sorcery

Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – Queries about the Warriors’ Way: What is the point of doing all those Practices?

In this section, Castaneda addresses two common questions. The first concerns when a practitioner will achieve “seeing,” the direct perception of energy. He explains that while practices are important, the crucial element is to “intend” the outcome—the state sorcerers call “stopping the world,” which is achieved by obliterating self-importance. The second question is about fear over strange physical sensations during Tensegrity. Castaneda recounts how don Juan Matus explained such feelings not as external manipulation, but as natural physiological responses or a product of one’s own victim mentality. Don Juan’s advice was to counter fear by being “impeccable”.

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The Shift Below – The Fire from Within

Continuing his lessons on the assemblage point, Don Juan explains to Castaneda that its movement beyond a certain limit can assemble entirely different worlds. He reveals that the Sonoran desert aids a “shift below” to the place of the beast, and introduces la Catalina as a powerful sorceress deeply connected to this type of shift. Castaneda recounts his chilling encounters with her, learning they were orchestrated to move his assemblage point. The trio’s dynamic, including Genaro’s humorous antics and the shared laughter, underscore the importance of inner silence and stopping the internal dialogue for freeing the assemblage point, a fixation taught since infancy. Don Juan cautions against the “high adventure of the unknown,” a dangerous pursuit favored by old seers like nagual Julian and la Catalina, who were waylaid by the allure of power and animal transformations (“shifts below”). Castaneda himself experiences a profound “shift below” during an encounter with la Catalina, perceiving her (and himself) as a grotesque creature and entering a non-human state of boundless awareness and joy. This experience, while deeply unsettling, proves to Don Juan that Castaneda has no inclination for such aberrant shifts, unlike the old seers. The chapter concludes with Don Juan explaining “skimming,” a unique human capacity to refine perception, a magical act that, if not controlled, can be a profound pitfall.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – Readers of Infinity

In this author’s note, Castaneda reaffirms the journal’s goal: to disseminate the ideas from don Juan Matus’s cognitive world. He recounts his early, unsuccessful attempts to publish the work, which was rejected for not fitting conventional formats. He then announces a significant change: the journal’s name is changed from “The Warriors’ Way” to “READERS OF INFINITY”. This new title is inspired by don Juan’s concept of “reading infinity,” a state of perception achieved through “inner silence” where a seer can read the infinity that reveals itself on the horizon. The journal is presented as an invitation for everyone to take up this challenge.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – What is Phenomenology?

Castaneda explores the philosophical method of Phenomenology, as developed by Edmund Husserl. He explains its core concepts, particularly the “epoché” or the “suspension of judgment,” a reduction intended to get back to the origin of experience. However, Castaneda argues from his experience with don Juan Matus that this suspension of judgment is impossible to achieve as a purely intellectual exercise. For sorcerers, suspending their interpretation system is not a philosophical choice but a practical necessity for survival required to perceive the unknown. He therefore proposes to correlate the intellectual propositions of Western philosophy with the pragmatic accomplishments of sorcerers.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – Third Principle of the Warrior’s Way: Perception Must Be Intended In Its Completeness

Castaneda presents the third premise of the warriors’ way: “Perception Must Be Intended In Its Completeness”. He relays that don Juan Matus taught that all perception is inherently neutral, and must be accepted without judgment. Don Juan distinguished his teachings as entries from a “book of navigation” detailing sorcerers’ direct perceptions. The key to this premise is reinterpreting energy without the mind, an act requiring the whole being. This complete interpretation is achieved through the union of the physical body and the “energy body”. Therefore, intending perception in its completeness means reinterpreting energy with both of these essential parts of oneself fully engaged.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – A New Area for Philosophical Inquiry

Castaneda proposes a new area for philosophical inquiry based on two core concepts from ancient Mexican sorcerers: “seeing” and “intent”. He defines “seeing” as the human capacity to directly perceive energy as it flows in the universe, using the entire organism. “Intent” is described as a conscious, universal force that sorcerers can engage with through the act of “intending”. Castaneda argues that the direct perception of energy can create a new form of subjectivity, free from the limits of language, allowing for a pragmatic and active intentionality that could transform philosophy into a practical discipline.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – How to do Tensegrity

Castaneda explains that the magical passes, the foundation of Tensegrity, should be practiced not as exercise but as a way of “beckoning power”. Don Juan taught that their “magic” is a “touch of the spirit” that connects one to the life force. Castaneda notes that the confusion felt by new practitioners from the sheer number of movements is a deliberate sorcerers’ device to “saturate” the mind and induce “inner silence”. From this state, a practitioner gains clarity and knows instinctively how to use the movements to continue what don Juan called humanity’s interrupted “journey of awareness”.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – What is Hermeneutics?

In this section, Castaneda introduces the concept of hermeneutics, tracing its evolution from a method for interpreting sacred texts to a broader philosophical discipline concerned with interpreting the world. He then states the purpose of the journal: to apply these principles to the teachings of don Juan Matus, a Yaqui sorcerer. Castaneda’s aim is to focus on the practical application of don Juan’s interpretive framework, hence the name “applied hermeneutics,” which emphasizes a sorcerer’s practicality over abstract philosophical reflection.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – The First Principle of the Warrior’s Way: We Are Perceptors

Here, Castaneda introduces the first premise of the warriors’ way as taught by don Juan Matus: “We Are Perceptors”. He explains that while this seems obvious, it is a profound statement for sorcerers, highlighting that humanity’s basic orientation is perceiving. According to don Juan, humans interpret a minimal influx of energy through a system called the “human form,” creating a world that is mostly interpretation rather than direct perception. The premise is thus a call from sorcerers to return to humanity’s original state of direct perceiving.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – What is Tensegrity?

Castaneda explains Tensegrity’s origins as a modernized version of “magical passes” from don Juan Matus’s lineage. He recounts don Juan’s teachings about ancient sorcerers who could perceive energy directly (‘seeing’), which revealed the human ‘assemblage point’ where perception is assembled. By studying this point’s movement, they developed the ‘art of dreaming’ and the magical passes. Castaneda notes that after learning these passes in secret, he and his fellow disciples decided to make them public as Tensegrity, a name signifying the tension and integrity that are the driving forces of the movements.

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