The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda
"The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge" is a seminal work by Carlos Castaneda that blends autobiographical narrative with anthropological study. The book recounts Castaneda's experiences as he learns from don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian medicine man or "brujo," who serves as his mentor. Through their interactions, Castaneda explores concepts of "ordinary" and "nonordinary" reality, facilitated by rituals and the use of peyote, a hallucinogenic plant. These teachings not only challenge his perceptions of reality but also introduce him to the complexities of spiritual and psychological exploration.
Divided into three main sections, the book features field notes that document Castaneda's emotional and often tumultuous journey. While it has been praised for its narrative strength and insight into indigenous knowledge, it has also faced criticism regarding its factual accuracy and the authenticity of don Juan himself. Detractors question the reliability of Castaneda's accounts, while supporters argue for the work's cultural and philosophical significance. Regardless of the controversy, "The Teachings of Don Juan" remains a thought-provoking text that encourages readers to reconsider their understanding of reality and the nature of knowledge across different cultures.
The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda
First published: 1968
Type of work: Autobiography/cultural anthropology
Time of work: 1961-1965
Locale: The southwestern United States and northern Mexico
Principal Personages:
Don Juan Matus , a Yaqui Indian brujoCarlos Castaneda , his apprentice
Form and Content
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge reads like a novel, but it was Carlos Castaneda’s master’s thesis. While gathering information about medicinal plants used by southwestern Indians, Castaneda was introduced to the enigma tic and supremely confident don Juan Matus. This Yaqui brujo (a medicine man, sorcerer, or witch) was to be his mentor in the arduous process of becoming what the Indian called “a man of knowledge.”
Mescalito, the spirit of the peyote plant, has indicated to the brujo that Castaneda is the person to whom he should act as “benefactor” and pass on his age-old knowledge. As a youth, don Juan was selected similarly. There is no indication where his knowledge originates or how old it may be. As teacher, guide, and interpreter, don Juan introduces his student to an extraordinary world by teaching him the principles necessary for entering and utilizing “nonordinary” reality. Castaneda’s unusual experiences during his apprenticeship both terrify him and make him violently ill, but they disclose marvelous possibilities.
Near the end of the fourth year of his apprenticeship, Castaneda experienced a particularly traumatic lesson. Late one evening, suddenly fearing for his life, he became convinced that the don Juan he seemingly observed was in fact a diabolical impostor bent on destroying him. With this experience, Castaneda’s implicit sense of everyday reality was severely undermined; he began to have what might be described as a nervous breakdown and abruptly broke off his relationship with the sorcerer. The Teachings of Don Juan recounts events which took place during the first four years of the author’s apprenticeship.
The book is divided into three parts: “Introduction,” “The Teachings,” and “A Structural Analysis.” “The Teachings” (the largest section, comprising 131 pages of the book’s 196) consists of dated field notes which describe the “ordinary” and “nonordinary” experiences Castaneda has with don Juan. In addition to descriptions of the procedures or rituals used to induce nonordinary experiences, these notes include question-and-answer sessions between teacher and student both before and after perception-altering experiences. In these conversations, Castaneda tries to clarify his encounters with nonordinary reality as well as reveal the content of don Juan’s beliefs. Because “The Teachings” includes the subjective version of what he experiences, this section is emotionally charged and reveals the author’s confusion, amazement, and, at times, abject fear.
“A Structural Analysis” was written after Castaneda’s experiences as an apprentice. An abrupt change of style is evident as this section reflects the objective and detached language of an anthropologist. In it the author attempts to establish criteria for analyzing the lessons, perceptual attitudes, and psychological states reported in “The Teachings” and to “disclose the internal cohesion and cogency of don Juan’s teachings.” A discussion of suggestibility is a prominent part of this section. Appendices briefly discuss the process of validating nonordinary reality and include a detailed outline of “A Structural Analysis.”
Critical Context
The Teachings of Don Juan provided the foundation for Castaneda’s further conversations and experiences with don Juan, related in the widely popular works that followed: A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan (1971), Journey to Ixtlan (1972), Tales of Power (1974), The Second Ring of Power (1978), The Eagle’s Gift (1981), and The Fire from Within (1984). The most frequent criticism leveled against these works, particularly upon the appearance of the first, questions their basis in fact: How much of the study is true?
The Teachings of Don Juan has the momentum and suspense of fiction and a narrative power unmatched by other anthropological studies. Castaneda himself calls his book an anthropological field study, but the testimony of leading scholars is mixed. Detractors claim that the book is a fraud, the work of a novelist rather than a scientist, although one with a unique knowledge of the desert and Indian lore. For example, how could an observer, under the conditions experienced by Castaneda, write down everything don Juan says verbatim?
Other criticisms revolve around three themes. First, there is no proof that don Juan really did what he said he did—or that he even exists; there is no bibliography, no corroboration at all, beyond the book itself. Castaneda is the only one who has seen him, so the accuracy of the events described depends solely on his reliability as a witness. Because there is virtually no information about don Juan’s past (nothing is learned about his family), it is impossible to decide whether his “way of knowledge” has genuine ethnic roots or he is a harmless crank who fabricated his stories as mood and occasion suggested. (That Castaneda never considers don Juan’s motivation is seen as another weakness of the study.)
Next, Weston LaBarre, the most distinguished researcher of peyoteism, is particularly critical of Castaneda’s report, noting that it does nothing to advance the knowledge of ritualized hallucinogenic experiences and, moreover, that the entire study is at best pseudoscience, similar to that popularized by Thor Heyerdahl and Desmond Morris.
Finally there is the controversy concerning the source and originality of don Juan’s teachings. Scholars have called attention to the striking similarity between the ideas of the brujo and those of Taoism, American Indian folklore, and European existential philosophy. It is no wonder, then, that experts can recognize in Castaneda’s book much that is of anthropological validity.
Those who find the book enlightening are not only convinced of its cultural and historical accuracy but also believe it represents superior ethnographic scholarship. Because Castaneda attempts to go within rather than merely observe don Juan’s world, the book’s place among contemporary anthropological studies is unique, and the author has been seen as a major figure in the evolution of the discipline. Defenders of the work point out that don Juan’s ancestry is unimportant because he is, after all, a loner, an outcast sorcerer who neither speaks for nor represents Yaqui culture or religion.
To the charges of plagiarism, the work’s supporters find that the similarities between don Juan’s ideas and those of others in no way undermine the credibility of the study; in fact, such similarities point to the universality and profound truth of don Juan’s way of knowledge. Castaneda himself has responded to the charges by pointing out that Westerners are generally unwilling to look at another culture on its own terms, particularly when it conflicts with the vision of reality they have been reared to perceive and accept.
The question of its authenticity remains unanswered, but whether castigated or celebrated, The Teachings of Don Juan was widely read by a generation of young people in the 1970’s and continues to fascinate readers. By providing a glimpse into another way of experiencing the world, it suggests that reality is not absolute but a culturally determined package of illusions. With this glimpse comes flexibility, curiosity, and an open mind.
Bibliography
Abelar, Taisha. The Sorcerers’ Crossing. New York: Penguin, 1992.
Ash, Lee. Review in Library Journal. XCIV (March 1, 1969), p. 1014.
De Mille, Richard, ed. The Don Juan Papers: Further Castaneda Controversies. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1990.
Fikes, Jay Courtney. Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism, and the Psychedelic Sixties. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Mellenia Press, 1993.
Noel, Daniel C., ed. Seeing Castaneda: Reactions to the “Don Juan” Writings of Carlos Castaneda, 1976.
Roszak, Theodore. Review in Nation. CCVIII (February 10, 1969), p. 184.
Silverman, David. Reading Castaneda: A Prologue to the Social Sciences. New York: Routledge, 1975.
Young, Dudley. “The Magic of Peyote,” in The New York Times Book Review. LXXIII (September 29, 1968), p. 30.