Word: juan
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...poor training ground for becoming a hunter and a warrior, especially without a teacher. As in any discipline, a teacher is an essential. Each of Castaneda's books is terribly exciting, but after a few weeks the inspiration to live like a warrior fades. Don Juan would laugh at anyone for even trying to learn it from a book...
...what becomes of the "feminine" aspect of human personality in Don Juan's world? In the first book, Don Juan reverses our cultural stereotypes in describing an ally as female-like: violent, cruel, unpredictable. On the other hand, mescalito, the spirit of peyote, is described as male-like: kind, generous, giver of pleasure. Don Juan can be kind and nurturant towards his protege, but the emphasis is always on stoic courage. It appears no accident that Castaneda's opponent is the deadly sorceress La Catalina, who is the only woman in the three books...
...Journey to Ixtlan," the final and most crucial section, serves as a challenge. It is very short and consists mainly of a story by Don Genaro, Don Juan's fellow sorcerer, about winning his ally. After being spun like a top by the ally, but triumphing, Don Genaro tried to return to Ixtlan where he had a home, family and friends, but he could not reach his destination. He has still not reached it. Human beings, with the exception of Don Juan, are phantoms to Don Genaro now. Don Juan tells Castaneda that when he gains an ally, he will...
...ALMOST GLIMPSES self-pity in Don Juan in this farewell speech. He is not offering his disciple nirvana, only the dignity of living and dying as a man. The road of a warrior is a lonely road. A warrior carries no baggage save his private nostalgia. Don Juan's satori is both liberating and irreversible...
Journey to Ixtlan is the conclusion of a series, a phase, but it will not be Castaneda's last book. Unless Castaneda abandons the path of knowledge, there will be a book about taming his ally and confronting La Catalina. It's difficult to imagine that Don Juan will not also reappear--at strategic moments, no doubt. Perhaps Don Genaro, who is even more awesome than Don Juan, will become Castaneda's benefactor. Perhaps Castaneda will become a man of knowledge, take on an apprentice himself (in an urban setting?), and someday we'll have The Teachings of Carlos Castaneda...