Many of these were published for the first time here on Sustained Action. They include not only Castaneda and group members, but also images of their offices and residences when Castaneda was alive.

Table of contents


I. Castaneda Photos

Castaneda at LACC graduation 1959

Young Castaneda (CJ Castaneda with him on right)

Castaneda and Joan Barker, 1962

Castaneda in final years

II. The Witches and Blue Scout

Carol Tiggs

Carol Tiggs in high school yearbook, when she was Kathleen “Chickie” Adair Pohlman


Carol Tiggs on cell phone. Photo courtesy of Greg and Gabi
Copyright © 1999 Greg Mamishian and Gabi Geuther

Florinda Donner-Grau

Taisha (Anna Marie Carter) and Florinda (then Gina Thal) pictured in Nov 1974 Samurai Magazine

Nury Alexander, the Blue Scout

Patricia Partin (the “Blue Scout”) from her sophomore yearbook

Nury Alexander captured on video circa 1997, courtesy of of Greg and Gabi
Copyright © 1999 Greg Mamishian and Gabi Geuther

III. Other Prominent Members of Cleargreen

Talia Bey, Cleargreen President (formerly Amalia Marquez)

Kylie Lundahl (née Dee Ann Jo Ahlvers)

Chacmools circa 1995 (Reni Murez, Nyei Murez & Kylie Lundahl)

Longtime Cleargreen President Reni Murez (stills from Cleargreen videos)

Former Chacmool and Cleargreen Co-Creative Director Nyei Murez

Former “Element” and longtime Castaneda shill, novelist and screenwriter Bruce Wagner

IV. Cleargreen Offices

Cleargreen’s Joint Offices with Toltec Artists in 1998

V. Residences

1376 1/2 Midvale Ave. home of Nuri Alexander in 1978, Carol Tiggs in 1988, and Reni Murez in 1989

Castaneda Westwood Compound (also home of Florinda, Taisha and Joanie)

Above, Westwood Compound Photos

VI. Background on the ‘Witches’ House’: Castaneda’s 25-Year Residence

The exterior views above are of the Westwood compound (a duplex, interior courtyard and apt. over the garage) where Castaneda lived from 1973 until his death in 1998. The Pandora gate picture shows the entrance into Castaneda’s side of the duplex. From the entrance on Eastborne, one could turn right into Taisha’s rooms, or left into a large living room. That side also contained the main kitchen and Florinda’s bedroom. Joanie Barker, whom Castaneda first met in 1960 (and whom he described in private sessions as “don Juan’s first, and smartest, student”), lived in the small apartment above the garage until late 1997 or early 1998.

Immediately inside the large hedge that hides most of the compound from view were a variety of fruit trees, which Castaneda’s cohorts claimed had been replanted from “the Witches house in Sonora.” In the back of the compound was a large patio that Castaneda tiled to resemble the tiling around the “inverse fountain” on the UCLA campus. Also adjoining the back of the garage is a large laundry area. Next to that is a large garage-type structure that was apparently sometimes used as a studio.

VI. Miscellaneous

R. Crumb Tensegrity Cartoon

R. Crumb’s Sept. 28, 1998 New Yorker cartoon mentioning Tensegrity (Castaneda would have been so proud, but didn’t live to see it)

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