Don Juan Matus

Silent Knowledge – The Recapitulation

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Silent Knowledge / By / 4 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Castaneda details the third pillar of sorcery practice: the “Recapitulation.” He describes it as a procedure for reliving one’s entire life with two main goals. The first is cosmological: to satisfy a universal force called “the Eagle,” which seeks a being’s life experiences, not its life force. By offering a detailed account of their lives, sorcerers can retain their life force at the moment of death and embark on a journey of perception as inorganic beings. The second goal is pragmatic: to acquire “perceptual fluidity.” Reliving memories forces the “assemblage point” to shift to its past positions, and this repetitive movement grants the practitioner the flexibility needed to face the unknown. Castaneda also describes the practical method taught by don Juan: making a list of all known persons and using a specific breathing technique to inhale recovered energy and exhale unwanted feelings associated with each memory.

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Silent Knowledge – Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Silent Knowledge / By / 4 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Castaneda explores the “art of dreaming,” which he defines as the sorcerers’ technique for breaking the parameters of normal perception to travel into the unknown. Don Juan explains that sorcerers’ dreaming (*ensoñar*) is different from ordinary dreaming (*soñar*) and is based on the deliberate displacement of the “assemblage point” from its usual position. This practice originated from the ancient sorcerers’ observation that the assemblage point moves naturally during sleep. The key to this art is the development of “dreaming attention,” a focused awareness that allows the practitioner to control the dream state and enter other real, energy-generating worlds. The art of dreaming is complemented by the “art of stalking,” which is the ability to hold the assemblage point fixed in its new position, allowing for a full exploration of these other realms.

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Silent Knowledge – Inner Silence

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Silent Knowledge / By / 3 minutes of reading

This chapter focuses on “inner silence,” the ultimate goal for the sorcerers of ancient Mexico and the culmination of the other four practices. Don Juan defined it as a natural state of perception free from the internal dialogue, where awareness becomes sharper and knowledge is instantaneous. This state is the matrix for an evolutionary leap called “silent knowledge”. Castaneda explains that it is achieved through the disciplined practice of forcing oneself to be silent for accumulating periods of time, until a personal threshold is crossed. He then recounts his own experience of reaching this threshold, which resulted in “stopping the world” and becoming consciously aware, for the first time, that he was *seeing* energy directly. Don Juan clarified that this was not a new perception, but rather becoming deliberately conscious of an awareness that had always been present.

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The Art of Dreaming – Author’s Note

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming / By / 8 minutes of reading

In this note, Castaneda explains that the sorcery don Juan Matus taught him is not about spells but about specialized premises regarding perception. He called this knowledge sorcery. Don Juan was an intermediary to an unseen world he called the second attention, and his primary method for accessing it was the art of dreaming. He taught that our world is just one of many, like layers of an onion, which we can perceive if we have sufficient energy. Castaneda describes his apprenticeship, including his interaction with two different groups of apprentices, the second of which included Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar, and Carol Tiggs. They knew each other only in the second attention until the boundaries of that state began to collapse. It took him fifteen years to store enough energy to linearly recall my dreaming lessons.

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The Blue Scout

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming / By / 19 minutes of reading

After rashly giving his energy to the blue scout, Castaneda finds himself in don Juan’s house, completely drained of energy and memory. Florinda Grau explains that he was energetically wounded in a mortal combat with the inorganic beings. Don Juan later reveals the full extent of the event: the inorganics had lured Castaneda into a trap, consumed his energy body, and then pulled his physical body into their realm, a yellow-fog world. He was rescued only because don Juan, Carol Tiggs, and the others journeyed physically into that world, guided there by the now-freed blue scout. While recovering, Castaneda is visited by the scout in the form of a small girl, an event witnessed by all of don Juan’s companions. Don Juan explains that the inorganics’ trap played on Castaneda’s inherent need to break chains, which led him to free the scout at the cost of his own freedom. The scout had to take all of Castaneda’s energy to escape, and in exchange for letting it go, the inorganic beings kept him. The chapter ends with don Juan telling him that the responsibility of truly freeing the scout now rests with him and Carol Tiggs, and the way to learn how is to ask the dreaming emissary.

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The New Seers

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By / 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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Part One: Stopping the World – Reaffirmations from the World Around Us

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By / 13 minutes of reading

During their initial meetings, Castaneda attempts to interview don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian, about hallucinogenic plants. Don Juan, however, subtly challenges Castaneda’s academic approach and preconceived notions, demonstrating his unique wisdom through cryptic remarks and a powerful, unsettling gaze that silences Castaneda. Don Juan uses a parable to illustrate the futility of rigid preparation and repeatedly asserts that “the world” (including nature and inanimate objects) “agrees” with him, implying a deeper, interconnected understanding. He refuses to be recorded or photographed, emphasizing that the crucial element for understanding is “the spirit,” not external tools, and sets the stage for a different kind of learning.

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The Trickery of the Spirit – The Four Moods of Stalking

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Power of Silence / By / 25 minutes of reading

This chapter, “The Four Moods of Stalking,” details don Juan’s instruction on the fundamental principles of stalking, emphasizing its four core moods: ruthlessness, cunning, patience, and sweetness. Through a vivid recollection triggered by a specific technique, the narrator recalls a pivotal early lesson in heightened awareness with don Juan and his companions, Silvio Manuel and Vicente Medrano. This lesson, which involved a surprising “test” of being tied up like a dog, revealed the narrator’s “indulgence” rather than the desired stalking traits. Don Juan explains that stalking is the art of breaking routine behavior to move the assemblage point, a feat that requires impeccability and goes beyond personal gain, ultimately leading to direct, “silent knowledge” of intent, which can only be truly commanded and utilized, not fully articulated or explained in words.

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