sorcery

Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – A New Area for Philosophical Inquiry

A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda / By / 7 minutes of reading

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

A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda / By / 9 minutes of reading

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?

A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda / By / 1 minute of reading

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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Silent Knowledge – The Magical Passes

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

In this chapter, Castaneda recounts his first in-depth discussion with don Juan Matus about the “magical passes,” which began with a criticism of his physical condition. Don Juan reveals he had been teaching Castaneda the passes all along, disguised as his habit of “cracking his joints.” He explains that these movements are not mere exercises but are truly “magical” because they can halt the mind’s normal “lines of similarity” and interrupt the mundane flow of reality, which is perceived as fixed and unchangeable. Don Juan also makes the startling claim that the mind is a “foreign installation” and that the passes help to overcome its influence. He reveals that the origin of the passes lies in the *dreaming* practices of ancient sorcerers, who discovered them as a way to recreate states of well-being and prepare for their “navigations into the unknown.”

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Silent Knowledge – The Center for Decisions

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

In this chapter, Castaneda explores the second topic of interest for the ancient sorcerers: “the center for decisions,” located in the “v” spot at the base of the neck. Don Juan explained that this is one of six main energy vortexes in the body, but its specific, fluid-like energy is displaced early in life, resulting in the human inability to make decisions. He also reveals the sorcerers’ view of the center at the top of the head, which they believe has been taken over by a “foreign installation”—the mind. The magical passes, or modern Tensegrity, serve to strengthen the other five centers by redistributing energy that has been scattered to the edges of a person’s luminous being. This redistribution of energy, especially to the center for decisions, restores the capacity to decide and overall vitality, overcoming the indecisiveness and exhaustion caused by the wear and tear of daily life.

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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 Tonal and the Nagual – In Nagual’s Time

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By / 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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