Into the Nagual at last: new age author Carlos Casteneda dies - Obituary

The New Age form of shamanism was ushered into popular awareness largely through the teachings of don Juan Matus, the mysterious Yaqui Indian sorcerer made popular during the past three decades through ten books by Carlos Castaneda. Don Juan, the stories tell us, disappeared directly with his living body a decade or so ago into the Nagual or spiritual state. Castaneda, however, apparently died more prosaically in Westwood, California, and without publicity on April 27. His death wasn't announced until June. He had liver cancer and he was believed to be sixty-six or seventy-two, take your pick. His cremated remains were taken to Mexico without fanfare.

Castaneda rarely gave interviews (one of his last was "Portrait of a Sorcerer" in New Age Journal April 1994). He would not permit photographs. He was alleged to have a small cult of followers who tried, together with him, the sorcery techniques he wrote about. From what we know about him and his storybook persona, Castaneda seemed to lead a reclusive, emotionally loveless life.

Several years ago I spent twelve hours in discussions with a young, bilingual man who claimed to be part of Castaneda's "inner circle." He described the "Tensegrity" movements years before they were published in Yoga Journal ("Carlos Castaneda's Magical Passes," February 1998). Two women from this circle, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner, have published in the same occult adventure genre as the don Juan books.

Serious anthropologists (see Richard De Mille, Castaneda's Journey, 1978; The Don Juan Papers, 1980; Jay Courtney Fikes, Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism, and the Psychedelic Sixties, 1993) have convincingly dismissed Castaneda's don Juan stories as clever fiction. Castaneda, however, never veered from his claim that don Juan actually lived, and he claimed that his books were nothing less than interpretations taken from field notes and real experiences.

The occult experiences and powers are what so intrigue the readers who want to become "warriors" or sorcerers like don Juan. Throughout the books Castaneda often elusive techniques to better align with occult power. For instance, the apprentice can learn to create and move an "assemblage point," a way of re-energizing the self so one can literally disappear and appear at will. In Star Trek, Scotty, the starship engineer, "beamed" you up; in Castaneda stories, you learn to do it all by yourself as you "fly with intent" to different "dreaming" realities. The don Juan stories have amounted to head trips for most readers who dared not to ingest the dangerous drugs like Jimson weed mentioned in the early books, and who could not find a suitable shaman like don Juan - he was nowhere to be found. So, it surprised many seekers when Castaneda described Tensegrity in illustrated detail as certain martial art-like movements in Yoga Journal.

Using these movements the frustrated seeker now has the potential to enter the powerful altered states of perception Castaneda talks about. With the Tensegrity techniques, the Castaneda cult finally has something to compete with other magic power groups that offer yogic flying techniques, meditation mantras, heavy breathing (pranayama), screaming, chanting, or trance dancing as the means to become supermen. I have found nothing to prove that any of these techniques can facilitate true occult powers, but there is a variety of evidence that they do alter perception, sometimes radically and even harmfully (Margaret T. Singer, Cults in our Midst, 1995). If Castaneda ever possessed these powers, we will never know as we can no longer test him. If there is a sorcerer's heaven, I have a hunch that Carlos Castaneda is now with don Juan dreaming up new tales of power.

Joe Szimhart has researched fringe cults and the New Age movement for more than two decades, and he has helped many people to recover from harmful experiences in that milieu.

COPYRIGHT 1998 Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
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