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The Nagualist Newsletter and Open Forum / Issue 4 Dec. 1994/Jan. 1995 |
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Copyright 1995 by Nagualist Newsletter, all rights reserved.
Individual submissions by readers and staff of the newsletter are also protected
under copyright law. No portion may be reproduced without the written permission
of the Nagualist Newsletter and of the individual who made the submission.
Additional copies may be available at no charge.
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TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT
This issue is full of new columns; here's another one. Readers often send in advice on things to try to enhance Nagualist practices. Since a lot of it is not something from any of Carlos' group's books, and the submitting reader isn't claiming to be learning from another Nagual, it gets a low priority in terms of inclusion. For this issue there were quite a few of these, so we decided to print some. Keep in mind that we are deluged with these every single issue. We have removed paragraph breaks to save space.
... a couple of cups of camomile tea before bedtime can be quite helpful. (It helps separate the physical and energy bodies.) This is not guaranteed to work for everyone, but I encourage people to try it; it's infinitely safer than Datura, in any case. In fact, it's actually beneficial to one's health. Give it a try!
Source: Sedona, AZ
Wanna feel the pressure on your energy body and cleanse & balance it too? Also while moving your assemblage point? Thru the agent of fire and with a boost from the earth! Down thru the ages, medicine people, shamans, sorcerers, etc., would make a big bon `fire' at sunrise and at sunset. At the sun's half disc on the horizon, that exact moment, a mantra + some corn or rice ... would be thrown into the `fire'. Energy would gather as power for healing, 'not doings' and `gazing' + etc... 22 years ago - the original uncut version was resuscitated from many eons ago, & is widely taught and practiced around the planet, today. `Agnihotra'... is a very ancient scientific tool, used for the smoke, and the ash is also very medicinal...
Source: Kettle, KY
The Sorcerer's pass described on pages 83-134 (to clear the ears) in The Sorcerer's Crossing is virtually identical to the Taoist practice, known in archaic terms, as "beating the heavenly Drum". [ref: DAO-IN by N. Hua-Ching, 1989 ISBN 0-937064-40-8, pg. 64]
Source: Locust Valley, NY
Why not put your diaphragm to work in the breathing process, especially when recapitulating? I think it is a shortcoming to practice recapitulation, or any technique for accumulating/securing energy in which breathing exercises are performed, without utilizing the diaphragm in addition to the lungs... Of course, different types of breathing exercises are part of the disciplines of Yoga/Zen/Tai-Chi/Tao-Yin/Qi-Gong/Chi Kung and, to a certain extent, Nagualism. However, I must state that the Original (or Embryonic Breath, described in the Taoist books Huang Ching ("Embryonic Breath Book"), appears to be highly relevant to what I am doing...
Source: Oviedo, FL
Editor: This reader supplied an excellent, typewritten, 3 page explanation, complete with humor, of how to increase your breathing capacity by 50-100% through this method. I personally am fond of extra breathing during recapitulation, but the length of the document would have displaced many pages of reader input.
... I do find chewing a little Rosemary seems to improve memory and facilitates mental clarity; it definitely improves my chess game. How it might be of use drawing up a recapitulation list may be of interest...
Source: Locust Valley, NY
Editor: This reader supplied information from a book entitled Secrets of the Mind-Altering Plants of Mexico by Richard Heffern (1974 Pyramid Books, NY), which indicated such uses of rosemary.
THE ANSWER TO THE DREAM VISITORS QUESTION!
Anyone who has dreamt of a member of Carlos' group is undoubtedly harboring hopes that there is more to it than an ordinary dream. I didn't expect to get any kind of answer as to whether this was a possibility, but a reader had heard the true scoop on this from Florinda and sent in this reply;
...Florinda laughs her head off if she ever reads this stuff. "Oh, I've been visited by you in dreams...", that's one of the typical statements of people who write to her and Carlos. She calls these people "cracked persons" and their dreams, "mental masturbations" to say the least. But don't let it bother you, maybe it's only a scout stalking you... Just recapitulate that nonsense and save the energy for a more practical effort - simply wake up and notice that you are dreaming.
Don't get me wrong. There are dream visitors - and not only inorganic beings from other realms. Let me tell you a short dreaming tale that might be able to show the difference between mental masturbation and true dreaming:
I was dreaming an ordinary dream. Things seemed to be similar to my everyday reality until I met an old friend of mine, another warrior on the Toltec path. I told him that I was glad to see him again, for we hadn't seen each other for more than a year. "Don't waste your time by talking rubbish", he warned me, "haven't you realized that this is dreaming?" He insisted that I should look at my hands, but I still was too numb to realize what he'd told me. I fully woke up - into dreaming - when he showed me a marvelous feat: He changed into a luminous ball for an instant, then he regained his human shape. After that we had a great time dreaming together. And this was not a single experience - I have to admit that on some other occasions people have had to tell me before I realized that I had actually entered an energy generating world while dreaming. It seems that the other side is not as lonesome as one might think...
Source: Withheld
Editor: I almost choked on my ice cold glass of 10K when I read this. I guess you can't get away with too much indulging around here. Maybe I'll switch to camomile tea.
Rim Notes in a Magazine There's a publication which explores the uses of psychedelic drugs in the process of self-discovery. It's called Psychedelic Illuminations andis published in Southern California. They list an address of P.O. Box 3186, Fullerton, CA 92634. A phone number for subscriptions is given as (714) 733-1252. This publication is filled with information about the uses of various power plants and drugs, thelegal problems associated with them, and also information on various shaman or pop culture figures. Issue six, the current issue at the time of this publication, has a column by Runyan Wilde on page 78 which is about his attendance of the RIM institute workshop. Runyan has an obvious interest in Nagualism, mentioning in his article that he has read each of Carlos' books 4 times. He is working on a cross-reference collection, in the hopes of encouraging people to give it a serious try. He does not seem to be aware of this publication, a fact that worries us here in terms of total possible circulation. We'd hate to have the newsletter circulation expand beyond our budget. A note near the article mentions that there will be a discussion of the assemblage point next month. |
FLORINDA DOES LUNCH.
A reader pointed out that the newsletter gets a bit worshipful at times. I believe that's just because we've all been so starved for action for so long that the recent tide of events has us eager to gobble up anything we can get. Despite this observation, he decided to contribute our most religious story so far:
I found myself a little bit "worshipful" a few months ago when I spotted Florinda Donner (a song on the radio just said the word "sorcery" as I typed Florinda's name) sitting in a restaurant next to a man who I am sure was Carlos Castaneda. Florinda I had seen at a few booksignings here in town, so I was sure I recognized her. And the way she interacted with this rather South American looking man who was telling funny stories to them, I had no doubt it was Carlos. I did muster the courage to go up to them as I was leaving and say hello, even though I felt a bit foolish doing so. They were not interested in being social with me or my friend at all (no surprise) as I was babbling social inanities, talking about how we were just talking about her before we arrived at the restaurant. She acted as though she didn't register what I was saying at all. Finally I just dropped everything and said, "well, I just wanted to say hello." That came from my heart. She looked at me and smiled and her eyes GLOWED GREEN.
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Here's an item that's bound to bother the men. I know that just about every male reader is harboring the hope that one day Carlos will reveal to them that they're the next Nagual, heir apparent to all this fame and glory. The women don't seem to be looking to succeed Carol. Actually, if this information is true we all ought to be glad, because we won't be left alone after Carlos' group leaves. A reader sent the following: ...CC & Company's agent, Tracy Kramer, told me that the sorceresses were intending to make a video showing and explaining the sorcery passes. I am not sure if the technique for Recapitulation would be included in this video, or when it will be available to the public. Perhaps someone could check further on this? I had asked their secretary why no further workshops were being offered at that time, and got this unintentional explanation: "They were surprised to find the new nagual as fast as they did." They had all returned to Mexico and no further workshops were being offered in 1994. Are any of you able to explain this one? I know that the public has been told that CC's group is the last in their specific lineage. Is a new lineage growing out of the old? Or was this statement the fantasy of a newly hired secretary getting the story wrong?... Source: Milwaukee, WI |
Nagualist Newsletter and Open Forum/ Issue 4 Dec. 1994/Jan. 1995