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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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The Sorcerers’ Explanation – The Strategy of a Sorcerer

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By Carlos Castaneda / 39 minutes of reading

Upon returning home, Carlos finds that his usual bewilderment after extraordinary experiences has diminished, and he feels ready to see don Juan again. Don Juan finds him in a Mexican market and takes him to don Genaro’s favorite spot, where he begins a thorough recapitulation of his teaching strategy. Don Juan explains that his role as teacher has been to “clean and reorder” Carlos’s tonal (the rational self) by guiding his attention, while don Genaro, as benefactor, is responsible for demonstrating the nagual (the non-rational, unknown side). He details various techniques used to achieve this, such as “grabbing with his will” to stop internal dialogue, the “right way of walking” to flood the tonal with information, and seemingly nonsensical “joking tasks” to teach acting without expecting rewards. Don Juan also explains how the worthy opponent, La Catalina, was used to force Carlos into choosing the warrior’s path. He emphasizes that the “sorcerers’ explanation” involves understanding that our perceived world is merely a reflection within a “bubble of perception,” which the teacher helps to rearrange and the benefactor helps to open from the outside, allowing access to one’s totality.

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The Sorcerers’ Explanation – The Bubble of Perception

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By Carlos Castaneda / 18 minutes of reading

Carlos arrives at Don Genaro’s house and finds don Juan, who playfully teases him. Don Juan then begins a comprehensive recapitulation of his teaching methods, explaining that his role as a teacher has been to “clean and reorder” Carlos’s tonal, while don Genaro’s role as benefactor is to provide direct demonstrations of the nagual. He reveals that his initial “hook” on Carlos involved focusing his will to numb Carlos’s tonal, and that techniques like the “right way of walking” and seemingly nonsensical tasks were designed to stop the internal dialogue and teach acting without expectation of reward. Don Juan emphasizes that erasing personal history, losing self-importance, assuming responsibility, and using death as an adviser were crucial for transforming the tonal. He explains that power plants were used when simpler recommendations failed, serving to temporarily stop the internal dialogue and provide glimpses of the nagual. Finally, he discusses the use of a “worthy opponent,” La Catalina, to force Carlos to choose the warrior’s path. Don Juan explains that the “sorcerers’ explanation” involves understanding the “bubble of perception” – a concept that reveals the perceived world as a reflection of our own attention and description, a bubble that the teacher helps to rearrange and the benefactor opens to reveal the totality of oneself.

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Part One: Stopping the World – Not-Doing

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Carlos Castaneda / 32 minutes of reading

After confronting “entities” in the wilderness, Castaneda accompanies Don Juan to a “place of predilection” for cleansing and to learn the profound concept of “not-doing.” Don Juan explains that “doing” defines our everyday perception of the world, while “not-doing” allows a warrior to manipulate reality, access hidden truths, and even enhance dreaming. Castaneda experiments with not-doing by observing shadows and a pebble, leading to extraordinary perceptual shifts and a deeper understanding of the lines of the world and personal power. Don Juan also advises Castaneda to challenge his negative self-perception by consciously “lying” to himself, viewing it as a new “doing” to ultimately achieve the “not-doing of the self.”

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Part One: Stopping the World – A Warrior’s Last Stand

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Carlos Castaneda / 28 minutes of reading

Don Juan leads Castaneda on an arduous night journey, emphasizing concentration and the pursuit of “power,” culminating in a “test” involving omens and the perception of ordinary rocks as “strings” of power. They arrive at a hilltop which Don Juan declares to be Castaneda’s personal “place of power,” destined to be the site of his “last dance”—a metaphorical final act of power and recall before death. Don Juan explains that a warrior meticulously stores personal power at such a place, preparing for the moment of their death, which pauses to witness their ultimate expression of being.

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Part One: Stopping the World – A Battle of Power

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Carlos Castaneda / 29 minutes of reading

Don Juan takes Castaneda on a journey to hunt “power,” explaining it as a personal, indefinable force that a warrior collects and uses. During an intense lightning storm, Castaneda experiences a vivid “battle of power” where he perceives a solid fog-bridge, which Don Juan later affirms was a real manifestation of power, not a hallucination, despite Castaneda’s skepticism about “power meat.” Don Juan asserts that such encounters are part of a warrior’s path, emphasizing the fluidity of reality and the necessity of accumulating personal power to navigate these other “worlds” and ultimately to “stop the world.”

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Part One: Stopping the World – The Mood of a Warrior

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Carlos Castaneda / 28 minutes of reading

In this segment, Don Juan leads Castaneda to a sacred “place of power” where warriors would “bury themselves” for enlightenment, attempting a similar experience with Castaneda who struggles with self-pity. Don Juan emphasizes that a true warrior cultivates a specific “mood” characterized by a balance of control and abandon, devoid of self-pity, as this is essential for acquiring power. Further instruction is given on advanced “dreaming” techniques. A dramatic encounter with a mountain lion then serves as a practical demonstration of the warrior’s mood, illustrating how Castaneda’s actions, driven by a primal need to survive, exemplified the desired state of control and abandon, regardless of the perceived reality of the animal.

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Part One: Stopping the World – Becoming Accessible to Power

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Carlos Castaneda / 27 minutes of reading

Following a revelatory peyote experience that marks him as “chosen,” Castaneda is guided by Don Juan onto the warrior’s path, where “dreaming” is revealed not as fantasy but a tangible realm for accumulating power and discerning reality. Don Juan instructs Castaneda on the discipline required to “set up dreaming” and become “accessible to power” through conscious engagement. This culminates in a practical, yet unsettling, lesson at a “place of power” where Castaneda confronts a seemingly monstrous, dying creature, ultimately rationalizing it as a burnt branch, prompting Don Juan to explain that Castaneda missed a vital opportunity to “stop the world” by failing to sustain his perception of the power-infused object.

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The Knock of the Spirit – The Last Seduction of the Nagual Julian

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Power of Silence / By Nagualismo / 16 minutes of reading

This extensive excerpt further illustrates the Knock of the Spirit as the second abstract core, revealing how the spirit’s manifestations—ranging from the sentient “warrior trees” to traumatic life-or-death situations—serve to move the assemblage point and activate the “connecting link to intent.” Don Juan recounts the challenging apprenticeship of his benefactor, the nagual Julian, whose initial encounter with the spirit was a near-fatal hemorrhage during a seduction. The narrative stresses that the spirit’s direct commands and the intensity of experiences like those involving sexual energy are meant to induce heightened awareness and foster the acquisition of silent knowledge, often requiring apprentices to overcome their “natural barriers,” such as the narrator’s tendency to disguise complacency as independence.

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The Knock of the Spirit – The Abstract

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Power of Silence / By Nagualismo / 20 minutes of reading

This chapter delves into the “second abstract core” of sorcery, termed the Knock of the Spirit, which is the spirit’s direct and often forceful invitation to a sorcerer or beginner to enter the “edifice of intent.” This phenomenon represents a form of knowledge without words, a profound understanding that transcends conventional thought, as exemplified by the experiences of the nagual Elías and don Juan himself. The spirit’s intervention, sometimes tied to intense experiences like those involving sexual energy or dreaming, aims to shift one’s assemblage point and revive the dormant connecting link to intent, demanding a fierce, unbending intent to overcome the ego’s resistance and accept this unfamiliar realm.

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