Carlos Castaneda Biography and List of Works

Anthropologist and author of number of book describing the teaching of Don Juan, a Yacqui sorcerer and shaman. Castaneda kept himself out of the public eye and there has been much debate concerning the authenticity of his work.

"Don Juan had told us that the human beings are divided in two. The right side, which he called the tonal, encompasses everything the intellect can conceive of. The left side, called the nagual, is a realm of indescribable features: a realm impossible to contain in words. The left side is perhaps comprehended, if comprehension is what takes place, with the total body; there its resistance to conceptualization."
(from The Eagle's Gift, 1981)

According to immigrations records Castaneda was born in Cajamarca, Peru, and he came to the United States in 1951. From 1955 to 1959 he studied parapsychology at Los Angeles City College and attended The University of California at Los Angeles to study anthropology. In 1960 on his research trip to Mexico, he met don Juan Matus, and elderly Yacqui. After a numerous visits don Juan revealed that he was in fact a diablero, a sorcerer. Next year Castaneda became his apprentice. Don Juan also introduced him to don Genaro Flores, a Mazatec Indian, who would serve as another tutor.

In his apprentice years Castaneda ingested peyote (called 'Mescalito'), datura (Jimson weed), and Psilocybe mexicana mushroomsin an attemopt to enlarge his vision of reality. This period of learning lasted from 1961 to 1965, when Castaneda decided to terminate it.

These experiences were the basis for Castaneda's first book, THE TEACHINGS OF DON JUAN: A YAQUI WAY OF KNOWLEDGE (1968). The work was accepted as his master's thesis. It gained a reputation as an underground classic and became an international bestseller.

In 1968 Castaneda returned to Mexico and started his second period of learning, which lasted until 1971. This period produced A SEPARATE REALITY: FURTHER CONCERSATIONS WITH DON JUAN (1971). Castaneda's third book, JOURNEY TO IXTLAN: THE LESSONS OF DON JUAN (1972) was accepted as his doctoral dissertation.

Critics have pointed out that the absence of Yacqui terms, and the modest evidence of don Juan's existence undermine the credibility of Castaneda's works. According to Castaneda, don Juan was born in 1891 and was part of the diaspora of Yacquis all over Mexico. Castaneda has defended his use of drugs that they were part of his initial phase of apprenticeship. Don Juan taught him later to achieve the same results without drugs. 'It's one, it's unity, it is ourselves', told a Huichol shaman, Ramón Medina Silva to anthropologist Barbara Meyerhoff of the purpose of the peyote ceremony.

Castaneda wrote 11 books, which have been translated into 17 languages. His works influenced deeply the New Age movement. Castaneda died of liver cancer on April 27, 1998, at his home in Westwood. Castaneda's cremated remains were taken to Mexico.

For further reading: Seeing Castaneda: Reactions to the 'Don Juan' Writing of Carlos Castaneda, ed. by Daniel Noel (1976): Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience by Rosemary Ellen Guilley (1991); Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and Psychedelic Sixties by Jay Courtney Fikes (1996) - See for further information: Emma's Home Page ; Carlos Castaneda's Tensegrity.

THE TEACHINGSOF DON JUAN: A YAQUI WAY OF KNOWLEDGE, (1968)