Carlos Castaneda, Autor em Nagualismo

The New Seers

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By Carlos Castaneda / 14 minutes of reading

Carlos recounts his arrival in Oaxaca where he meets don Juan, who immediately shifts him into a state of heightened awareness. Don Juan begins to explain the history of Toltec seers, distinguishing between the ancient Toltec seers—powerful sorcerers obsessed with their “seeing” that ultimately led to their downfall—and the new seers, who are warriors of total freedom. The new seers, having learned from the mistakes of the old, emphasize stalking, dreaming, and intent, and use their heightened awareness to seek freedom rather than control. Don Juan also explains that “seeing” is a profound form of knowing, not merely visual perception, and that the world is composed of “Eagle’s emanations” rather than solid objects. He emphasizes that the new seers have developed a systematic way to understand awareness that was lacking in the ancient Toltecs, who were destroyed by their own pursuits.

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Petty Tyrants

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By Carlos Castaneda / 29 minutes of reading

Don Juan begins explaining the mastery of awareness by focusing on “petty tyrants,” external tormentors who serve as a warrior’s training ground. He deliberately provokes la Gorda to illustrate how self-importance is the greatest enemy of a warrior. Don Juan details the “attributes of warriorship”—control, discipline, forbearance, timing, and will—and explains how these are used to combat self-importance and harness energy. He recounts his own brutal experience with a “king-size petty tyrant” (a sugar mill foreman) and how his benefactor, the nagual Julian, used this ordeal to teach him these attributes. The goal is not just to survive, but to gain joy and impeccability in the face of adversity. Don Juan emphasizes that true defeat for a warrior lies in succumbing to negative emotions and self-pity, rather than employing strategy and detachment, and that confronting petty tyrants is essential for tempering the spirit and preparing for the unknown.

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The Eagle’s Emanations

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By Carlos Castaneda / 22 minutes of reading

Carlos and don Juan continue their discussion on awareness, specifically focusing on the first truth: the world is not composed of objects but of the “Eagle’s emanations.” Don Juan clarifies the distinction between the “known,” “unknown,” and “unknowable,” emphasizing that the unknown is within human reach through perception, while the unknowable remains beyond comprehension. He explains that the ancient seers made a crucial mistake by confusing these categories, leading to their downfall, a mistake corrected by the new seers who learned to map the unknown through controlled “seeing.” Don Juan describes the Eagle as the indescribable force that bestows awareness on sentient beings and devours it at death, an interpretation that both fascinates and terrifies Carlos. He further elucidates that human perception utilizes only a minute fraction of these emanations, and that “seeing” involves sensing the Eagle’s emanations as “filaments of light” that are inherently aware.

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The Glow of Awareness

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By Carlos Castaneda / 21 minutes of reading

Don Juan and Don Genaro discuss the “glow of awareness,” explaining that perception is an alignment of emanations. They reveal that the luminosity of living beings comes from the Eagle’s emanations within their cocoons, and external emanations fixate this internal glow, leading to awareness. The old seers, masters of manipulating this glow, could make it spread within the cocoon. Don Juan highlights the importance of explanations in heightened awareness for warriors, as it’s a period of deep learning. He then emphasizes that sexual energy, if controlled and rechanneled rather than wasted, is crucial for a warrior’s energy and ability to “see.” Don Genaro humorously illustrates the dangers of uncontrolled sexual energy with stories from the nagual Julian’s teachings. They explain that children, in particular, drain the “glow of awareness” from their parents. The chapter concludes with Don Juan stating that seers cannot intervene to balance this, as the new cycle must come of itself, and their role is to be unbiased witnesses.

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The First Attention

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By Carlos Castaneda / 21 minutes of reading

Don Juan begins to explain the “first attention,” which he defines as the highly developed, complex awareness that handles our day-to-day world. He states that this attention is responsible for taking an “inventory” of the Eagle’s emanations within our cocoons, a process unique to humans. He differentiates between “reason,” which ignores external impulses, and “self-absorption,” which uses them to agitate internal emanations, shortening life. The new seers, through “seeing,” understand that the first attention blocks the unknown, making us “invulnerable” but also limiting our perception. Don Juan, with Genaro’s help, demonstrates this by opening a door to “weird creatures” that Carlos’s first attention initially blocks from his perception, highlighting how our ordinary awareness acts as a shield against other realities. This experience leads to a hasty departure from Genaro’s house, as Carlos’s “first attention” is overwhelmed by the unknown.

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The Tonal and the Nagual – Shrinking the Tonal

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By Carlos Castaneda / 26 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Castaneda recounts a disorienting experience in which Don Juan “shrinks” his tonal, causing him to be instantly transported a mile and a half away from an airline office to a bustling market. Don Juan explains this phenomenon as a deliberate manipulation of Castaneda’s tonal—the organizing principle of his known world—by startling it into a state of “shyness” or contraction, thereby allowing the nagual to temporarily take over and perform extraordinary feats. Castaneda struggles to reconcile this inexplicable event with his rational mind, prompting Don Juan to emphasize that such experiences exist beyond the realm of reason and are apprehended only through the body, in what he calls “nagual’s time.” The chapter concludes with Don Juan reiterating the importance of a fluid, balanced tonal for a warrior, and hinting at further explorations of the nagual with Don Genaro.

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The Tonal and the Nagual – In Nagual’s Time

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By Carlos Castaneda / 32 minutes of reading

Carlos recounts his Thursday return to the market where don Juan had “shoved” him, only to find the coin and book stands only appear on Sundays, confirming the unreality of his previous experience. Don Juan and don Genaro appear, teasing him about his physical appearance. Don Genaro demonstrates extraordinary feats like standing horizontally on a tree trunk and gliding through the air, which Carlos struggles to comprehend and often experiences with physical discomfort or an altered state of perception. Don Juan explains that these are manifestations of the nagual, a non-rational aspect of reality, and emphasizes the importance of a clean tonal (the rational self) to interact with the nagual without being overwhelmed or destroyed. He clarifies that while his role as teacher is to work with Carlos’s tonal, don Genaro, as Carlos’s benefactor, introduces him to the nagual, demonstrating its boundless possibilities, even if the “how” remains indescribable and outside the realm of rational understanding.

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The Tonal and the Nagual – The Whispering of The Nagual

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By Carlos Castaneda / 26 minutes of reading

Carlos returns to Don Genaro’s house and is greeted by don Juan and don Genaro, who playfully tease him about his physical appearance. They then accompany him to a field of eucalyptus trees, where don Genaro performs gravity-defying feats, such as standing horizontally on a tree trunk and gliding through the air like an eel. Carlos experiences these events with a mix of awe, physical discomfort, and altered perceptions, such as seeing don Genaro as a furry crocodile. Don Juan explains that these are manifestations of the nagual, a non-rational aspect of reality that can only be witnessed, not explained, and that his role is to protect Carlos’s tonal (rational self) from being overwhelmed. They also discuss the importance of a clean tonal, how the nagual “splits” an individual, and the dangers of indulging in bewilderment when confronting the unknown. Don Juan emphasizes that a warrior must maintain impeccable control and distinguish between the world of the tonal and the world of the nagual, using his will to navigate between them.

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The Tonal and the Nagual – The Wings of Perception

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By Carlos Castaneda / 22 minutes of reading

Carlos spends a day in the mountains with don Juan, receiving instructions on his path. Upon returning, he talks with Pablito, don Genaro’s apprentice, who reveals his own terrifying encounters with the nagual, including a bizarre incident with a “breathing” basket. Don Juan and don Genaro later join them, teasing Carlos about his note-taking and sharing a humorous story that subtly highlights the nature of reality. They then induce a state in Carlos where his perception is “split,” allowing him to directly experience the essence of objects and the ground, and later to perceive his own body as an alien form in a surreal landscape. Don Juan explains that these experiences are about “splitting” a man to access his totality and that Carlos’s encounters are a glimpse into the “wings of perception,” which he must learn to unfold without his rational mind interfering.

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The Sorcerers’ Explanation – Three Witnesses to The Nagual

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By Carlos Castaneda / 28 minutes of reading

Carlos spends a day with don Juan in the mountains and later converses with Pablito, don Genaro’s apprentice, at don Genaro’s house. Pablito shares terrifying experiences with the nagual, including a detailed account of a possessed basket that transformed into don Juan’s face. Don Juan and don Genaro then return, teasing Carlos about his note-taking and his fear. They engage in a dual whispering technique that “splits” Carlos’s perception, allowing him to experience the essence of a tree and the ground directly, rather than through rational thought. He also has a vivid, dreamlike vision of his body as a distorted, inert form in a surreal yellow landscape with a giant female figure. Don Juan explains that these experiences are crucial for understanding the totality of oneself and are a manifestation of the “wings of perception” and the interaction between the tonal and the nagual. Carlos is left exhausted but with a deeper understanding of the sorcerers’ world, as the experiences demonstrate the possibility of perceiving beyond the ordinary and the importance of allowing the nagual to guide perception.

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