After six years of Silence, Carlos Castaneda published "The Art of
Dreaming" (HarperCollins, NY) and re-established the Castaneda tradition of
trickster shamanic travel begun with drugs and meditations in the 1970's now
with a safer 90's process of lucid dreaming. Or is it lucid dreaming that drives
Castaneda's Dreaming? Those who claim to explore these paths feel so strongly
that the path is different that they broke from the alt.dreams.lucid Usenet
Newsgroup and formed alt.dreams.castaneda.
In this update, Mark Seven Smith gives an account of his personal journey and
how it has influenced his 14 year old battle with illness. Mark also includes a
variety of links and contact points for more information. -Richard
Currently Carlos Castaneda is holding Workshops in Los Angeles, and Mexico.
There are bulletins at the Castaneda home page, as well as information on the
upcoming Workshops:
Castaneda home page:
http://www.webb.com/Castaneda
There is not as much focus on *dreaming* right now, as there is on Tensegrity,
the magical passes of the sorcerers of ancient Mexico. Build energy and *intent*
through Tensegrity (sorcery passes) and the rest will follow of its own accord.
At the Westwood Workshop, which I attended, much emphasis was place on the
attainment of *inner silence*, and there for the first time, a device for the
attainment of inner silence was introduced. It is merely a drafter's
paperweight; rather heavy, so that you can feel its weight pressing upon you; it
is used by placing it on the abdomen over the a point just below the navel
(other locations such as the solar plexus can be used, but are probably better
applied when one has some experience with this sort of thing). But as you lay
back, perhaps sitting up somewhat, you also press certain points: these are
detailed on the Castaneda web site and I won't go into them here, except that
they have an incredible effect, that must be actually tried to be understood.
Tensegrity Tools page:
http://ns.webb.com/Castaneda/ttools.html
The reason I bring this up, is because Carlos told us that it is all right if
we fall asleep while using this device; and as a matter of fact it does seem to
induce a deep and restful sleep; a curious sort of sleep that seems devoid of
all dreams! But I have heard that we would either have dreams, or would remember
them, when we gather more energy, and these would be dreams of power; they would
be *dreaming* proper (according to what Carlos wrote in "The Art of
Dreaming".)
As for me, I am battling a 14-year long illness that I should be dead from;
and yet I have survived because of Carlos Castaneda's teachings; and this is
what prompted me to write. I am alive today because of the teachings of Carlos
Castaneda. I have short-bowel syndrome; because of a botched surgery
(appendectomy) I have been through over 17 major surgeries (I've lost count!)
and I am the only patient who has lived this long in this severe of a condition;
I have less than 1.5 ft. of small intestine, and I am supposed to be living on a
machine! I had been so convinced by all the "specialists" that I was
going to die without yet another surgery (while they were telling my parents not
to get their hopes up, nobody lived beyond five years in this condition,
anyhow!) But I refuse...
Carlos Castaneda wrote, in his book "The Power of Silence" that don
Juan told him: "all we have is the power of our decisions". And this
is what has kept me alive! There was a point I reached, where I said "no
more machines! No more surgeries!" I MUST live on my own, without
contrivances, without continuous medical intervention. And through Castaneda's
teachings, and especially Tensegrity, I have found that way (much to the
astonishment of all my doctors, including the last time I was in the hospital; I
was told that I had less than two weeks to live! And that was October of 1995,
over a year ago!)
Carlos Castaneda is one of four apprentices of the nagual, don Juan Matus.
The other three apprentices are the nagual woman Carol Tiggs, Florinda
Donner-Grau, and Taisha Abelar. They lecture at the Workshops as well, and two
of them, Taisha and Florinda, have books out, that are especially good for women
to read, or anyone for that matter. These books are as incredible and as
powerful as the women who wrote them!
The sorcery passes of ancient Mexico are truly *magical*. They work. It is
incredible; and what's more, they can be learned from the Tensegrity videos
(that are offered at the Castaneda home page). I didn't realize how easy it
would be, when I attended my first Tensegrity Workshop; I figured that this
would be impossible (even though I had seen the videos already). What you get
from a Workshop is basically the chance to see Carlos Castaneda in person; this
is what first attracts people. But beyond that, there is group or mass
consensus; Carlos Castaneda had this to say about the "Westwood
Series", a series of magical passes taught last year in July:
"It is of great importance to all the participants of the July seminar
and workshop to practice the Westwood Series as exclusively as they can, for a
period of one month. In this manner, a much-needed kinesthetic consensus could
be obtained. Such a consensus is necessary because it would reinforce the
sorcerers' intent of freedom, without intellectualization."
People gather together to practice Tensegrity in groups; there are practice
groups all over the world, and it is possible to attend a group in your area,
and pick up some of the passes, and enjoy this "kinesthetic
consensus", which truly has a remarkable effect. If you order the videos
from Cleargreen (the corporation that sponsors and organizes the Workshops
Carlos Castaneda's Tensegrity), you can ask them if there are any groups in your
area. There is also an Internet mailing list, that is for anyone who has
attended at least one Workshop, where you can find out more about local groups.
But there is one thing; Carlos Castaneda had this to say about teaching others
who had not yet attended a Workshop:
"Yes, by all means [in response to someone asking if they could teach
someone the "Westwood Series"]. If you have a group of people that
practice Tensegrity together, you can show them the movements and arrive in this
manner at a concrete kinesthetic consensus among yourselves, which means a great
deal in the overall attempt to reach a unifying homogeneous purpose among all
the practitioners of Tensegrity.
"However, showing the movements to people that practice together is not
the same as setting up mini-seminars to teach anybody. What is needed the most
is consensus, but a consensus under the auspices of sorcerers' intent. The end
result of the July seminar and workshop for those who participated in it was a
state of "energetic realization" that cannot be duplicated. That
state, which can be described as you please, but which sorcerers abstractly call
energetic realization, is the sorcerers' intent."
Tensegrity Bulletins:
http://www.webb.com/Castaneda/cc0.html
The next Tensegrity Workshop will be in Long Beach; California, USA. It will
be a review; with special elucidations on the passes and an emphasis on
practical applications. The Workshops are an incredible experience, and I
heartily recommend attending one if you get the chance.
Upcoming Carlos CastanedaÆs Tensegrity Workshops:
http://ns.webb.com/Castaneda/cct0.html
Tensegrity Videos:
http://ns.webb.com/Castaneda/video.html
Book List: current list of books:
http://ns.webb.com/Castaneda/books.html
--Mark Seven Smith
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