Part 1: Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis

Matus urges Castaneda to learn more about Datura's power before smoking again, and in December of 1964, the protygy performs another lizard sorcery. Referring to his notes, he performs the rituals on his own plants, and searches 90 minutes for lizards before recalling that he must speak to them first. The sewing is difficult, but he does not want to abandon the path. He anoints the lizards, releases one, puts the other on his shoulder, drinks the potion, and anoints his cheeks. Absentmindedly, he spreads paste on his forehead and, recalling Matus' warning, feels doomed. Thoughts fly through his mind in uncharacteristic ways. Note the subtlety of the reference to Alfred Kroeber and Georg Simmel; one is an anthropologist and the other a sociologist, making their work difficult to confuse. Feeling like he has taken sleeping pills, Castaneda falls asleep beside...