The Nagual told Carlos that we are born in a shiny sack. He referred to it as “the glowing coat of awareness. The flyers eat the glowing coat of awareness off of us leaving only enough to cover the tops of the front of our feet. Just enough awareness to render us narcissistic,very self absorbed,and in a state of near constant turmoil. We give off emotional energy which the flyers consume as food. The Nagual told Carlos that we can grow back that coat of awareness if we can remain in inner silence. Inner silence makes us invisible to the flyers. They can’t sense us if we’re not giving off an energy emanation. It’s the energy that we save in inner silence that buys us back our awareness and freedom.
@robincrowflies Жыл бұрын
💚
@covertocover2211 Жыл бұрын
🌟
@jamesbarryobrien3514 Жыл бұрын
Excellent .
@grahamluna6935 Жыл бұрын
Thank you
@jamesbarryobrien3514 Жыл бұрын
@@grahamluna6935 You understand it very well l see , you have followed the teachings closely . Not too many know and understand and of those who do very few are able to profit from it . The question therefore is -- do you understand the 6 Truths in all of its aspects,because Carlos did not or so so he told me so himself in 1984 outside the cinema on the UCLA campus . I do not really understand it he said and l have only begun to remember it lately as l go about the process of retrieving it from the depths of Heightened Awareness . Life is a great mystery and who knows where the rabbit will pop out next 💚
@jamesbarryobrien3514 Жыл бұрын
Very good analysis .Well done .Yes lnner Silence ,Silent Knowledge bamboozles the Entities and if you can keep it they never return . The mind then has a new mind ,The place of No Pity . And the luminous Cocoon i.e. that which surrounds ,like a glow ,the physical body , is fully restored then to its original shape and power . Then you are ready to fly .❤
@sharon_rose724 Жыл бұрын
I appreciate this ✨
@jamesbarryobrien3514 Жыл бұрын
Dont just appreciate it ,do it . Admiring from afar is useless , roll up your sleeves and attack with abandon . You may surprise yourself .
@jamesthewarrior693 Жыл бұрын
Sup James you seem like a fellow Toltec 🙏 Namasté
@jamesbarryobrien3514 Жыл бұрын
@@jamesthewarrior693 l see . DonJuan regarded himself as a toltec ,a race of American lndians that are very old . I suppose l could never consider myself a fellow Toltec ,but you certainly can if you like if only only for the purpose of tickling your fancy. I regard myself now at 70 as a Philisopher but l also say l am a Warrior on the Path of Knowledge . I regard doJuan himself as the greatest Philksopher that has ever existed on this Earth ,because he has brought to Man the idea and knowledge of the existence and movement of The Assemblage Point something to my way of thinking has never been done before on this Earth . DonJuan said Mankind needs to know about the existence and movement of The Assemblage Point ,if Man was to prevent his own stupid annihilation . And when he saw that Castaneda was writing down everything that came out of his own donJuans mouth ,true to his form as a follower of the omens as they presented themselves to him -- he encouraged the writing of a book . However when it came to the elucidation of the 6 Truths ,because Carlos could not remember the 6 Truths as they were dictated to him by donJuan the accurate rendition of same did fall short of the mark in my humble opinion, when indeed carlis began to retrieve from heightened awareness . This l have set myself the task of correcting and will present fairly soon in a book form written by myself, the proper understanding of the Mastery of Awareness otherwise known as The 6 Truths . This seems to be the way the omens are unfolding and the way the edifice and understanding of lntent is finally being revealed to Man.
@jahleajahlou8588 Жыл бұрын
I have also heard of many NDE accounts of the golden luminous cocoon and the stories were very unusual.
@andreabobbette825 Жыл бұрын
Carlos Cataneda is one of my all time favorite authors.After 30 year's something made me want to re-read The Art of Dreaming. I had already read it multiple times in my early twenties. It amazing how much his work has illuminated my views on life without my realizing it until now. ❤
@deleteddata66717 ай бұрын
We sound similar. I read his work in late teens to early twenties. Dreaming brought me back to read all of CC’s works again (20yrs later). There’s a slant to CC’s work that feels and sounds familiar, like we knew this all along, we needed Carlos to put it into words.
@willclark7881 Жыл бұрын
It is easy to say we make no agreement, but through the propaganda of our tribe, clan and culture we are served up as a meal. Consciousness and the awareness of their agenda is an important first step. Currently I am battling them due to their attack on my brother and mom. These two souls are important to me and due to their unawareness, I am trying in vein to shield them. This comes at great expense to my own internal energy. The whole ascension prize is offered up as some sort of carnival prize so that we give up our energies trying to win some stuffed trinket which we could get anywhere. I pray to be clever enough and to be cloaked in the protection of true source divinity to be the warrior for light.
@Glencoe-r3v Жыл бұрын
Two wolves inside who wins the one you feed ,truth is the staff since the beginning and life is a struggle from the word go ,STEVE GAMBLE SHOPPING FOR THE SPIRIT go and read it will ,it will save your life
@sharon_rose724 Жыл бұрын
What are your thoughts on ascension? Your comment is similar to my current view. I used to be on the "path" but now I feel like it's a "pied Piper" situation.. false light.
@Glencoe-r3v Жыл бұрын
@@sharon_rose724 take mushroom s and enter
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
that is beautifully said. I wish you great positive energy and awareness to help shield your loved ones
@babygirl5299 Жыл бұрын
Here, Here....
@barrywilson42768 ай бұрын
In the early 1970s I was a university student in Canada. I had studied eastern philosophy for some years and had become involved with psychedelics. I would not discover the Don Juan books for some two or three years. Casteneda's books would eventually explain a number of baffling experiences I had during this period. Firstly having discovered the Christian mystics; Theresa of Avalon, Meister Elkhart, St John of the Cross etc. through Aldous Huxley's Perennial Philosophy I had developed my own meditation to subdue my ego. One afternoon while walking alone on campus I was pursuing the censorship of my thoughts. Suddenly a disembodied voice loudly and clearly said "If you continue to pursue your practise you will die". I immediately heeded the warning and ended my practise. I intuitively treated this voice as having simply conveyed information. I sensed no personality, God or angel. When years later I read the Don Juan saga I learned that this is the Voice of Seeing and yes there was no one home. In another section of the books Don Juan explains that mystics in aggressively assaulting their selves are actually attacking the egg of energy enveloping us and protecting us from death. The mystic unwittingly rips open his or her cocoon of energy and perishes. Another uncanny incident occurred when home from school for a long weekend. I awoke on Sunday morning with the feeling of a heavy sphere in my head. It gradually descended through my body all day long and disappeared though my feet in the evening. Years later I read Carlos Casteneda's account of his losing the human form. It was exactly as I had experienced it. After finally discovering the Don Juan stories, so perhaps under their influence, I had other experiences as described by Carlos. I moved my assemblage point in an encounter with a telepathic young woman attacking me emotionally (magically). The most disturbing was a year and half of revelations, mind altering and often terrifying. I was forced to review many incidents from my life infusing them with new meaning and destroying my belief in my mundane life. I have only recently realized this was the Recapitulation of one's life practised as a discipline amongst warriors, but forcefully imposed upon me, having no teacher I suppose. As I am not a joiner I never sought out Carlos or his organization. But I cannot deny the power of these works. I am definitely not a nagual. Strange things happen to me but I cannot accomplish anything through my will. So now to discuss the fraud charges levied against Carlos which appear to be well authenticated. The later books of Castaneda have much to do with Stalking. Stalking is the creation of a false crisis designed to move a student's assemblage point and push them into magical realms. I believe the whole Castaneda phenomena was an exercise in Stalking. The World was Stalked. To what end. Sorry no idea.
@jamesthewarrior693 Жыл бұрын
Thank you for covering Castenadas work. Theres no where near enough coverage of the teachings of Don Juan. ❤
@teeniequeenie8369 Жыл бұрын
Yes I’m reading the art of dreaming atm…just started but I’m excited to read it…
@escapevelocity8092 Жыл бұрын
@teeniequeenie8369 you're lucky, that's one of the best and most practical. Pay attention to the dreaming practices therein
@jamesthewarrior693 Жыл бұрын
Where are you both from?
@escapevelocity8092 Жыл бұрын
From Manchester England
@andreabobbette825 Жыл бұрын
@teeniequeenie8369 I just got my copy in the mail yesterday😊. I wanted to find some videos of him to watch before I read it again. This will be the third time after twenty years! It is exciting!
@DustinMercer18 күн бұрын
Barbara Marciniak's book, Bringers of the Dawn, published in 1992, covers this idea in even greater detail.
@Ευεξίας Жыл бұрын
Truths like death, perfectly written, by nagual Carlos. Grateful!!!
@DennisRoberts-sv4hi Жыл бұрын
So is Carlos still alive. I thought he went into another dimension? Its been 40 years since I read his first 4 books. The timing was good back then. Lotta things going on in my life back then. Ii was surprised to see this about Carlos Castaneda. ❤
@andreabobbette825 Жыл бұрын
We wouldn't know for sure. I would bet yes, though.😊
@keti919 Жыл бұрын
Thank you..and I thank the Spirit
@MagnoNoble Жыл бұрын
Is this the same with eckhart tolle's painbody?
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
that sounds like it to me . . . good point
@captiv8ing1 Жыл бұрын
Don't consent
@expatxile Жыл бұрын
You can see them sometimes with IR Light.
@michaelnice93 Жыл бұрын
I think if this was true we could get some undeniable evidence rather easily. Though it seems there have been a few videos I have seen that are compelling
@AndrewConnell-tu1gj Жыл бұрын
Archons sent by Yaldabaoth, who is Yahweh. They feed on negative emotions. The lake of fire and suffering sinners would be an eternal banquet to them. That is what Yahweh, the Chief Archon, wants. 🔥
@jean-rochdion4898 Жыл бұрын
Abraxas
@jahleajahlou8588 Жыл бұрын
All I can say is many NDE accounts describe entities (some variety) which are grotesque if they are seen for what they are worth who have the ability to "changeling" and hypnotize or present themselves as real identifiable things and persons which do so only for the purpose of torturing.
@AndrewConnell-tu1gj Жыл бұрын
@@jahleajahlou8588 There are also accounts of the Light. The Light is not Yahweh. It is the blissful light-realm of the Pleroma and the Highest Aeon. It is the Source/Father worshipped by Christ. Read the first part of "The Secret Book of John" If you want a description of Source/Father by Christ himself. 🔥🌈⛅️
@HeidrunPetersen-l4x4 ай бұрын
I read and re-read Carlos Castaneda´s books several times. Wanted to find out when his "luck" seemed to end, when he went astray, so to say. Until I found the videoThe Death of la Gorda" where Florinda said to Carlos and his witches that "her Group" Including Don Juan and the old warrior group who prepared Carlos and his group- they will definitely "drop" the whole bunch. I write this because this video is made very well - I never saw the flying ones, but I hear them in the right or left ear as a nerving kind of chirping. Always when I am through working in meditation and are full of energy or in a loving state of mind- or er mind is clouded in anger ! I learned to scream to them- as Don Juan said their biggest fright is to be acknowledged. Thinking of Buddhism - they call them the hugry ghosts- and the treatment is the same - try to reach the State of inner Silence ! Thank you !
@dannygreen531 Жыл бұрын
Most if not all of humanity has a parasitetic entity.
@3glitch9 Жыл бұрын
Yep! _WETIKO_
@Lioness_of_Gaia Жыл бұрын
Tell us it's our "ego".
@3glitch9 Жыл бұрын
There's plenty of books on it. Wetiko, wendigo, ego, evil, devil, malignant egophrenia, psychpathic narcissistim etc.. The indigenous cree say it's a "brain eating parasite of the whiteman" that fills them with the cannibalistic spirit. Making them not care about how their actions affect others, from gossiping and insulting others to a manufacturer poisoning a local communities water supply and everything in the middle, less than and greater. It's what they say has been indoctrinated into the masses, the "ridicule, mock, scoff and scorn" control and divide technique that people automatically respond with when something they don't agree with us presented to them. Some say it's what takes over when the subconscious mind is what rules, making one a reactionary slave to the mind chatter they believe to be themselves. Choosing and directing one's thoughts and perceptions the discipline advised to keep it under control. As well all anything else that keeps free radical accumulation to minimum. Paul Levy has wrote many books on wetiko and has done many KZbin interviews. The free pdf download on Academia about is what blew my mind though. Fascinating stuff.
@philipambler3825 Жыл бұрын
Light the candle, create the cheer, honour the wounded with empathic service, and enjoy nature, and silence, including your own..
@jean-rochdion4898 Жыл бұрын
the lobotomyze brainwashed monkey slave species of the Abrahamic holy psyops BS book story!! a planetary virus!!!
@teeniequeenie8369 Жыл бұрын
They are not welcome to my energy.
@queunlimited4779 Жыл бұрын
I've actually seen these twice. Couldn't believe it.
@michaelnice93 Жыл бұрын
How are they able to be seen? I am interested in observing them.
@gbrldz0 Жыл бұрын
@@michaelnice93by silencing the mind.
@coballard5334 Жыл бұрын
@michaelnice93 saving up personal power. Can't remember which book but Don Juan says one of the greatest expenditures of energy happens in the bedroom. I mean your literally taking all your "creation" energy and throwing it to the wind.
@SpiritsAmbassador13 Жыл бұрын
Archons..
@Glencoe-r3v Жыл бұрын
Reside in the assembly point , create a false self and steal the soul through dialogue and coercive falseness but no-one opposes them they are stuck here,stuck in the auric field,liars, deception,black entity they run the world but not for long 🙏👍
@GregtheGrey6969 Жыл бұрын
They are called Narcissism
@joshroudebush5888 Жыл бұрын
I'd say archonic energy 💫
@sorayaviva7513 Жыл бұрын
Archonts? Lurker? Subquantum anomaly?
@BernardThomas-yz6gw Жыл бұрын
I make no agreement
@raptureofpresent11 ай бұрын
Bullseye 🎯, Brilliant!!!
@FFTS Жыл бұрын
I really want to hear this information but that AI voice is just awful.
@kentneumann5209 Жыл бұрын
Why not use the vacuum of space to vacuum payloads up? Like an airlock. Build a big tube reaching into space. Pressurize the launch chamber. Insert payload. Open airlock. Whoosh! Sucked up into outer space.
@ATreeofNight7 ай бұрын
"Don Juan told Carlos", u mean...
@jeffbrinkerhoff5121 Жыл бұрын
Total hoohah.. find a copy of 'the Houseboat Tapes' wherein Huxley, Murray, Ginsberg, Castenada, and others are at a social gathering congratulating themselves on the success of their assignments to misdirect the counterculture.. I fell for a lot of this crap..
@thomridgeway1438 Жыл бұрын
OK bullshit disinformation No1 - There is no recorded data for Carlos Castaneda being involved with 1967 The Houseboat Tapes. Castaneda hadn't published his first book (which was a university paper) until mid 1968. In 67 he was just a Phd student at UCLA. Where I agree that many of these figures like Leary and Watts were paid up, promoted stooges - socially engineered by our evil rich elites to manipulate us into the new world order. The conclusion that Castaneda was one of them doesn't hold water. Why? Because it is widely known that Castaneda despised Watts and thought him a drunken homosexual lecher. He was equally disparaging about Leary and called him illiterate and barely mixed with these types. He was reclusive for a reason. The very fact that the corrupt world of academia did everything they could to destroy and disown Castaneda suggests he was outside that elitist loop entirely. Whether he was just a trickster guru and an opportunist is open to opinion - like Hubbard's scientology it could be made-up hogwash and pure fiction. Yet what can be said is that (having practised the teachings myself) they do really work. Many people can vouch for their success therefore the knowledge has validity. As to what you do with that knowledge it's entirely up to you.
@SpiritsAmbassador13 Жыл бұрын
Maybe so, but that still does not diminish the fact that protecting ones Auric field is solid life practice.
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
how to misdirect a counter culture?
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
a counter culture is already a mis direction from the view point of the established culture
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
and if you fell for this crap, would not it be just as enlightening to figure out Why You fell for this crap in the first place? more awareness was needed, and do you have more awareness now or not?
@yvonnekolmann745311 ай бұрын
SENTIENT GOOD BEING DONT EAT EACH OTHER! ONLY EVIL .and you always hawe the choice too take the right experienc.
@GarfieldKartPMC3 ай бұрын
those fliers sound like the occupants of a certain country in the middle east
@thewrightfamily369 Жыл бұрын
I make no agreement with anybody !
@bassmonk2920 Жыл бұрын
Nagarjuna's Middle Way
@Mantras-and-Mystics Жыл бұрын
👋 "See you later! The agreement you made was with my ancestors - not with me!"
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
I HAVE AUTHORITY
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
I am following the plot that the great Author in the sky has prepared for me although I may occasionally lose the way on a detour
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
I am telling the false story that I shall follow my real story by claiming authority to pass over any barriers or go through any doors or obstacles
@timwhitworth71 Жыл бұрын
Om Gum Gum Ganipata yay Namaha
@Mantras-and-Mystics Жыл бұрын
Righty-Oh! 😄
@billyireland79 Жыл бұрын
So scientology
@willieluncheonette5843 Жыл бұрын
"...But Carlos Castaneda is worth reading. When I say fiction I don’t mean don’t read him, I mean read him more carefully, because one percent of truth is there. You will have to read it very carefully, but don’t swallow it completely because it is ninety-nine percent fiction. It can help your growth - it can create a desire to grow. That’s why I say it is beautiful. But it can hinder growth also if you take it at its surface value. This man Carlos is really crafty, very clever. Rarely it happens, such cleverness - because it is very easy to create scientific fiction, not much imagination is needed, but to create spiritual fiction is very very difficult; one needs a great artistic and imaginary mind. Because things you don’t know, how can you even imagine them? That’s why I say one percent of truth is there. On that one percent of truth he has been able to create a big edifice. On that one percent of truth he has been able to project much imagination. On that one iota of truth he has made the whole house, a beautiful palace - a fairy tale. But that one percent of truth is there, otherwise it would have been impossible.”
@nicolettefaddel3505 Жыл бұрын
The women Nugal is were he learnt more but never revealed this!
@arnyarny77 Жыл бұрын
I agree in the 90,s I read him , many call him a charlatan, which may be true,he is human, but also he really was a shaman as well as anthropologist
@rickmontano7230 Жыл бұрын
Would you care to supply a valid source for your conclusions about the inauthenticity of the teachings brought by Carlos? I ask because I learned and still use the teachings very regularly. I don't see how such elaborate and specific information could be fabricated.
@willieluncheonette5843 Жыл бұрын
@@rickmontano7230 It is an opinion, and just an opinion. Everyone has their opinion about whether Carlos invented the whole story or did not. The New York Times still lists these books in the non fiction section. . Much of my thoughts revolve around how Carlos treated women after he became famous. The way he treated them is not how an enlightened man would treat women. Far from it. Once you are enlightened it is impossible to fall out of enlightenment. "If there were someone like Don Juan he would be enlightened, he would be like a Buddha or a Lao Tzu - but there is nobody like Don Juan. Carlos Castaneda's books are ninety-nine per cent fiction - beautiful, artful, but fiction. As there are scientific fictions, there are spiritual fictions also. There are third-rate spiritual fictions and first-rate ones. If you want first-rate, then read Carlos Castaneda. He is a great master - of fiction. But I say ninety-nine per cent fiction. One per cent of truth is there, hidden here and there; you will have to find it. It is good even to read it as fiction. But Carlos Castaneda is worth reading. When I say fiction I don't mean don't read him, I mean read him more carefully, because one per cent of truth is there. You will have to read it very carefully, but don't swallow it completely because it is ninety-nine per cent fiction. So one per cent of Don Juan must be there somewhere or other. He must have met somebody; maybe his name was Don Juan, maybe not, that is not material, that doesn't matter. Carlos has come across a being superior to himself, he has come across a being who knows some secrets. Maybe he has not realized them, maybe he has stolen them, maybe he has just borrowed them from someone else. But he has met somebody who has somehow got some facts of spiritual life and this man has been able to create imagination around it. And the imagination becomes possible if you use drugs as a help - very easy, because drugs are nothing but an aid to imagination. This man has come across some being who knows something, and then through drugs, he has projected that small truth into imaginary worlds. Then his whole fiction is created. It is a drug trip, but a good experiment in itself. And when I say all these things I am not condemning Carlos. In fact I have come to love the man. It is a rare flight of imagination, and if it is a hundred per cent fiction then Carlos himself is a rare being. If he has not come across anybody at all then he must have that one per cent of reality in himself. Because otherwise it is impossible - you can only build a house on a foundation, even an imaginary house needs at least a foundation in reality. You can make a house of cards but at least the ground, the solid ground is needed. That much is true. So read, because you will have to read. Every age has its own fictions, romances; one has to pass through them. You will have to read. You cannot escape Carlos Castaneda. But remember that only one per cent is true - and you have to find it." If you like I will post a part of the Don Juan books that are 100% true.
@escapevelocity8092 Жыл бұрын
@willieluncheonette5843 you should really stop talking on this topic, you are absolutely clueless about it, and all your writing above proves that to me, beyond doubt. If you had understood the teachings, and incorporated them into your life, you'd realise that truth is a very flexible thing, and that the subjective world IS the real world, and that what we are experiencing day to day is a collectively sanctioned hallucination, which barely holds together even with 8 billion peoples intent constantly renewing it. Getting lost in the authors authenticity, when there is such a rich amount of practices to experiment with, just shows that you are stuck in the first attention. The first attention needs to fit everything into an inventory, to reduce it to reason, its this act which is blinding you to 'not take action'. If you read the content carefully, you'll understand why nobody was ever able to find Don Juan or evidence of the nagual whatsoever. To unhook our ring of power from the world isn't a metaphor, its a literal action. And when Don Juan took castenada to certain places where he would sometimes see people on the rock and sometimes not see them at all, this occurs because of them peoples 'impeccability', nothing of the world sticks to them, hence they are light and more free.
@BernardThomas-yz6gw Жыл бұрын
👀👀👀👀👀
@jamesbarryobrien3514 Жыл бұрын
The Entities ,the inorganic beings ,are not the Annunaki .
@Glencoe-r3v Жыл бұрын
All this biblical rubbish all designed to keep US away from the ARCHON agenda,it's a load of bollox low frequency thought forms in the auric field promotes false self then steals the soul ,they run the world but it's unfolding for them, that's why they smoother you in sun tan lotion and take vitamin d out of the food cos they know the Christ consciousness is coming We've got plasma being shot at us ,there's been biggest explosion on the sun since records started ,the light and truth ALWAYS , ALWAYS WINS what did Harrison write " here comes the sun " good lunch kill yr ARCHON who works for Saturn through him 👹
@sharon_rose724 Жыл бұрын
I think my spark has been stolen. I've been under heavy archon attack for a few years, and in the last week I feel like something is missing, like I can't tap into my heart space like I used to. I just want it back.
@jamesbarryobrien3514 Жыл бұрын
@@sharon_rose724 lgnore your feelings and realize you have the power through Unbending lntent to be whatever you want .
@Glencoe-r3v Жыл бұрын
@@sharon_rose724 it's blocking your assembly point at the back,it's jamming you and not letting you progress,Steve GAMBLE SHOPPING for the spirit will help enormously in yr quest 👍
@sharon_rose724 Жыл бұрын
@@Glencoe-r3vThank you, I'll look into Steve. I've been stunted and stagnated since around 2019 and it's been a crazy series of spiritual events since then. I cannot move forward and I don't know why.
@Barlas511 Жыл бұрын
Some say his all work was fake.
@terryjross1184 Жыл бұрын
But not as fake as today's internet
@willieluncheonette5843 Жыл бұрын
I feel I should respond to some of the comments on my post. I am not trying to convince anyone of anything. I could care less if you believe it or not. But I know what I think and maybe this can be of interest to some readers. " It is said that Castaneda’s only real sorcery was turning the University of California into an ass. No one but Castaneda ever saw Don Juan. Castaneda had NO CORROBATING PHOTOS, TAPE RECORDINGS, OR EVEN ANY FIELD NOTES. (My note----I believe this is HIGHLY UNUSUAL in a doctorate of this kind) In his nine years of alleged desert research with a Yaqui Indian, he learned nothing about the region’s plants and animals and didn’t learn one Indian name for any of them. He claimed to climb trees that can’t be climbed and to stalk animals that can’t be stalked. He casually referred to hiking for hours in 100 degree heat. He said he enjoyed being drenched by warm winter rains in a desert where winter rains are icy cold. He could provide no samples of the hallucinogenic mushrooms that he supposedly used, and indeed there are none in that region. Worst of all, he obviously knew nothing about Yacqui Indian beliefs and culture. Charles Caleb Colton once said, “The more gross the fraud, the more glibly will it go down, and the more greedily be swallowed, since folly will always find faith.” In spite of everything, Castaneda’s first book was issued by the University of California Press in 1968 with this announcement: “It has been assumed that the West has produced no way of spiritual knowledge comparable to the great systems of the East. The present book is accordingly nothing less than a revelation.” An eminent reviewer in American Anthropologist said it “should attain a solid place in the literature of both hallucinogenic drugs and the field behavior of anthropologists.” Castaneda cranked out one wildly popular Don Juan book after another and contradicted himself right and left. The Anthropology Department at UCLA granted him a doctorate in 1973 for his third book, Journey to Ixtlan, under another title. Professors knew better than to offend the members of his doctoral committee, but some of them must have wondered, “Does a daydream count now as an informant? Does a fantasy count as a field report?” In The Decline of the West, philosopher Oswald Spengler said that fraud by scholars is one of the signs of a decadent civilization. In 1976 Richard de Mille completed some masterful sleuthing and published Castaneda’s Journey. He kept digging, and in 1980 he published The Don Juan Papers. Among many other things, he reveals that UCLA’s Professor Goldschmidt was Castaneda’s Department Chairman and the ranking anthropologist on the editorial committee of University of California Press. His foreword to Castaneda’s first book is the reason it was taken seriously. At the end of 1978, in the face of overwhelming evidence of fraud, Goldschmidt said “We possess no information whatever that would support the charges that have been made…. I am not going to say mea culpa.” The members of Castaneda’s committee refused to give an inch."