Carlos Castaneda

The author and chief character in the book, Castaneda introduces himself in The Teachings of Don Juan as a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, who finds himself undergoing an apprenticeship to the Yaqui Indian sorcerer, Don Juan Matus. The methodology depends heavily on the use of hallucinogenic drugs, which Carlos comes to fear, and ends the relationship. The present book suggests that the apprenticeship later resumes, primarily in the central Mexico highlands, and reaches the point that Carlos and other apprentices of Don Juan and his partner Don Genaro must graduate by jumping into an abyss. Shortly afterward, the two full-fledged sorcerers enter the other world. Carlos returns to the highlands to validate the jump with his colleagues. He does not remember doing it. Carlos does not seem to have been a full-time learner like the "little sisters" and the Genaros, whose training...