"The sorcerers' revolution," he continued, "is that they refuse to honor agreements in which they
did not participate. Nobody ever asked me if I would consent to be eaten by beings of a different
kind of awareness. My parents just brought me into this world to be food, like themselves, and
that's the end of the story."
CARLOS CASTANEDA was the author of ten bestselling books,
including the acknowledged classic The Teachings of Don Juan
and most recently The Art of Dreaming and Magical Passes. He
departed on his definitive journey in 1998.
§ THE ACTIVE SIDE OF INFINITY §
THIS BOOK IS a collection of the memorable events in my life. Don Juan revealed to me as time
went by that the shamans of ancient Mexico had conceived of this collection of memorable events
as a bona-fide device to stir caches of energy that exist within the self. They explained these caches
as being composed of energy that originates in the body itself and becomes displaced, pushed out
of reach by the circumstances of our daily lives. In this
sense, the collection of memorable events was, for don Juan and the shamans of his lineage, the
means for redeploying their unused energy.
gathered them following the recommendation of don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian shaman from
Mexico who, as a teacher, endeavored for thirteen years to make available to me the cognitive
world of the shamans who lived in Mexico in ancient times. Don Juan Matus's suggestion that I
gather this collection of memorable events was made as if it were something casual, something that
occurred to him on the spur of the moment. That was don Juan's style of teaching. He veiled the
importance of certain maneuvers behind the mundane. He hid, in this fashion, the sting of finality,
presenting it as something no different from any of the concerns of everyday life.
Don Juan revealed to me as time went by that the shamans of ancient Mexico had conceived of this
collection of memorable events as a bona-fide device to stir caches of energ