Authors

Silent Knowledge – The Westwood Series

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Silent Knowledge / By / 29 minutes of reading

This final chapter is dedicated to “The Westwood Series,” a specific sequence of magical passes designed to integrate the other four “concerns” of the ancient sorcerers: the center for decisions, the Recapitulation, dreaming, and inner silence. Don Juan explained that the magical passes themselves act as an “agglutinating force,” a vibration that binds these other areas of practice into a single, functional unit. The chapter serves as a practical manual, organizing the series into four distinct sections, each corresponding to one of the other concerns. It then provides detailed descriptions and instructions for performing each of the individual passes within these four categories, outlining their specific movements and energetic purposes.

Silent Knowledge – The Westwood Series Read More »

The Fire from Within – Foreword

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By / 7 minutes of reading

Carlos Castaneda introduces “The Fire from Within” as an account of his apprenticeship with don Juan Matus, focusing on the “teachings for the left side” – lessons given in states of heightened awareness that were previously difficult to recall. He explains that his earlier writings depicted don Juan as a sorcerer and focused on “teachings for the right side,” but this book reveals that don Juan and his companions are actually “seers” and masters of ancient knowledge: awareness, stalking, and intent. Don Juan, as a “nagual,” is the leader of a party of seers, and Carlos himself is the nominal leader of a “new nagual’s party.” Carlos describes heightened awareness as a state of intense perceptual clarity where one can focus with uncommon force, yet it is not easily remembered in normal awareness. He details the ritualistic way he would enter this state and the profound joy and unsettling sadness it brought. The book specifically delves into the “mastery of awareness,” which don Juan presents as a modern version of the ancient Toltec seers’ tradition, refined by “new seers” who are warriors of total freedom, capable of choosing their departure from the world by being consumed by a “fire from within.”

The Fire from Within – Foreword Read More »

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.

The New Seers Read More »

Petty Tyrants

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By / 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.

Petty Tyrants Read More »

The Eagle’s Emanations

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By / 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.

The Eagle’s Emanations Read More »

The Glow of Awareness

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By / 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.

The Glow of Awareness Read More »

The First Attention

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Fire from Within / By / 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.

The First Attention Read More »

The Sorcerers’ Explanation – The Predilection of Two Warriors

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By / 27 minutes of reading

Don Juan and Carlos meet Don Genaro, Pablito, and Nestor for what Don Juan declares will be their last journey together. Don Juan offers a poignant farewell, reminding Carlos of a cherished memory and the warrior’s way of accepting fate. Don Genaro shares a story about warriors facing a death sentence, emphasizing the importance of impeccability when confronting the unknown. As dusk settles, Don Juan and Don Genaro prepare Pablito and Carlos for their final plunge into the unknown, explaining that this is where the “bubble of perception” opens, and one can directly experience their totality as a cluster of feelings. They perform a final demonstration of “swimming” with the earth, revealing the warrior’s ultimate love for the world as the antidote to loneliness and the key to freedom. The chapter concludes with Pablito and Carlos, having bid their farewells, taking a final leap into the unknown, leaving Carlos alone in a new, unquantifiable state of being.

The Sorcerers’ Explanation – The Predilection of Two Warriors Read More »

A Witness to Acts of Power – An Appointment With Knowledge

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By / 78 minutes of reading

In this chapter, I unexpectedly find don Juan in Sonora, where he reveals that my true path to sorcerers’ knowledge lies in accumulating personal power, not through hallucinogenic plants or intellectual explanations. We visit a power spot where I am challenged to “see” a mysterious “moth,” which don Juan clarifies is a manifestation of knowledge. Despite my rational attempts to explain away the unsettling encounter, don Juan continually emphasizes the role of personal power, impeccability, and the silencing of internal dialogue in understanding the world of sorcerers. He introduces the concept of the “double,” exemplified by don Genaro’s seemingly impossible appearance, challenging my perceptions of reality and demanding that I embrace the unfathomable nature of existence through experience, rather than solely through reason. The chapter concludes with me witnessing Don Genaro’s “double” in a profound and baffling manner, leaving me with a deep sense of perplexity and a clear imperative to continue cultivating my personal power.

A Witness to Acts of Power – An Appointment With Knowledge Read More »

A Witness to the Acts of Power – The Dreamer and the Dreamed

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Tales of Power / By / 46 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Don Juan and Don Genaro continued to challenge my rational understanding of reality. Don Juan clarified the concept of the ‘double,’ explaining that Don Genaro had appeared as his double the previous night, an entity born of dreaming that defies conventional physical laws. He emphasized that my struggles with belief stemmed from my reason attempting to confine experiences within its ‘description of the world.’ The core lesson, however, centered on ‘the dreamer and the dreamed,’ a profound notion that ultimately, we ourselves are dreams, dreamed by our own doubles, a mystery of luminous beings that can only be witnessed, not logically explained.

A Witness to the Acts of Power – The Dreamer and the Dreamed Read More »

Translate »