memorable events of his life.)

Interviews

• Burton, Sandra (March 5, 1973). "Magic and Reality". Time.
• Corvalan, Graciela, Der Weg der Tolteken - Ein Gespräch mit Carlos Castañeda, Fischer, 1987, c. 100p.,
  ISBN 3-596-23864-1

See also

• Body of light
• Neoshamanism
• Peyote song
• Rainbow body
• Witchcraft in Latin America

References

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Notes

1. ^ Castaneda's birth name, as well as the date and location of his birth, are uncertain. According to a 1973 article in Time, U.S. immigration records indicate that Castaneda was born Carlos Cesar Arana Castaneda on December 25, 1925, in Cajamarca, Peru.^[1] In the article, Castaneda was cited as saying that he had adopted the surname "Castaneda" later in life and that he had been born in São Paulo, Brazil. He also reported his date of birth as December 25, 1935.^[1] In other accounts he gave his date of birth as December 25, 1931.^[2][3] A 1981 article in The New York Times stated that Castaneda "was born Carlos Arana in a Peruvian mountain town 66 years ago", indicating a 1915 birth.^[4] Most sources tend to favor the Peruvian birth and 1925 date.^[5]
2. ^ Detailed citations can be found at § Reception.

Citations

1. ^ ^{a b c} Burton 1973.
2. ^ Epstein, Benjamin (March 1, 1996). "My Lunch With Carlos Castaneda". Psychology Today. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
3. ^ ^{a b c d} Applebome 1998.
4. ^ Walters, Ray (January 11, 1981). "Paperback Talk". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
5. ISBN 978-0-313-32215-0. Archived
   from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} Marshall 2007.
7. ^ "Castañeda's birth certificate". astro.com. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
8. ^ "U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992". ancestry.com. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
9. ^
   S2CID 143993277
   .
10. ^
    ISSN 0028-7504. Archived
    from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
11. ^
    doi:10.1525/aa.1969.71.2.02a00250
    .
12. ^ ^{a b} Applebome 1998b.
13. ^ "ABOUT US". Carlos Castaneda's Tensegrity. Archived from the original on February 16, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
14. ^ ^{a b} Woo 2012.
15. ^ "Castaneda Obituary". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. June 19, 1998. Archived from the original on August 7, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
16. ^ Donner-Grau 1982; Donner-Grau 1985; Donner 1991; Abelar 1992.
17. ^ Flinchum, Robin (February 10, 2006). "Remains of guru's disciple identified". Pahrump Valley Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
18. ^ Wasson, R. Gordon. 1969. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 23(2):197. A review of Carlos Castaneda's "The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge.", Wasson, R. Gordon. 1972a. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 26(1):98–99. A review of Carlos Castaneda's "A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan."; Wasson, R. Gordon. 1973a. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 27(1):151–152. A review of Carlos Castaneda's "Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan."; Wasson, R. Gordon. . 1974. (Bk. Rev.). Economic Botany vol. 28(3):245–246. A review of Carlos Castaneda's "Tales of Power."; Wasson, R. Gordon. 1977a. (Mag., Bk. Rev). Head vol. 2(4):52–53, 88–94. November.
19. ^ Kelley 1978, pp. 24–25.
20. ^ Harris 2001, p. 322.
21. ISBN 978-0-7100-8146-9
    .
22. ^ Wiebe, Donald (1999). "Does Understanding Religion Require Religious Understanding?". In McCutcheon, Russel T. (ed.). The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion. New York: Bath Press. p. 263.
23. doi:10.1080/00111619.1985.9934668
    .
24. ISBN 978-3-593-50101-7
    .
25. doi:10.1080/02791072.1982.10471937
    .
26. ^ De Mille 1976, p. ^{[page needed]}
27. ^ Kootte 1984.
28. ^ Harner, Michael (May 7, 1978). "To the Editor". The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
29. S2CID 143666251
    .
30. ^ Boekhoven 2011, pp. 210–217.
31. ^ Schaefer & Furst 1996, p. 184.
32. ^ Wickman 2015.
33. ^ Paz 2014.
34. ^ Wallace 2007.

Works cited

• Applebome, Peter (June 20, 1998). "Carlos Castaneda, Mystical and Mysterious Writer, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2015.
• Applebome, Peter (August 19, 1998b). "Mystery Man's Death Can't End the Mystery; Fighting Over Carlos Castaneda's Legacy". The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
• Boekhoven, J. W. (2011). Genealogies of Shamanism: Struggles for Power, Charisma and Authority. Netherlands: Barkhuis Publishing.
  ISBN 978-90-77922-92-7
  .
• Burton, Sandra; et al. (March 5, 1973). "Don Juan and the Sorcerer's Apprentice". Time. Vol. 101, no. 10. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
• De Mille, Richard (1976). Castaneda's Journey: The Power and the Allegory. Capra Press.
  ISBN 978-0-88496-067-6
  .
• ISBN 978-85-374-0176-7
  .
• Harris, Marvin (2001). Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
• Kelley, Jane Holden (1978). Yaqui Women: Contemporary Life Histories. University of Nebraska Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8032-0912-1
  .
• Kootte, A. F. (1984). "A Critical Look at Castaneda's Critics". The Journal of Mind and Behavior. 5 (1): 99–108.
  JSTOR 43853017
  .
• Marshall, Robert (April 12, 2007). "The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda".
  Salon
  . Salon Media Group. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
• Paz, Octavio (2014). "Prolog". Las enseñanzas de don Juan: una forma yaqui de conocimiento (in Spanish) (2ª ed., 13ª reimp ed.). Madrid: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
  OCLC 1123017633
  .
• Schaefer, Stacy B.; Furst, Peter T., eds. (1996). People of the Peyote: Huichol Indian History, Religion & Survival. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8263-1905-0
  .
• Wallace, Amy (2007). Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda. North Atlantic Books.
  ISBN 978-1-58394-206-2
  .
• Wickman, Forrest (December 13, 2015). "Star Wars Is a Postmodern Masterpiece". Slate. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
• Woo, Elaine (January 30, 2012). "Margaret Runyan Castaneda, Carlos Castaneda's ex-wife, dies at 90". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.

Works by students

• ISBN 978-0-670-84272-8
  .
• ISBN 978-0-440-07828-9
  .
• Donner-Grau, Florinda (1985). The Witch's Dream. Simon and Schuster.
  ISBN 978-0-671-55198-8
  .
• Donner, Florinda (1991). Being-In-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World. HarperSanFrancisco.
  ISBN 978-0-06-250233-9
  .

Further reading

• Castaneda, Margaret Runyan (1996). A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda. Victoria: Millenia Press.
  ISBN 978-0-9696960-1-8
  .
• Collier, Richard (1968). The River That God Forgot. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.
  LCCN 68-12451
  . Background on Julio Cesar Arana, despotic rubber baron, Carlos Castaneda's paternal grandfather.
• ISBN 0-534-12150-0
  .
• Noel, Daniel (1976). Seeing Castaneda: Reactions to the Don Juan Writings of Carlos Castañeda. Perigee Books.
• ISBN 978-1-879514-96-6
  .
• Sampson, Wallace (June 25, 2009). "An Original: Richard de Mille, Carlos Castaneda, Literary Quackery". Science-Based Medicine. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
• Sanchez, Victor (1995). The Teachings of Don Carlos: Practical Applications of the Works of Carlos Castaneda. Bear & Company.
  ISBN 978-1-879181-23-6
  .
• Thompson, Keith (June 27, 1998). "To Carlos Castaneda, Wherever You Are". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
• Williams, Donald (1981). Border Crossings: A Psychological Perspective on Carlos Castaneda's Path of Knowledge. Inner City Books.

Parodies

• New York Times Magazine
  . pp. 14–15, 66–67.
  • Republished in: Barthelme, Donald (2018). The Teachings of Don B.: Satires, Parodies, Fables, Illustrated Stories, and Plays. Counterpoint Press.
    ISBN 978-1-64009-026-2
    .

External links

• "BBC Four – Tales from the Jungle, Series 1, Carlos Castaneda, What happens when anthropology goes bad?". bbc.co.uk. November 29, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
• transcript: Carlos Castaneda Interviewed by Jane Hellisoe of the University of California Press, 1968, UCLA
• "Total Freedom – Toltec – Articles and Interviews Archive – Text (or Audio when specified)". great-grandma.com. July 24, 2012. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
• Carlos Castaneda at
  IMDb