An Introduction

For several years, roughly between the publications of The Teachings of Don Juan and The Second Ring of Power, quite a few critical studies of Carlos Castaneda’s works appeared. The focus of these was inevitably the truthfulness of Castaneda’s enterprise: was don Juan and his world real or only the fictional creations of Castaneda? Like other believers in Castaneda’s books, I largely ignored these studies, at most skimming through them in a hunt for the idiocies of their authors. And, skimming, I found plenty of idiocies, which served to shore up my conviction that these creeps, stuck on niggling facts as they were, had missed the real value of what Castaneda had to offer. Now, some twenty years later, I thought it was time for me to reopen these books and honestly read them.

An outcome of this decision is that I’ve taken on the task of annotating the major works and assembling a bibliography. Because this is an ongoing project, I welcome any suggestions for books or articles to include, as well as your criticisms and corrections to what’s been posted. Since the bibliography I’ve outlined has a narrow focus, please feel free to create your own bibliographies and submit them to this site for posting.

Bibliographer’s Note: The following titles represent some serious early criticism of Carlos Castaneda’s enterprise. I’ve chosen these from de Mille (1976) as well as from citations in the chronologies already posted on this Website, including titles relating to Florinda Donner’s work. This bibliography will be expanded and also pruned as we go along. As always, I welcome comments and corrections. –S.M.

Artaud, Antonin. The Peyote Dance. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1976.

Ash, Lee. [Review of A Separate Reality.] Library Journal, 1971(May 1),

Barthelme, Donald. “The Teachings Of Don B.: A Yankee Way Of Knowledge.” New York Times Magazine, 1973 (Feb 11), 14-15, 66-67. Reproduced in D. Barthelme, Guilty Pleasures. Dell, 1974.

Beffeman, Gerald D. “Anemic And Emetic Analyses In Social Anthropology.” American Anthropologist, 1966, 68(2, pt 1), 346-354.

Comment: The terms “anemic” and “emetic” reflect apparently short-lived concepts in anthropology. They appear here because Carlos Castaneda referred to this concept in the precis of his dissertation. (See deMille, 1976)

Castaneda, Margaret Runyan, as told to Wanda Sue Parrott. “My Husband Carlos Castaneda.” Fate, 1975 (Feb).

Castaneda, Margaret RunyanA Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda. Victoria: Millenia Press 1996

Cook, Bruce. “Is Carlos Castaneda for Real?” National Observer, 1973 (Feb 24).

Crapanzano, Vincent. “Popular Anthropology.” Partisan Review, 1973.

Cravens, Gwyneth. “Talking To Power And Spinning With The Ally.” Harper’s Magazine,

De Holmes, Rebecca B. “Shabono: Scandal or Superb Social Science?” American Anthropology [Vol. 85, p. 664]

de Mille, Richard. “The Perfect Mirror Is Invisible.” Zygon, 1976 (Mar)

de Mille, RichardCastaneda’s Journey. Santa Barbara: Capra Press. 1976.

de Mille, RichardThe Don Juan Papers: Further Castaneda Controversies. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.1990

Dobkin de Rios, Marlene. Visionary Vine: Psychedelic Healing in the Peruvian Amazon. San Francisco: Chandler, 1972. Dover, 1975.

Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton U., 1964.

Fikes, Jay CourtneyCarlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties. Millenia Press (1993).

Fire, John/Lame Deer & Erdoes, RichardLame Deer, Seeker of Visions. Simon & Schuster, 1972.

Foster, George M. “Nagualism in Mexico and Guatemala.” Acta Americana, 1944(Jan-Jun)

Freilicher, Lila. “The Carlos Castaneda Trilogy.” Publishers Weekly, 1972(Nov 20).

Furst, Peter T. Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens. Praeger, 1972.

Furst, Peter T. “Huichol Conceptions Of The Soul.” Folklore Americas, 1967(June).

Giddings, Ruth Warner, collector. Yaqui Myths and Legends. U. Arizona, 1959.

Gill, Jerry H. “The World Of Don Juan: Some Reflections.” Soundings, 1974.

Globus, Gordon G. “Will The Real ‘Don Juan’ Please Stand Up.” The Academy, 1975(Dec).

Goldschmidt, Walter. Exploring the Ways of Mankind. 2nd edition. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Grosso, Michael. “Plato And Out-Of-The-Body Experiences.” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1975 (Jan).

Harris, Marvin. Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture. New York: Random House, 1979.

Holmes, Rebecca. 1983 “Shabono: Scandal or Superb Social Science?” American Anthropologist [85]

Keen, Sam. “Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Psychology Today, 1972 (Dec).

Kendall, Elaine. 1982. “Review of Shabono by Florinda Donner.” Los Angeles Times, May 9

Picchi, Debra. 1983. “Review of Shabono by Florinda Donner.” American Anthropologist 86: 674-675

Kennedy, William. “Fiction or Fact.” New Republic, 1974 (Nov 16).

Kitiver, Heinrich. Mescal, The ‘Divine’ Plant and It’s Psychological Effects. London: Kegan

Kleps, Art. [Letter] New York Times Book Review, 1973 (Feb 4).

Kluckhohn, Clyde. Navaho Witchcraft. Boston: Beacon Press, 1944.

Kurath, William & Edward H. SpicerA Brief Introduction to Yaqui, A Native Language of Sonora (University of Arizona Social Science Bulletin No. 15). U. Arizona, 1947.

La Barre, Weston. “Hallucinogens and the Shamanic Origins of Religion.” (In Furst–op.cit.)

La Barre, Weston. The Peyote Cult, 4th edition. Schocken, 1975.

Leach, Edmund. “High School.” New York Review of Books, 1969 (June 5).

Levy-Bruhl, Lucien. The ‘Soul’of the Primitive. Praeger, 1966.

Lewis, C.S. Till We Have Faces. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1956. Eerdmans, 1964.

Madsen, William & Madsen, Claudia. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Natural History, 1971(June).

Mandelbaum, David G., editor. Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language, Culture and Personality. U. California, 1949.

Mandell, Arnold J. “Don Juan In The Mind.” Human Behavior, 1975(Jan).

Margolis, Joseph. “Don Juan As Philosopher.” In Noel (228-242), 1976.

Moises, Rosalio, Kelley, Jane Holden, & Holden, William Curry. The Tall Candle: The Personal Chronicle of a Yaqui Indian. U. Nebraska, 1971.

Myerhoff, Barbara G. Peyote Hunt: The Sacred Journey of the Huichol Indians. Cornell U., 1974.

Noel, DanielSeeing Castaneda: Reactions to the ‘Don Juan’ Writings of Carlos Castaneda, Perigee Books (1976)

Oates, Joyce Carol. “Anthropology-or fiction?” [Letter] New York Times Book Review, 1972 (Nov 26)

Oates, Joyce Carol. “Don Juan’s Last Laugh.” Psychology Today, 1974(Sep).

Oates, Joyce Carol. “Letter to Daniel C. Noel.” (In Noel (69), 1976–op.cit.)

Parrott, Wanda Sue. “I Remember Castaneda.” Fate, 1975(Feb).

Pearce, Joseph Chilton. Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg. Julian, 1974. Pocket Books, 1975.

Pearce, Joseph Chilton. The Crack in the Cosmic Egg. Julian, 1971. Pocket Books, 1973.

Puharich, Andrija. The Sacred Mushroom. Doubleday, 1959, 1974.

Pulvino, Charles J. & Lee, James L. “Counseling According to Don Juan.” Counseling

Radin, Paul. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. Philosophical Library, 1956.

Rank, Otto. The Double. U. North Carolina, 1971.

Riesman, Paul. “The Collaboration Of Two Men And A Plant.” New York Times Book Review, 1972 (Oct 22).

Roll, William G. The Poltergeist. New American Library, 1972, 1973.

Roszak, Theodore. “A Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Nation, 1969 (Feb 10)

Silverman, David. Reading Castaneda. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975.

Spicer, Edward H. [Review of The Teachings of Don Juan] American Anthropologist, 1969 (Apr)

Spicer, Edward H. Pascua, A Yaqui Village in Arizona. U. Chicago, 1940. St. Petersburg Times (Florida), April 25.

Sukenick, Ronald. “Upward and Juanward: The Possible Dream.” In Noel (110-120), 1976. (op.cit.) First published in Village Voice, 1973(Jan 25).

Tart, Charles T. “Did I Really Fly? Some Methodological Notes On The Investigation Of Altered States Of Consciousness And Psi Phenomena.” In Roberto Cavanna, editor, Psi Favorable States of Consciousness. New York: Parapsychology Foundation (29 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019), 1970. Times Book Review, 1974(Oct 27)

Tomkins, Calvin. “The Teachings Of Joe Pye: (Field notes for Carlos Castaneda’s next epiphany).” New Yorker, 1973(Feb 3).

Valero, Helena: as told to Ettore Biocca. Yanoáma: The Narrative Of A Girl Kidnapped By Amazonian Indians. 1971 New York: E.P. Dutton; New York: Kodansha International. 1999,

Wallace, John. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: Conversations with Carlos Castaneda.” Penthouse, 1972 (Dec).

Wasson, R. Gordon,Valentina P. “I Ate The Sacred Mushrooms.” This Week, 1957(May 19).

Wasson, R. Gordon. “Seeking The Magic Mushrooms.” Life, 1957(May 13).

Wasson, R. Gordon. Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968

Wasson, R. Gordon. “The Hallucinogenic Fungi of Mexico.” Harvard University Botanical Museum Leaflets, 1961(Feb 17).

Wasson, R. Gordon. “The Divine Mushroom: Primitive Religion and Hallucinatory Agents.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 1958 (June)

Whorf, Benjamin Lee. Language, Thought, and Reality. MIT, 1956.

Wilk, Stan. [Review of A Separate Reality]. American Anthropologist, 1972 (Aug),

Young, Dudley. “The Magic of Peyote.” New York Times Book Review, 1968 (Sep 29).

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