Taisha Abelar, née Maryann Simko, was, if not the first of Castaneda’s lovers/cult members (that was probably Joanie Barker), certainly the one who served in that role the longest. After meeting him when she was only 19, she somehow found a way to live with him throughout his entire self invented, philandering, megalomaniacal life.
She was also arguably the most accomplished of his many lovers and cult members. She came from a close knit family that had survived the destruction and displacement of WWII, and her siblings all went on to academic distinction and professional careers. She herself not only published articles on a variety of subjects in her early years, but also legitimately gained her masters and Ph.D at UCLA, unlike Florinda who plagiarized her attempted thesis and was expelled from UCLA’s Ph.D program.
Although taken over and groomed by Castaneda from a young age, she was very practical and worldly in her own way, and Castaneda came to depend on her for those qualities. And she procured for him Florinda, among others, as a lover and disciple, receiving her as a lifelong housemate in return.
For me, when I got involved with the group in early 1995, Taisha was the most magical of Castaneda’s circle. Her lectures vividly made us experience her imagined stalking lives as various characters, and their intense, often miserable, but invariably extreme experiences. During the course of the same evening’s remarks, she would make us laugh out loud and sob with uncontrollable tears. Her matter-of-fact telling of the most outlandish tales (e.g., flying for miles through the air in a treehouse), made those stories feel all the more real. She truly seemed to transport us somewhere––to move our assemblage points, in Castaneda’s vernacular—to something outside ordinary reality.
Although I had many more encounters with Florinda, who was the most gregarious of the inner circle, as well as Kylie and Talia, whom I was able to help with many practical tasks, it was Taisha—whom I mainly saw only at the workshops and Sunday sessions, and then a few times for tea in Castaneda’s compound where she lived on one side with Florinda—for whom I had the most respect and admiration.
As Amy Wallace, my closest friend and confidant in Castaneda’s world, shared with me, in real time, her experiences with Taisha in those final days before Castaneda’s death, I gained a different view of what Taisha had become. The first and most lasting disciple had given in to Castaneda’s imagination with her whole heart and her own active imagination, ultimately coming to believe both his tales and teachings, as well as her own “dreamed” or “actively imagined” stories about Castaneda’s imaginary teachers.
When Castaneda came to his end and wasn’t capable of helping her and the others who had been with him so long to “burn with the fire from within,” she was absolutely and understandably devastated. She had given her life, her soul, her total commitment to Castaneda’s philosophy and worldview. Genuinely there was no life for her outside the one she had spent as Castaneda’s “colleague“ and indefatigable supporter. One senses she didn’t want to die, but really had no option but to attempt to join her beloved, her lifelong guru, in death. And she committed to this suicide pact as fervently and stoically as every other task she had had to complete in service to her personal savior.
So Taisha’s chronology was particularly painful for me to put together, and once done, I wrestled with making it public. When her brother and sister-in-law, who ultimately shared with and confirmed for me essential family history after I tracked them down, asked me to keep it unpublished, it wasn’t hard for me to agree. By contrast, my deep anger at Carol‘s ongoing deceptions, and her cruel and callous treatment of Amy and others in the group, made it easy for me to share through the private Sustained Action mailing list, and ultimately this site, what I had learned about her real story, which totally debunked the oft repeated canard that she had “bodily disappeared” from this world for 10 years. For the highly intelligent, talented, true believer Taisha, on the other hand, I felt, and still feel, only deep pity, sadness and regret at her inevitable decision to take her own life.
But the time has finally come, a quarter of a century on, to complete the real story, the truth of the destructive cult that Castaneda—a philosophical inspiration to so many—created to amuse and occupy himself, especially in his last decade. I didn’t come on the scene until the last three years of his life, but those 40 months or so were intense and all consuming for me. I can just barely imagine, then, how deeply stuck and dependent someone like Taisha had become, having been seduced and controlled by Castaneda from her late teens on, for over three rollercoaster decades.
–Richard Jennings
Chronology of a True Believer
To bring more life to the rather dry listing of early dates and documents below, from Taisha’s pre-Castaneda existence, I would like to share the story I learned from talking with her family members:
Taisha was born in Germany, into a formerly wealthy and well-educated Hungarian family from Budapest that was on the run from both the Nazis and the Soviets because Taisha’s father was a noted cancer specialist who was wanted by both sides. The father and mother were separated at the time of Taisha’s birth because being with his family would have made the father too easy to find. Taisha’s mother waited as long as she could (the father had been sent for) but ultimately gave birth to Taisha totally by herself, using “a candle and scissors.” Her mother was too weak to nurse her, so other nursing mothers in the refugee camp they were living in nursed Taisha.
Taisha was the fourth of five children, and she also had an older sister, Agnes (whom she never wrote or spoke about), who was very accomplished and of whom, one gathers, Taisha was more than a little jealous. The family immigrated to the U.S. in the early fifties, settling in Southern California. All of the children have advanced degrees and are very accomplished.
The mother apparently knew that Taisha had gotten involved at age 18 or 19 (i.e., in her first year or two at UCLA) with a much older man, whom they referred to as “her professor.” Taisha’s sister was also disapproving of this relationship, and Taisha was apparently living with her sister at this point in her UCLA career. After arguing about this relationship for some time, Taisha moved out one day and didn’t come back. The family was told that she had married this man, and, later, that they had had a child together.
The family confirmed there was a violent incident between Taisha and her mother, mentioned by Castaneda in Sunday Group sessions, that took place in 1977. Taisha did punch or kick her mother. The terrible encounter with Taisha seemed to send the mother into a downward spiral health wise, and she was never quite the same afterward. Ultimately she had Parkinson’s disease, and spent her last years in a nursing home, passing away of heart failure many years ago. Meanwhile, Taisha’s siblings (it had been a very close family, having survived great hardship and life upheavals together) mourned Taisha’s loss. The word they got was that Taisha had “moved to China.” When her father died, they hired a private investigator who found Taisha and was told she didn’t want anything to do with her family. George, the brother, was reportedly obsessed with his lost sister for years.
The fact that someone I once idolized and admired could treat loving family members this way (even if told to do so by Castaneda, whom I can now see virtually controlled Taisha’s life) was truly shocking to me. It also made me wonder how Taisha felt about the fact that Florinda was allowed to have a relationship with her parents, at least in her later years. It also seems to me that Taisha’s real family story is a lot more interesting and moving than the one she describes in Sorcerer’s Crossing.
August 25, 1945 – Maryann Simko was born in a refugee camp in Weidenberg, Germany, to Gyorgy and Margaret Eleanora Simko. (Per Gyorgy’s Petition for Naturalization No. 204262, dated November 25, 1957.)
March 15, 1947 – Maryann and family were in Bayreuth, Germany, where brother Thomas was born.
January 7, 1952 – Maryann and family were in Bayreuth, Germany, where brother Benedikt was born.
March 4, 1952 – Maryann and family–Gyorgy, Margaret, and siblings Agnes, George, Thomas and Benedikt–entered the U.S. at New York City by air. Per Gyorgy’s Petition for Naturalization No. 204262, dated November 25, 1957.
November 25, 1957 – Gyorgy and Margaret Simko, Taisha’s parents, were sworn in as U.S. citizens, having resided continuously in the U.S. since March 1952. The family was living in Covina, CA. Father Gyorgy was a physician and surgeon, from Bontida, Hungary. He was born January 31, 1912, stood 5’11”, weighed 179 pounds, had a mole on his right cheek, and had married Margaret Ormay on April 15, 1941, in Oradea/Mare, Rumania. Margarete Eleanora Ormay Simko was a housewife, who had been born January 21, 1913, in Magszalonta, Bihar, Germany. She stood 5’10”, weighed 150 pounds, and had blonde hair and blue eyes. The petition witnesses were Marian B. Nicholson, of Whittier, and Willy Spiri, a mechanical engineer in Whittier. Petition numbers 204262 and 204263
1957 – Sept. 1963 – Maryanne Simko lived with her parents on Larkin Drive in Covina, CA.
September 1959 – June 1963 – Maryanne Simko attended Northview High School in Covina.
[September 1962 – Castaneda enrolled for a Ph.D. at UCLA.]
September 1963 – Maryann Martha Simko (later Taisha Abelar) enrolled at UCLA.
[late 1965 – Castaneda ended his apprenticeship with don Juan (per A Separate Reality)]
1964/1965 – Maryann Simko met and got involved with Castaneda, and moved out on her sister Agnes.
June/July 1966 – Maryann took a course entitled “Japanese Literature Translations.”
1966 or 1967 – Castaneda’s close friend Larry Watson (Ph.D, 1967, UCLA, Anthropology) was finishing up his dissertation when Maryann came by his office to ask him for advice on pursuing a career in anthropology. He found the visit strange. It seemed to him that Carlos had sent her there as part of some kind of dramatic exercise or to “sound [him] out.” ] Source: Trickster Podcast: The Many Lives of Carlos Castaneda, Chp. 9, circa 28:30 [It seems possible that Taisha’s account, in the unpublished SWtD, of meeting “Rex” the graduate anthropology student, in his office on the third floor of Haines Hall, was an altered, fictionalized version of this interview.]
June 13, 1967 – Maryann Simko graduated UCLA with a BA in Anthropology, cum laude.
Late 1967 or early 1968 – Maryann began practicing and learning karate at UCLA. Source: (UCLA Daily Bruin, see 1971 piece, below)
1967-68 – Maryann Simko had a National Institute of Mental Health Fellowship
[1968 – Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, was published by University of California Press, Berkeley (covers the time period from June 23. 1961 – September 30, 1965).]
[April 1968 – Castaneda began again his apprenticeship with don Juan (per A Separate Reality).]
July 1969 – CJ Castaneda visited and stayed with Carlos and “Nanny” (apparently Annamarie) for about a week. They went hiking, played cards, read poetry. Carlos picked up Nanny from karate practice. Source: Margaret Runyan Castaneda, A Magical Journey (2001 i-Universe reprint, pp. 155-157)
March 24, 1970 – Maryann Simko, who already went by the name Annamarie Carter when she met friends and acquaintances of Castaneda, received a Masters in Anthropology from UCLA.
May 1970 – Omega: an international journal for the psychological study of dying, death, bereavement, suicide and other lethal behaviors published “Annamarie” Simko’s article, “Death and the Hereafter: the Structuring of Immaterial Reality.” This was Taisha’s masters thesis.
[July 1970 – Florinda first met members of don Juan’s party, according to her book Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerer’s World.]
[September 1970 – Regine Margarita Thal, later known as Florinda, enrolled at UCLA.]
Late 1970 (probably during October and November, at least) – “Annamarie Simko” helped “carry out” a survey on people’s attitudes, beliefs, views of death R. A. Kalish and D. K. Reynolds (1981), Death and Ethnicity. Baywood Publishing Company, Inc., Farmingdale, New York [Published first in 1976 as a USC Press monograph]
1970 -1972 – Taisha worked as a Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Anthropology, UCLA (per her vitae in Ph.D. dissertation).
Jan. 7, 1971 – “Annamarie Simko” was to begin teaching a new karate class for women at UCLA. The brief article indicated she had been studying karate at UCLA for three years, i.e., since about early 1968 or late 1967]. UCLA Daily Bruin, Jan. 7, 1971, p. 17
[1971 – Castaneda’s A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan, was published by Simon and Schuster [Covers the time period from April 2, 1968 – October 18, 1970 (approx).]]
[1972 – Castaneda’s Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan, was published by Simon and Schuster [Revisits, in a new light, the time period from December 17, 1960 – May 1971]]
1972 – Taisha worked as an Instructor, Dept. of Social Studies, Santa Monica City College, Santa Monica, CA (per Ph.D. vitae)
[October 3, 1972 – Kathleen Adair Pohlman (later known as Carol Tiggs) filed for change of name to Elizabeth Austin. She listed her birth date as November 24, 1947, in Hollywood, and her then current residence as 10528 Wilshire Blvd., #3, LA 90024. She further stated her father is deceased, and that her mother, Harriet W. Pohlman, resided at 1276 Rimmer, Pacific Palisades. (Lawyer was Kenneth J. Purcell, 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2010, LA 90024.)]
January 10, 1973 – Maryann Martha Simko (later known as Taisha Abelar) filed for change of name to Annamarie Carter. She listed her birth date as August 25, 1945, in Weidenburg, Germany, and her then-current address as 308 Westwood Plaza, LA 90024. She stated her father and mother were deceased, and that she did not know the names or addresses of any other near relatives. The reason given was “that she intends to publish; that her present name has foreign connotations and is difficult of pronunciation and spelling.” Final decree was filed February 26, 1973. (Lawyer was Kenneth J. Purcell, 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 2010, LA 90024.)
[March 5, 1973 – Time Magazine published cover story, “Carlos Castaneda: Magic and Reality.”]
[March 23, 1973 – Castaneda received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from UCLA.]
1973 – Don Juan and his party (except Old Florinda) supposedly left.
1973 – Castaneda purchased compound on Pandora Avenue in Westwood where he lived with Joanie Barker, Annamarie Carter, Beverly Evans and Regine Thal.
[1973 – Carol Tiggs “left” (about the time of Castaneda’s lengthy experience with the Death Defier described in Art of Dreaming)]
1973 – Amy Wallace first met Castaneda and Anna Marie Carter at the home of Ned Brown, the literary agent Castaneda and Amy’s father, bestselling novelist Irving Wallace, shared. Over the next 18 years she occasionally heard from Castaneda and saw him, Anna Marie and met Gina Thal, later Florinda Donner.
[December 17, 1973 – Castaneda’s divorce from Margaret Runyan was final, in Kanawha County, West Virginia. [Civil Action No. 14,924-D]]
[1974 – Castaneda’s Tales of Power waspublished by Simon and Schuster [Picks up in the Autumn of 1971]]
September 5, 1974 – Castaneda, Taisha (as Annamarie Carter), Florinda (Regine Thal), “Beverly Evans” and Joanie (as Mary Joan Barker) signed Articles of Incorporation for Hermeneutics Unlimited, subsequently filed with Secretary of State Sept. 10, 1974. [Corporation’s specific purpose was “the production of documentary ethnology.” Authorized to issue 750 shares of stock at $100 par value. All five directors were listed at Suite 418, 9200 Sunset Blvd., LA 90069.]
November 1974 – Annamarie Carter’s article, “Karate for Children,” was published in Samurai Magazine, p. 30, along with pictures of her and Regine Thal sparring.
January 1975 – Annamarie Carter’s articles, “Training instructors in the perfection of form,” p. 34, and “Karate for women and men as ‘non-persons,'” by Annamarie Carter & Beverly Evans, p. 20, were published in Samurai Magazine.
1975 – Annamarie Carter worked as an Instructor, University Extension, UCLA (probably a karate course)
March 1975 – Annamarie Carter’s article on “The martial arts of China,” was published in Samurai Magazine, p. 18.
June 13, 1975 – Annamarie Carter received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from UCLA.
September 24, 1975 – Castaneda executed a three-page will leaving his entire estate, in equal shares, to Mary Joan Barker, Annamarie Carter, Beverly Evans and Regine Thal. (If these four predeceased him, his estate was to go to the UCLA Department of Anthropology.)
Mar. 5, 1976 – “Annamarie Carter” was scheduled to teach a karate class for women at UCLA (Source: UCLA Daily Bruin, (Mar. 5, 1976, p. 3)
[1976 – Richard de Mille’s Castaneda’s Journey: The Power and the Allegory was published]
[1977 – Castaneda’s The Second Ring of Power was published by Simon and Schuster]
1977 – Taisha went to see her mother, Margaret, whom she violently assaulted, per Castaneda’s instructions. She then abandoned her family entirely (letting it be known that she was moving to China). She had one telephone call with her sister-in-law at this time in which the sister-in-law begged her to see her one- and three-year-old nephew and niece, at least one time. Taisha did not pay a visit.
September 26, 1977 – Castaneda signed a power of attorney to Anna Marie Carter, which was recorded on October 4 [77-1099649].
[December 1977 – Regine Thal left UCLA graduate program, without receiving a Ph.D.]
[1981 – Castaneda’s The Eagle’s Gift was published by Simon and Schuster [deals with La Gorda, the bunch left behind; ends with Castaneda saying goodbye to the Nagual woman and don Juan’s party.]]
1981 – Amy Wallace’s brother, David Wallechinsky, and his wife, attended a screening of Pixote in Los Angeles with Castaneda and Anna Marie Carter. The film was directed by Castaneda’s friend Hector Babenco.
September 3, 1981 – Castaneda signed a power of attorney Castaneda naming Regina Thal, who likewise executed a power of attorney naming Castaneda. [Both documents were recorded on September 21, 1981: 81-09369832 and 09369833.]
September 4, 1981 – Castaneda revoked the power of attorney previously granted to Anna Marie Carter. [Document was recorded on December 23, 1981 as 81-0918985.] [Mt. St. Helens erupted the previous year, cataclysmically on May 18, 1980, and Castaneda later stated on more than one occasion that Taisha had invested a lot of their monies in Mt. St. Helens real estate before the eruption.]
[1983 – Carol Tiggs “returned,” supposedly finding herself in Tucson, AZ (Later — 1985 — they claimed she found Castaneda at a lecture at Phoenix Bookstore in Santa Monica, where Renata Murez was seated beside her.)]
[October 23, 1984 – Castaneda and Jerome Ward, respectively President and Secretary of Hermeneutics Unlimited, executed an amendment to the articles of incorporation to change the corporate name to Laugan Productions, Inc., representing that the amendment was duly approved by the Board of Directors and sole shareholder. Amendment was filed with Secretary of State on Oct. 31, 1984.]
[1984 – Castaneda’s The Fire From Within was published by Simon and Schuster [includes forward thanking H.Y.L.]]
?July 4, 1985 – La Gorda allegedly died of a brain aneurysm at Castaneda and the Witches’ compound in Westwood. [In 1991, per Jacobo Grinberg’s account of the story as Castaneda told it to him and other visitors from Mexico, it happened the same day as the Mexico City earthquake in 1985, September 19. At a December 1995 Sunday session, Castaneda gave the date as July 4, at 4 PM. A review of all death certificates for females on that date in L.A. County failed to turn up any that matched the information given for la Gorda.] Castaneda, Taisha and Florinda were all on hand, and later sometimes attributed la Gorda’s death to “egomania.” At the Rim Institute in 1993, they explained that la Gorda “got tired of waiting around for Carlos and tried to leap by herself. She died as a result and we buried her.” A participant at another early workshop reported Florinda describing how la Gorda grabbed her by the arm, telling her they were going to leave together. Castaneda, at a Sunday session, said, “Taisha never lost her cool, and told la Gorda to ‘change channels.’ She even blew on her ear to try to move her to change channels, but la Gorda was too locked into her compulsion. Florinda and I ‘went to pieces.’” According to Castaneda, “another fatso,” Cecilia, had to be admitted to a mental institution following la Gorda’s death. Castaneda blamed himself for not seeing that la Gorda had an ego fixation.
July 8, 1985 – Cecilia Evans, a.k.a. Beverly Evans, nominated and appointed Anna Marie Carter as “the conservator of my person in the event the Court finds it necessary to appoint such a conservator in my behalf.” This statement, filed as attachment 3c to petition for Appointment of Conservator, gave Cecilia’s address as CPC Alhambra Hospital, 4619 Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, CA. Annamarie Carter’s petition stated that Cecilia had no known relatives, that the conservatee voluntarily requested the appointment of a conservator “having been voluntarily admitted as a patient in Alhambra Hospital following an apparent mental breakdown,” and checked the box that the conservatee would attend the hearing. Cecilia’s permanent address was given as 1672 Pandora Ave., LA 90024. The petition was filed July 23, 1985. (Barry R. Wilk, of Turner, Gerstenfeld, Wilk & Tigerman, 8383 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 510, BH, 90211, was the lawyer.) Regine Thal signed as the process server. A hearing was scheduled for Aug. 22, 1985. The hearing was apparently continued to Sept. 19, 1985. [I can’t tell what exactly happened after that. There are no further documents in the file. [Case No. P 700369]]
[1985 – Old Florinda assertedly burned with fire from within following La Gorda’s death. She had on a white dress and sun bonnet. [At Omega, Florinda described watching her from her window, and the orange tree in blossom behind her — clearly a description of the Westwood compound.]]
[1985? – Florinda attended Jacques Barzaghi’s wedding and saw Celeste Fremon. Florinda confided that all of the apprentices were in a terrible emotional state, describing how one of their sorcery teachers had turned old before their eyes. “Like the picture of Dorian Gray. It was like something you’d imagine seeing in a science-fiction movie, but we actually saw it happen,” Florinda said. She also said Carlos was very ill and living in Arizona. “We don’t know what to do,” she said. “We are waiting for him to lead us. But he doesn’t know what to do either, so we just have to wait.” [From July 3, 1998 L.A. Weekly story by Celeste Fremon.]]
October 3, 1985 – Castaneda executed an 11-page will (witnesses are E. Coventry Fatmore and Edward Friedman) in Beverly Hills leaving his estate in four equal shares to Mary Joan Baker, Regina Thal (a.k.a. Florinda Donner), Annamarie Carter and Nuri Alexander. Barry R. Wilk and Jerome A. Ward were named as co-executors. He “expressly and intentionally omitted” Adrian Gerritsen, Jr., a.k.a. C.J. Castaneda, and Maria del Rosario (“Charo”) Peters. (Barry R. Wilk was Castaneda’s lawyer at the time, and in a declaration in the probate proceedings he stated he began to represent Castaneda in 1975, being initially retained to form a corporation. He also stated that he counseled Castaneda “on his purchase of the Westwood property where he and members of his household resided for the past two and a half decades.”)
[October 4, 1985 – Regine Margarita Thal filed for change of name to Florinda Donner. She listed place of birth as Amberg, Germany, current residence as 11343 Missouri Ave., stated parents were both deceased and that their names were Rudolph Thal and Carolina Claussnitzer. Listed her nearest living relative as Annamarie Carter, “sister,” residing at 10429 Eastborne Ave. Change was effective Nov. 22, 1985. (Lawyer was Sara A. Weinstein, 12077 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 730, 90025, 213-473-3398.) [C568735].]
[1985 – Florinda’s The Witch’s Dream, with a Foreword by Carlos Castaneda, was published by Simon and Schuster]
June 29, 1986 – Taisha’s father, George Simko, died in Torrance, CA, of cardiorespiratory arrest, after years of having diabetes melitis.
July 2, 1986 – Taisha’s father was cremated at Grandview Crematory in Glendale.
[1987 – Castaneda’s The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan was published by Simon and Schuster]
[April 5, 1988 – Elizabeth Austin filed for change of name to Muni Alexander. She listed her place of birth as Hollywood, CA; residence as 1376 1/2 Midvale Ave., mother’s name as Harriet Witbeck Pohlman, at 1276 Rimmer Ave., Pacific Palisades, 90272, and father as Max Edward Pohlman, deceased. Change was effective May 20, 1988. (Lawyer who did filing was Sara A. Weinstein, 2049 Century Park East.) [Central C682126]]
April 27, 1990 – Taisha’s brother, George Simko, filed for conservatorship of their mother Margaret E. Simko’s estate. EAP 023584. Margaret’s sister, Dr. Ludmany Shandorne, was living in Hungary. Margaret had three grandchildren.
[1991 – Florinda’s Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerer’s World was published by Harper San Francisco]
June 25, 1991 – Annamarie Carter filed for change of name to Taisha Abelar [North (Lancaster) MC001796]
1991 – Amy Wallace reconnected with Castaneda, Florinda and Taisha.
? 1992 – DIMENSIONS, Vol. VII No. 9 & 10, 1992 published two-part article, “The Art of Stalking True Freedom – Taisha Abelar in Conversation with Alexander Blair-Ewart.” [Discussions about why all the books were being published, the “new configuration,” the recapitulation, energy, Carol Tiggs’s return, etc.]
April 9, 1992 – Taisha’s mother, Margaret Eleanor Simko, died in Adventist Convalescent Hospital, in Glendora, CA, of cardiopulmonary failure, following years of severe ASCVD. According to filings in the conservatorship, she had Parkinson’s disease for the last 12 years of her life, and the medication she took sometimes resulted in hallucinations. She would speak in Hungarian and “appears to imagine herself again in Hungary during the early period of her life.” She had been a piano teacher for 20 years. She was cremated and buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Rowland Heights, on April 13, 1992.
April 27, 1992 – Petition for Administration of Margaret Eleanor Simko’s estate was filed. KP 1649. Statement accompanying notice of service states, “Maryann Simko, who is a daughter of the decedent, and a sister to the proposed personal representative, has not been in contact with any member of the family for approximately twenty years. She was known to have left the United States, and was rumored to have joined a religious sect in Asia. The Petitioner is unable to give notice of the Petition for Probate to Maryann Simko, because he does not know where she resides, or even whether she is still alive.”
April 27, 1992 – Publishers Weekly gave a brief summary review of Taisha’s book Sorcerers’ Crossing. “The Sorcerers’ Crossing.” Publishers Weekly, vol. 239, no. 20, 27 Apr. 1992, p. 245. The book was published by Viking Arkana
October 10, 1992 – Taisha Abelar lectured at Alexandria II Bookstore in Pasadena [Focus was on recapitulation and quieting the internal dialogue, for which Taisha recommended meditation and breath techniques.]
?November 1992 – Taisha Abelar spoke at Gaia Books in Berkeley, CA, to promote The Sorcerer’s Crossing. Amy Wallace attended. Carol Tiggs was there and Taisha introduced her to the audience. After the lecture, Amy joined them for dinner at a local restaurant. Amy invited the two to her house, a ten-minute walk from the restaurant. They were disgusted by her cats, although Taisha complimented the fish tank.
1993 – Castaneda’s The Art of Dreaming was published by HarperCollins. [Castaneda begins by explaining that he had previously written about the first party that don Juan had found for him, but “I have never mentioned the second group of apprentices; don Juan did not permit me to do so. [even though don Juan was gone by ‘73, and a few of the books came out after that?] He argued that they were exclusively in my field and that the agreement I had with him was to write about his field, not mine. The second group of apprentices was extremely compact. It had only three members: a dreamer, Florinda Donner-Grau; a stalker, Taisha Abelar; and a nagual woman, Carol Tiggs.” p. x. He further explained, “It took me fifteen years of uninterrupted work, from 1973 to 1988, to store enough energy to rearrange everything linearly in my mind. I remembered then sequences upon sequences of dreaming events, and I was able to fill in, at last, some seeming lapses of memory. . . . Being in possession of most of the pieces of don Juan’s lessons in the art of dreaming, I would like to explain, in a future work, the current position and interest of his last four students: Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar, Carol Tiggs, and myself.” p. xi. In Chapter 10, Castaneda explained that, while he had met Taisha Abelar in the world of everyday life a few years before, he had now met Florinda Grau and Carol Tiggs in “the world of everyday life.”]
January 28, 1993 – Petition for Determination of Entitled to Distribution of Estate in Case no. KP 1649, in the Estate of Margaret Eleanor Simko, stated that “Maryanne Simko, one of the decedent’s daughters, has not been in contact with any family member since 1970. Maryanne Simko lived with the decedent until she entered college. While attending UCLA, she lived in dormitories or off-campus housing. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in approximately 1967. Petitioner is informed that Maryanne Simko did some graduate work at UCLA, then traveled to Venezuela. Maryanne Simko joined an Asian religious order, and then traveled to Asia. There has been no contact from Maryanne Simko to any family member since that time, which was in approximately 1970. Petitioner has no information to indicate Maryanne Simko had any children. Petitioner believes it is reasonable to assume that Maryanne Simko is deceased, and requests a determination by the Court that she is assumed to be deceased, that she is assumed to have predeceased Margaret Eleanor Simko, and that Maryanne Simko left no issue.” At the time the addresses of the remaining siblings were Mr. George J. Simko, Glendora, CA 91740; Agnes Escudier, Ph.D., Silverburn, Willaston, South Wirral L64 1TJ, England; Dr. Thomas Simko, M.D., Palos Verdes Peninsula CA 90724; and Benedict Simko, Ontario, Oregon 97914.
February 1993 – Taisha Abelar was interviewed by John Martinez at Toltec Artists’ offices for show later broadcast on KPFK Los Angeles
Spring 1993 – In a conversation over lunch at a seafood restaurant in Santa Monica, Castaneda tells Amy Wallace she’s a stalker, just like Taisha. Amy tells him Florinda had told her she was a dreamer like her. Castaneda responds, “Pah! That’s just because she likes you. No, no, no. Taisha Abelar is infinitely more powerful than little Flo. Florinda Donner is nothing.” Amy defends Florinda, telling Castaneda she “is just as powerful!” Castaneda insists, “She is not! She’s nothing next to Taisha Abelar! No, no, no — Taishita knows precisely where to sign–on the dotted line.”
May 14, 1993 – The Estate of Margaret Eleanor Simko is settled, and the balance of $69,398.91 is distributed four ways to the four children other than Taisha: George J. Simko, Agnes Escudier, Dr. Thomas Simko, and Benedict Simko.
July 23-25, 1993 – Florinda, Taisha, Carol and the Chacmools’ first workshop, at the Rim Institute in Arizona. [Per Kylie at Omega in 1995, the workshops were first suggested by Michael Kraft of the Rim Institute, and they were “all surprised when Castaneda agreed.” J.J. Stoecker remembers that Florinda described La Gorda’s death by claiming that La Gorda had seen that, together with Taisha and Florinda, they had enough energy to join don Juan’s party. She grabbed Taisha and Florinda by the arms to join together energetically, but Taisha and Florinda struggled and broke free just as they were “taking flight.” La Gorda hadn’t counted on their resistance, and purportedly continued her attempt, even though the struggle had weakened her. La Gorda then allegedly collapsed into a corpse of an old woman before their eyes. About 100 people attended.]
September 14, 1993 – Florinda Donner files for change of name to Florinda Donner Grau. Lists Amberg, Germany, as place of birth; 183 N. Martel Ave., #220 as present address. Lists Taisha Abelar, “sister,” as nearest living relative. Change effective Oct. 25,1993. [SS 005026 in Santa Monica]. Caren Jeanne Mahoney files for change of name to Nyei Murez. Lists her place of birth as Pensicola, Florida (after crossing out Pasadena), lists address as 10913 1/2 Wellworth Ave., 90024, telephone as 310-473-2853, and nearest living relative as Taisha Abelar, aunt at 183 N. Martel Ave., #220, 90036 (old Toltec Artists address). Change is effective Nov. 1, 1993. [SS 005028]. Reni Alexander files for change of name to Renata Murez. Lists her place of birth as Pasadena, Calif., home as 1550 Veteran 90024, and nearest living relative is Muni Alexander, mother, at 10910 Rochester Ave. Change is effective Nov. 1, 1993. [SS 005029].
October 1993 – Magical Blend #40, contains Keith Nichols article “An Exclusive Interview with Taisha Abelar of Carlos Castaneda’s Elusive Sorcerer’s Clan”
October 14-17, 1993 – Witches appear at four-day workshop at Akahi Farms in Maui [Florinda speaks the first night, Taisha the second, Carol the third and all four take questions on Sunday morning. Notes I have quote them as saying they were “testing out the workshop format, and had reformulated them in the last year.” They recommended Tai Chi, demonstrated some “sorcery passes”; otherwise topics were consistent with later workshops — recapitulation, phenomenology, intentionality, courtship rituals taking energy.]
October 17, 1993 – Taisha Abelar radio interview (by telephone) on “Earth Mysteries Show,” KPFA Grass Valley, with Haines Ely
November 1993 – Florinda and Taisha, along with the Chacmools, give a workshop at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. [According to a letter in Issue 4 of the Nagualist, Taisha gave eight examples of sorcery not-doings, including the match technique, and visualizations involving the fibers of the luminous egg.]
November 19, 1993 – Taisha Abelar lectures at Gaia Bookstore in Berkeley [focus was on stalking and recapitulation]
January 7, 1994 – Taisha Abelar lectures at East West Books in Menlo Park [The lecture’s theme was “Stopping”: “To stop you must only do one thing — decide to be a warrior or not.” Taisha said her next book would be called “Stalking With the Double.” Also discusses new topics like “the Selector” and her Sheila Waters businesswoman persona.]
January ? 1994 – Taisha lectures and signs books at Sisterhood Bookstore.
? 1994 – After Taisha’s lecture at East West, there were apparently no further workshops or lectures in the U.S. until Castaneda’s appearance in Sunnyvale on Dec. 3, 1994. A little hint as to what might have been going on is suggested by a source from Milwaukee printed on p. 13 of Issue 4 of the Nagualist. This person asked Tracy Kramer’s secretary why no further workshops were being offered at the time, and was told, “They were surprised to find the new nagual as fast as they did.” This person was further told that the group had all returned to Mexico and no further workshops were being offered in 1994. This would seem to coincide with the group’s increased involvement with Tony Karam, the head of Tibet House in Mexico, who has told several people about having had sexual encounters with Carol. The event involving the Dalai Lama, where Tony captured the Flyer photo, took place in ‘94.
March 1994 – Details Magazine contains Bruce Wagner’s “The Secret Life of Carlos Castaneda: You Only Live Twice.” [First mainstream publication to identify Taisha and Florinda, along with Carol, as also having had apprenticeships with don Juan and his party, and mentioning Taisha and Florinda’s books.]
April 1994 – Magical Blend #42 contains Keith Nichols, “Castaneda’s Clan: an exclusive interview with three of the female warriors of Carlos Castaneda’s sorcery lineage Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar, Carol Tiggs” [Florinda says that Castaneda “recently” took a group of 20 people to the church in Tula, where he took them all into a state of dreaming.]
Late Summer 1994[?] – Taisha lectures and signs books at On the Edge Books on Main Street for a crowd of about 45-50 people, mostly women (the bookstore focused on women’s issues). [According to an attendee, Taisha described her apprenticeship with don Juan and talked at length about recapitulation. She also demonstrated one magical pass — the last part of what became the Rolling Energy pass — which she said one could use to solidify the boundaries of the luminous sphere, especially before going into a tough meeting. She said that she had done it before going in for her Ph.D. orals. Someone asked how you could know if this path or recapping was for you, and she said, “By the static. If it is not right for you, all you will get [when sitting to recap] is static. Taisha also apologized for not being a great public speaker, and recommended that they hear Florinda, “who always keeps people riveted.” Lance was the last person in line to have his book signed, and asked her why they were coming out publicly at this time. She indicated that if they could generate enough mass, they thought they might change the way reality was perceived. She indicated they wanted to try to move the assemblage point of man. He also asked whether there could be any deleterious affect of doing the pass she had shown or the others in her book, and she said no. Taisha was guarded the whole time by two thin and short Chacmools with dark hair, probably Nyei and Reni.]
[Fall 1994 – Florinda speaks during Women’s Career Week at Sony Pictures. [The talk was announced the day before at a concert at Sony, and “Doctor Florinda Donner-Grau” was characterized as an anthropologist who was going to talk about the role of women in society, or something to that effect. Florinda, dressed chicly in black, first described who they were and what they did. She said, “We are the cohorts of Carlos Castaneda, but don’t get me wrong — we’re not his women.” She mentioned Taisha was the better speaker, and would have people in stitches. She was also asked whether don Juan got stuck, and responded that they suspected that he was in the inorganics world and was trying to find a way to catapult himself out.]
[November 1994 – Magical Blend #44 contains Merilyn Tunneshende’s first piece, “Dreaming within the Dream.” [Merilyn is billed as “of the sorcerer’s party of Carlos Castaneda.” Article states, “Carlos, Florinda and Taisha have presented excellent accounts of their instruction, and good explanations of the goals of the training.” Tunneshende claims she is the original Nagual woman, and involved with la Gorda (“Maria Tena, who I call Butterfly Woman”), the Genaros and doña Soledad.)]]
[January 1995 – First video of Tensegrity passes — “Tensegrity: Twelve Basic Movements to Gather Energy and Promote Well-Being” — released (initially it was only available by mail order to Elemental Films, PO Box 48560, LA 90048, 800-490-3020, for $24.95)]
March 24-26, 1995 – Workshop in Maui with Florinda, Taisha and the Chacmools at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. Florinda described the motivating force behind the behavior of people in don Juan’s group, and now in Carlos’s. She called it a “blank check of sheer affection” that they had given to each other. She recalled Carlos’ describing don Juan as “always giving 100% of his attention to anyone who talked with him–more, Carlos pointed out, than anyone in the social world ever gives to anyone else.” The reason that sorcerers can give this intensity is because they have retained a greater amount of abstract awareness than ordinary people, who usually are preoccupied only with themselves. Issuing such a check is also a tremendous warrior’s challenge. Florinda declared that she had given Taisha her check of sheer affection but, “although Taisha was beautiful and brilliant, she had a horrendous side to her personality and was not the easiest person to get along with.” She claimed that Carlos Castaneda was not very well off at all. She claimed that some Italian writer who could not get an interview with Carlos just made it up, including scandalous deeds such as “Carlos Castaneda, the California guru, living with women ‘servants.’” In reality, Florinda said, Carlos Castaneda gives away his wealth a lot, supporting people in Mexico as well as the rest of them. She claimed that “sorcery provides,” but one must, in turn, give it away to get it once again. One must not be attached. She claimed that Carlos Castaneda was “really out there” and that they, the women disciples, were “doing everything we can to keep up.” Florinda claimed that it would be “very easy” for them (the four disciples of don Juan) “to fly off into the unknown. The whole affair is so easy and that is why it is so hard to accomplish.” In regards to Tensegrity, Florinda mentioned that “Carlos taught it when he was around.” She also emphasized, as the Chacmools would later in the seminar, that Tensegrity was not a fixed thing. The movements were always changing. “Tensegrity is always changing,” Florinda said, “because Carlos is always dreaming.” However, at other times the Chacmools as well as Taisha Abelar would say that the Tensegrity “came from four strands of magical passes each given individually to the four disciples of the old Nagual.” These passes, they indicated, were combined into the Tensegrity. She reported that a well off, sick, crazy young friend of theirs, was always insulted by Carlos Castaneda because he always opened himself up like a balloon to be popped. This guy [Tony Karam], however, took a picture of a flyer. Taisha showed the picture of the Flyer. She mentioned stellar energy from the Eye of Taurus, Corona Borealis and the cat’s eye in Draco. She also explained that stalkers inhale clockwise and dreamers counterclockwise, explaining the differences between her and CC on the recapitulation breath. There is seemingly a mention of Cecelia — a woman associated with them who started hearing voices and couldn’t “snap out of it” as a stalker would. Stories about her stalking experiences. Taisha also described contractor job they did at Old Florinda’s direction. The passes taught were the 12 movements from the first video, some additional breathing passes and one major movement “special” for that workshop. Carol was supposed to have been there too.
[April 21-23, 1995 – Longmont, Colorado workshop – Carol lectures. Carol talked about her first encounter with Castaneda and don Juan, when she was 19. Said Taisha couldn’t come because she was “tubing in the sea of awareness.” Also said she and Castaneda had dreamed together the preceding week.]
May 19-21, 1995 – Mexico City Workshop at Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel with Carol, Florinda, Taisha and the three Chacmools. (Carol spoke Friday night, Taisha Saturday and Florinda closed on Sunday. The 1,000 attendees were broken into two groups to learn Tensegrity — 500 on Saturday, and the other 500 on Sunday.) In Taisha’s lecture, she claimed that when seers “see,” they see that “stalkers” have like a “shawl” of luminous fibers hanging down from their shoulders, while “dreamers” look like they have a “Hawaiian skirt” of luminous fibers hanging down from their waist. “I am a ‘stalker.’ My teachers were a woman named Clara and a man called Emilito. In order to start my apprenticeship I had first to stop the ‘voladores’ (flyers) from eating my awareness. Don Juan used to say that as we humans keep the chickens in ‘gallineros’ (henhouses) the voladores keep the humans in. ‘Humaneros’ to do the same thing that we do to chickens…. According to the old Nahual, when we are born our luminous egg shines brightly with the light of awareness, but as we grow old and enter the social world creatures that share our world called by the ‘seers’ the voladores feed of our awareness until they only leave that shine in our luminous egg to the height of our heels (so, they eat us down to our heels). Don Juan said that this awareness is enough for living in the social world because it is the awareness of self reflection. The problem for the man of knowledge is to find a way to stop the voladores from eating whatever new awareness grows on top of the heels (because, yes, it does grow back). This awareness is so easily eaten by the voladores because of self-pity and a ‘poor-baby’ like attitude towards life and ourselves, so one way to stop the ‘voladores’ is through disciplined acts like recapitulation and tensegrity. By doing these disciplined acts we generate a kind of awareness that is not what the voladores like so now you can begin to grow your awareness past your heels without worry that the voladores will ‘eat’ it as long as you behave impeccably as a warrior.
“Carlos is always on the look out for people that have developed their awareness past their heels, and one day somebody told him there was a ‘guruess’ that lived in L.A. and that was very popular and had ‘lots’ of energy and was having success recruiting many people for meditation. Carlos took the three of us (Carol, Florinda and I) to see this woman, and when we ‘saw’ her we noticed that her awareness was just like everybody else the brightness was only up to her heels. The only different thing that we ‘saw’ was that this woman had a larger than normal assemblage point and this resulted in a big, big EGO that made her into an egomaniac so that she could believe and also make others believe that she had powers of ‘enlightening’ people.” Then with the help of Kylie, Taisha showed a picture of a “volador” taken at the Teotihuacan pyramids during the equinox ceremony the prior year by a friend of theirs. It looked like a human-like flying shadow on top of the crowd. She claimed the ceremony was a “particularly good place for voladores” to feed because it is filled with ‘self-importance’ because everybody there is feeling that ‘his/her energy’ is being used to who knows what ‘saving the world’ purpose. Or maybe they feel so important because they are the receptacles of the ‘cosmic energy’ that is sent by the gods through the heavens to the ‘chosen ones’ that are there for the taking. Also other good places to find voladores are funeral homes where people gather to indulge in self-pity and ‘poor-baby’ attitudes. It is not their fault, it is just the way it is. That’s why when we come across a situation like this we must be ‘aware’ (through the continuous practice of recapitulation) of what is going on, and not fall prey to our own ‘self-importance’ or self pity, which will make us vulnerable to the voladores. That’s why we do not need rituals, ‘cleansings,’ ‘protections,’ ‘amulets,’ ‘talismans,’ etc. The best possible protection and offering to the spirit that you can make is to get rid of your self-importance and to follow an impeccable path, ‘a path with a heart.’
“I lived in the top of some trees at the sorcerers’ house for two years as part of my training as a stalker. The stalker is a master on the fixation of the assemblage point into a different place. When you sleep, the assemblage point moves naturally, but unless you start ‘dreaming,’ for which you need to store some energy through the techniques we’ve already mentioned, you will not be aware of this movement. Now after you are aware that your assemblage point has moved in order to take advantage of its new position you need to fix it there, and that’s stalking. When I lived up in the trees one of the most unusual things that moved my assemblage point to a new position was the fact that I lost the reference point of the ‘horizon’; all i could perceive was the foliage and the sky, the ground was always ‘down’ whereas we normally move when we are stuck to the ground in a four directions system. Living in the top of the trees you enter a six directions moving system because I was not allowed to touch the ground. This made my assemblage point to move and to be fixed in a new position. The assemblage point as the ‘seers’ see it has a brilliant side which in men is oriented towards the outside of the ‘luminous egg,’ and in women this bright side of the assemblage point is pointing inward. Due to my living in the top of the trees my assemblage point started to twist outward to a man’s orientation. When don Juan ‘saw’ that he made me do another stalking in order to correct this. He sent me to live in a Mexican town where Nelida lived as a wealthy, high society woman very well known in this town. I was to become her niece who came to live with her to find a husband. So they taught me everything about being ‘feminine,’ the art of make-up, cooking, good manners, knitting, dancing, to play the piano and I even had French lessons. We used to go to all of the high-society parties and I was displayed as a well educated girl in search of the right man, until one day after six months of arriving to this town i meet a excommunicated priest that was having deep emotional troubles and all that occurred to me was to hang him from a tree to try to help him. This was a big scandal in town so don Juan ‘saw’ that it was time to change the strategy and he told me that since I still wanted to have ‘everybody’s attention,’ he was going to set a stalking for me that will either cure me or will kill me so he set me up to be a beggar. They started by changing my nice white dress for a ‘rag,’ then they put all kinds of sticky things in my hair. I remember that Emilito came up with the idea of putting chewing gum in my hair while Nelida put grease on my skin so I would look darker and dirty. After they had ‘dressed me’ to be a beggar, don Juan called a woman named ‘Alfonsina’ who was a beggar in town. He told her that I was crazy and that they could not have me any more with them so don Juan gave this woman some money and told her to take care of me. I left with this woman and i remember she told me ‘You don’t seem to talk much eh…that’s good I think that we will get along fine…’ So we arrived at her home and I was terrified.It was the worst, dirtiest and smelliest place i ever saw. She lived in a 6 by 6 room made of cardboard and tin. On the dirt floor there were two ‘petates’ (straw mats) crawling with insects. It was so horrible that I was compelled to leave. I ran to the house but when I got there the servants told me that everybody had gone on a long trip, but that it might be possible to still find them downtown. I immediately ran downtown and to my relief I saw Nelida’s car stopped in a corner waiting for the red light to change. I got to the car and saw don Juan who was driving and begged him to let me off this crazy stunt. I told him that I did not want to be a beggar and that all this was going too far, that Alfonsina’s house was a “shit-hole” and that I did not want to spend a night in there. Don Juan looked at me with fixed eyes and told me that it was the design of the spirit for me to do that so that I either succeed or I will not see any of them again. He reached into his pocket and threw me a coin and said ‘Go and find what you have to find and you will see that people will give you their money but they will despise you for what you are, but there’s always the other side of the coin if you find somebody that really cares for you then you will have succeeded in your task, and you will learn not to be seeking attention for yourself anymore.’ The light changed and they left. I stood there at the main plaza thinking that I had no option but to go back to Alfonsina and play the role of a beggar impeccably, without any expectation or concern on when it was going to end or what was going to happen. I was prepared to be a beggar for the rest of my life if that’s what the spirit wanted for me. I arrived at Alfonsina’s house, she was kneeling down in front of the wood stove and was preparing some corn tortillas to eat. Without saying a word she handed me a tortilla and I sat down quietly and started to eat. Since we were in a small town I needed to have a history behind me so this is what Alfonsina told the people. I was her crazy daughter that used to live in the big city with her father but now the father died and they sent me with her. So I started calling Alfonsina “mama” and everyday I came back to the house I would say ‘hello mama this is what i collected today’ and I gave Alfonsina every day whateverI got from the day of begging. Life was hard as a beggar. I had to fight other beggars for a good corner to beg. Alfonsina told me that the best places to beg were outside restaurants or sport clubs (gyms). She said that when people are well eaten or well exercised they will give to the poor. Also she said that churches were not good places because people already gave to church and that they would prefer to give to the church than to the beggars. Alfonsina also taught me to always carry a small pack of wood to use as a shield when I was attacked by other beggars because I was invading their territory. This little pack of wood happened to be very useful for this purpose. I always liked to go to church, not to beg but to see a very beautiful woman that came everyday. She had something that drew my attention to her. As I became more in depth with my beggar role I started to hear ‘people’s thoughts’ and i could hear things happening blocks from where I was. One day i was begging outside church and this beautiful lady came out and spoke to me. She wanted to take me to her home to wash me and to give me clean clothes, but I refused for some time until one day I remembered what don Juan had told me about ‘genuine concern’ and I accepted to go to her house. The lady immediately put me into the shower and got rid of the rags I was wearing. As water started to fall on my body and the dirt disappeared from my skin, the lady was horrified at the fact that I was a white girl. She screamed ‘What have they done to you?!” I was speechless. The lady then gave me a cardigan dress and a big sum of money and told me to go back to wherever I came from but to get off the streets. I went back to Alfonsina and handed her the money. I told her as always ‘mama, mama look what i collected today.’ When she looked at me she fainted, when she got back she said ‘you’ve been touched by an angel.’ She became ill and I took her to Nelida’s house. There I found don Juan, Nelida and all the others. Nelida took Alfonsina to her bedroom to give her attention. I stayed in the living room with don Juan. I was anxious about what was going to happen to Alfonsina because at that time I knew that I loved her unconditionally. Up to this time I did not know what love was. I tried to relay this to don Juan but it seemed that he already knew my feelings and he told me that I had succeeded in my task and that I didn’t need to go with Alfonsina anymore, that Alfonsina had had a daughter that loved her truly, but to Alfonsina this daughter had died today. At this time I knew that in the sorcerers’ world things come and things go and one has to flow without attachments.”
May 26-29, 1995 – Omega Institute workshop in Rhinebeck, New York – Florinda speaks first night, Taisha the second night, and the Chacmools speak the third night, with the Chacmools and Florinda and Taisha fielding questions (in lieu of Carol’s speech, since Carol had supposedly crashed after workshop in Mexico) [They talked more about the two scouts than they ever had before, or ever would again, with Florinda saying the first night that she and Carol had each given birth to one. Florinda also said that Nestor, Pablito and the little sisters joined don Juan “not long ago.” Taisha’s talk was “Nine Ways You Can Move Your Assemblage Point.” A woman asked whether any of them were in relationships when they came into the sorcerers’ world and, if so, whether the relationship survived. [Laughter] Florinda responded, “How could it? We are truly solitary beings. And no, we don’t have a relationship with Carlos.”]
June 16, 1995 – Cleargreen, Inc. is incorporated, by filing articles of incorporation executed by George Short on June 15.
June 27, 1995 – Mrs. Amalia Marquez issues announcement on behalf of the “Chacmool Center” regarding three three-week Tensegrity courses — Aug. 1 -21, Aug. 28-Sept. 16, and Sept. 25-Oct. 14, with registrations through Cleargreen, Inc. Brochures also subsequently were mailed with this info. [First mention of Cleargreen. Original cost was to be $1,000 for one course, $1800 for two and $2700 for three.]
June – Aug. 1995 – Kindred Spirit cover story “Castaneda’s Chacmools,” an interview [where they explain why their tradition does not permit pictures or tape recordings of them — although the fact that they are pictured on video is not mentioned. A July 8-9, 1995 workshop in London is also advertised in this issue, which, of course, was canceled.]
July ?, 1995 – Revised schedule, dropping down to one three-week intensive instead of three separate such workshops, was announced. (On July 27, a quarter-page ad for the workshop appeared in The Hollywood Reporter.) [A one-page explanation from the Chacmools as to how the three week workshop would differ from the weekend seminars included the following peculiar statement: “In addition, a very personalized attention will be given to every one of the participants in order to isolate those who are most able to perform the movements. This selection will be the base of our future free scholarships and work-study programs.”]
[July 10, 1995 – Amalia Marquez files for change of name to Talia Bey. Lists birthplace as Puerto Rico, and current address as 11901 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 599, LA 90025 (another p.o. drop in the same place as Cleargreen’s). She lists her nearest living relative as Taisha Abelar, “cousin.” Effective Aug. 28, 1995. [SS006072 in Santa Monica]]
August 1-20, 1995 – Three-week intensive at Culver City High School “cafetorium.” Castaneda spoke at all but one session, and gave three-hour lectures on Sunday. None of the Witches lectured but they were on hand for his lectures.
August 25, 1995 – Taisha Abelar executes annual corporate information statement for Laugan Productions, Inc. This statement changed the address from Martel Ave. to 11901 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 596, LA 90025, listed Taisha as CEO, Muni Aranha as Secretary, and Florinda Donner-Grau as CFO, listed Taisha as agent for service of process, and purpose of the corporation “Dy Research & Production.”
[August 25-27, 1995 – Florinda and the Chacmools at Mishka Productions sponsored workshop in the Crystal Ballroom of the Radisson Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Florinda claims Carlos has been ready to burn from within for two years now. She says one day she came into the room and Carlos had shrunk down to about two feet long (she held out here arms to indicate the size). When she saw this, she thought that they’d all be leaving soon. So she went and found Taisha and told her to throw out everything that she doesn’t want to leave behind. She didn’t explain whether they actually did this or not.]
October 6-8, 1995 – Workshop at Culver City High School Cafetorium. [Castaneda, Carol, Florinda and Taisha spoke. Florinda claimed that Taisha is a “shadow; she’s one of the inorganic beings.” Taisha’s talk consisted largely of taking questions and giving three methods for contacting inorganics.]
October 13-15, 1995 – Workshop at Culver City High School Cafetorium. [Castaneda said that Florinda and Taisha live next door to each other, and Florinda sometimes pounds on the wall to see if the Inorganic Beings are there, because she’s afraid of them. She sends CC in to find Taisha, and Taisha is not there initially but suddenly materializes and says she was there all the time. “Liar!”]
November 10-12, 1995 – Workshop at Culver City High School Cafetorium. [Theme was “Intersubjectivity.” Castaneda, Carol, Florinda, Taisha and the Blue Scout spoke.]
[December 9-10, 1995 – Review Workshop at Anaheim Convention Center, Room C. Only Castaneda lectured. Remembered chiefly as the place that the Chacmools came to an end, due to infighting between Kylie and Renata.]
March 1-3, 1996 – Women-only workshop on “The Female Energy Body,” at UCLA. Carol, Taisha, Florinda, Castaneda and the Blue Scout all spoke. [Carlos said, ” People used to say I made Don Juan up!” Then, sweeping his arm, pointing to the first row where the witches were sitting, he said, smiling and looking aghast at the same time, ” Well, I couldn’t make up THESE creatures! Make up CAROL TIIIGGGGS???!!!!!! I’m scared to death of her!”]
April 12-21, 1996 – Second Oakland Workshop, at the Oakland Convention Center. Florinda lectured the first night, Taisha Saturday night, and Carol Sunday morning. [Florinda began, “Don Juan Matus presented four faces to his four disciples. To Carlos Castaneda he was a fierce and fearsome presence of terrible import and beauty. To Taisha Abelar he was an enigmatic yet intensely familiar figure. For myself, he was an abrupt intrusion into my world, at once unsettling and soothing. For Carol Tiggs he was a gentle, fatherly figure capable of tremendous affection.” Taisha talked about intentionality and the “dual fold nature” of energy, the twin universes, Emilito describing the black world, being locked out of her house, her first experience of the Inorganics in the trees, a trip in the tree house to San Francisco, “picking up her birth spot,” and Taisha’s feeling that more of us could go with them. Taisha said that while Florinda had said the preceding night that there were just five or ten of them, who made up the group, who would be going, as a result of the movement that Taisha had seen here, the change, her feeling was that she was opening it up to the possibility that more of us could go with them.]
April 1996 – According to Cleargreen payroll records for the month filed as part of C.J. Castaneda’s motion in the probate proceeding in 1999, Muni, Florinda, Taisha and Tycho each received a salary for the April ‘96 workshop of $2,727.58. Castaneda received a salary of $4,567.61. Kylie, Renata, Nyei, Darien, Erin, Fabricio, Grant and Talia each received a workshop salary of $1,238.26. Rosa, Margarita, Brandon, Michelle and Ellis each received a salary of $569.08.
July 20-25, 1996 – Intensive Tensegrity Workshop at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion at which Castaneda, the three Witches and Nury Alexander (the Blue Scout) all spoke. [One of the most eventful workshops ever. Long forms were demonstrated, Taisha had us crying, there was dancing, and both Merilyn Tunneshende and some Greek guy went nuts during Castaneda’s last lecture and had to be removed. Taisha talked about cracks between our world and others, and said one was at the UCLA botanical garden. Florinda also told us of Taisha’s pet pigeon, claiming it was legless, and about the size of a dog. It moves around on its stomach. She claims Taisha wanted to bring it to the lecture today. Carol and Florinda tried to talk her out of it, fearing it would scare the crap out of everyone. Taisha supposedly managed to sneak it into the car, but Carol and Florinda found it just before they arrived at the seminar.]
September 27-29, 1996 – Mexico City Workshop at Palacio de los Deportes, near the airport. Florinda and Taisha were on hand. Talia and Brandon also spoke. Taisha described don Juan tasking Castaneda to take care of a little boy from infancy to five or six years old, and that he tried to fight the parents reclaiming the boy. She also described her “small room in the Windsor Arms,” and her relationship with her black & white TV. She also went into more detail than ever before about her life as “Ricky,” and how she abused the family she was staying with, thinking they were associates of don Juan. There were about 1200 people in attendance.
November 29-December 1, 1996 – Pasadena Workshop at the Pasadena Center Exhibition Building. Theme is “The Left and Right Bodies.” Castaneda and Taisha spoke, and the Blue Scout read the chapter from the draft version of Memorable Events about Carol Tiggs’ return. Taisha demonstrated a pass. Castaneda said Don Juan gave him the task of taking care of the three witches, and said that to manage them is as difficult as changing the chain of a chain saw while it’s running. Carol said that Castaneda recently saw himself as a bundle of energy, which is a sign that he is on the verge of leaving. The umbrella of energy they received from don Juan is gone; as they make the final turn, they have to do so on their own power. About 750 participants.
February 15-16, 1997 – Intensive Review Workshop in the blue pyramid on the Cal State University Long Beach campus. Castaneda, Taisha and Carol all spoke as part of a very short lecture format. Taisha admitted to eating all of Kylie’s lemon meringue pie, piece by piece, and that when she first sat in the cave, she would try to raise her “Kundalini energy” instead of recapitulate. 800 attended — 30 from Spain, 25 from Germany, 20 from Mexico, 1 from Italy and 15 from Russia.
[March 1997 – Greg Mamishian and Gaby Geuter begin videotaping Castaneda and Co. outside of Dance Home and the entrance to the house on Pandora. This continues until about a month before Castaneda’s death.]
April 1, 1997 – Interview with Carol Tiggs, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau by Concha Labarta appears in Mas Alla in Spain. In answering the first question about why they have gone public after a long period of anonymity, they repeated that, “The return of Carol Tiggs in 1985 marked a total change in our goals and aspirations. . . . Traditionally, Carol Tiggs’ role was to guide us to make that crossing. When she returned, she automatically transformed the insular goal of our private journey into something more far-reaching. That’s why we decided to end our anonymity and teach the magical passes of the shamans of ancient Mexico.” Question, “In your most recent books, Being-In-Dreaming and The Sorcerers’ Crossing, you talk about personal experiences that are difficult to accept. Accessing other worlds, traveling into the unknown, making contact with inorganic beings, are all experiences which challenge reason. The temptation is either not to believe such accounts at all, or to consider you as beings that are beyond good and evil, beings that are not touched by sickness, old age or death. What’s the everyday reality for a female sorcerer? And how does living in chronological time fit with living in magical time?” Answer, “Your question, Miss Labarta, is too abstract and farfetched. Please forgive our frankness. We are not intellectual beings and are not in any way capable of taking part in exercises in which the intellect engages words which in reality don’t have any meaning. None of us, under any agreement, are beyond good and evil, sickness, or old age. . . . The old nagual and his cohorts died an alternative death, which is possible for any one of us, if we have the necessary discipline. All we can tell you is that the old nagual and his people lived life professionally, meaning that they were responsible for all their acts, even the most minute ones, because they were extremely aware of everything they did. Under such conditions, to die an alternative death is not such a farfetched possibility.” [Cleargreen put a translation of the interview on its website.]
April 18-20, 1997 – Mexico City Seminar at the Palacio de los Deportes, Pabellon Ferial Este, Avenida Rio Churubusco Esquina Anil, entitled, “Six Series of Tensegrity.” Florinda spoke twice for about half an hour each time. Taisha also spoke on the concepts of “intent” and “intentionality.”
June 8, 1997 – Special performance of Theater of Infinity with all of Cleargreen on hand given to the Sunday group at the Westwood compound.
June 20 – 22, 1997 – Barcelona workshop in a sports pavilion, near the beach. Florinda and Taisha spoke. About 700 attendees.
June 27-29, 1997 – Berlin workshop at Max-Schmeling-Halle, in the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Sportpark, Prenzlauer Berg, in what was formerly East Berlin. Taisha referred to a book entitled Hold that Dream, which she said was a perfect term for stalking. In her second lecture, Taisha referred to books that tell us how to rekindle the flame in a relationship after it has burned out. “The only relationship that needs to be rekindled is our connection to intent.” Workshop organized by Clair, a vegetarian, workshop-organizing cult from southeastern France.
[Early August 1997 – Greg Mamishian and Gaby Geuter are caught by Nyei going through the trash at Castaneda’s compound on Pandora.]
August 16, 1997 – 5 PM – Sorcery Theater Rehearsal and party at the compound on Pandora. Felix and I attend, along with most of Cleargreen (but not Ellis or Margarita). [Gabi and Greg film the arrivals outside, and Kylie and Talia bringing in the casket prop.]
August 23-27, 1997 – Intensive Workshop “The Not-Doings of the Sorcerers of Ancient Mexico,” at L.A. Convention Center. 850 attendees. Taisha talked about resenting her brothers’ privileges, working at a pizza parlor, and liking Paul Anka. She described the dark sea of awareness, as a self aware entity unto itself. Mentioned 84-year-old guy in a rest home who had had a dam named after him. She described don Juan’s party as constantly “revamping themselves,” taking themselves down to their bare needs and starting over. They had “garage sales.” Talked about the Nagual Lujan being Chinese. She was made to take judo to toughen up, but switched to karate at don Juan’s suggestion because she was getting used so much for throwing practice. Described their “shamanistic unit” of ten women and six men, saying some had been brought in by Carol Tiggs 10 years ago, when she returned from her absence, while others had been brought in as few as two years ago. She talked about “Bobby’s paradigm of ownership,” referring to pets, then our parents as our “owners.” Did a dialogue with an “owner” over being in a “cult,” and negative comparison to brother Robert, despite the fact that Robert is an alcoholic wife-beater. A man shouted from the back of the audience, “Where’s Carlos?” Taisha and Florinda did not respond to his inquiry at first, but it was a burning question for many attendees. The man shouted the question till they answered him. Taisha and Florinda appeared to be baffled and unsure of how to respond. The question had been voiced very aggressively. “His energy and awareness are out there,” Taisha said. “He is the reason why we are all here.” “We’re trying to pull him back,” Florinda said quietly. Questions came in like a flood on little white pieces of paper that were handed forward till they reached the stage. Florinda and Taisha would open the papers and decide which ones they wanted to address.
September 23, 1997 – Large distribution of $536,000 worth of income to Cleargreen, Inc. shareholders (including $71,536 to Florinda, $70,536 to Taisha, $70,786 to Muni, $66,925 to Nuri, $70,786 to Talia, $71,536 to Fabricio, and only $14,480 to Nyei and Reni and $17,680 to Kylie)
October 22, 1997 – Castaneda signs a will witnessed by Patricia Essig (7524 Agnew, LA 90045) and Brian T. Mayeda (975 Hancock Ave., #19, LA 90069). In it he states that he “legally adopted Nury Alexander as my daughter,” and intentionally omits Adrian Vashon. His estate is to be given 50% “to those of Tisha [sic] Abelar, Florinda Donner Grau, Muni Alexander, Nury Alexander and Haley Van Osten who survive me, in equal shares,” and 50% “to those of Kylie Lundahl, Talia Bey, Naya [sic] Murez, Maria Guadalupe Blanco, Zaia Alexander, Carola Alexander and Fabiana Pompa who survive me, in equal shares.” The will further provides that “If Carola is a minor at the time of my death, her share shall be placed in a custodial account for her benefit, until she reaches her majority, with her mother Zaia Alexander, as custodian.” The will states that if Deborah Drooz is unable or unwilling to serve as executor, Gilbert Gaynor shall serve instead.
[October 27, 1997? – Kylie orders a bunch of books from BarnesandNoble.com on living and eating at sea (e.g., Sea Vegetables: A Collection, Ship to Shore: Carribean Seafood Cookbook, Fishing for Sharks, Care & Feeding of the Offshore Crew, Shark Cartilage, Good Food Afloat, Tasty & Nutritious, Portable Baker-Baking on Boat & Trail)]
November – December 1997 – Florinda calls me about putting together some people to buy the Westwood House. While I identify several of us who are willing to somehow figure out how to purchase the joint purchase of the property, this ultimately turns into a project to convince Joanie the house is being sold so she’ll move out of her little apt. over the garage. Paul, Daniel and I come over three times to take measurements, and then have tea with Florinda, Taisha and Carol.
[January 26, 1998 – Fairwinds Int’l Inc. in Mandeville, LA responded by fax to inquiries from Fabricio and Angela Panaro re purchasing a “Gulf Coast vessel.”]
February 7-8, 1998 – Not-Doing Workshop at Pomona Fairplex Convention Center. Taisha talked about her three stalking personalities: Ann Marie Carter, Anna Maria Cordova and Sheila Waters. She described working on the cabinet project for a “friend,” Castaneda, and treating herself to lunch, and being startled by the waitress who recognized her as Taisha. She mentioned the Benito Perez Galdos novel Doña Perfecta.
[March 29, 1998 – last video shot of Castaneda taken by Greg and Gaby on Pandora shows him thin, dark and weak, but ambulatory. He is lifted off the back seat where he lies under a blanket.]
April 4, 1998 – Workshop at Santa Monica College Gymnasium. Florinda and Taisha were on hand for the last time, along with Carol.
April 5-18? 1998 – Taisha comes to Amy’s Westwood home, blocks from the Pandora compound, to burn the group’s records and tax documents in Amy’s fireplace. There are so many crates of documents it takes days, including weekends. Taisha has to get drunk to do it, per Amy’s account in Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Amy reports Taisha burning photographs of Argentina, for example, whispering to Amy that she would never see it again. On one of those days, when Amy runs out of wine to give her, she makes her vodka cocktails. After a swim in Amy’s pool, Taisha announces, “Ellis, I’m not in any danger of becoming an alcoholic now, am I? This is okay, right? Because I’m leaving, so–it’s too late for me to become a drunk!” That night she got back to the compound and passed out in bed. Florinda called Amy to tell her she’d never seen her that drunk. Taisha spends the next day in bed and they claim to Castaneda she has “food poisoning.”
April 18, 1998 – Video shows new cars and van being packed up by Fabricio, Brandon and others between 5 and 6:30 PM.
April 21? 1998 – The climax of several chance encounters Taisha has with Amy Wallace in the weeks before Castaneda’s death: Amy sees Taisha having a cappuccino at a mall coffee shop on Westwood Blvd. Taisha admits to having keyed the car of a guy who takes a parking space she had been waiting for that morning, and then, with tears pouring down her face, after Amy acknowledges she knows what’s been going on [Castaneda nearing death], Taisha exclaims, “Ellis, this not the death of a nagual! He’s not supposed to die this way! It isn’t right, Ellis, something has gone wrong. It must be . . . be–his karma. He’s paying for the bad things he did, I know it! There’s no other explanation!” Amy then joins Taisha for a day of banking errands, closing accounts and P.O. boxes. As Amy recalls when we talk in the weeks that follow, Amy tells Taisha she can’t imagine living without her. Taisha responds, “Gee. Wow! Well, if there is life after death, I guess we’ll meet.”
[April 21, 1998 – First American Trust Company, under a Holding Agreement dated April 15, 1976 (find), signs a quitclaim deed to Carlos Castaneda]
April 22? 1998 – Amy picks Taisha up to go to a movie, but Taisha breaks down when she gets in the car, complaining that Talia is “trying to take his money”! She explains she wants Cleargreen’s accountant to be given control of Castaneda’s accounts, for “when he gets better,” but “they want to give control to his lawyer!” Amy convinces Taisha to call Florinda about it. She does and Amy overhears Florinda explaining that “the money is not being taken away!” She tells Taisha it’s being put in the Eagle’s Trust, and that it will be safe there. When they have dinner after that, Taisha gives Amy a ring and two pairs of earrings. She had already given her one of her most beautiful rings in the preceding days.
[April 23, 1998 – Castaneda signs six-page will leaving his estate to be channeled through the Eagle’s Trust, established by a Trust Agreement signed the same day, and specifically disinheriting C.J. Castaneda and Margaret Runyon. He also signs a quitclaim deed, apparently on the house, to the Eagle Trust, Deborah Drooz as Trustee, which is recorded on April 29, 1998 [98-0715277], along with a quitclaim deed to First American Trust Company [98-0715276].]
April 24, 1998 – Castaneda enters a coma the last few days of his life, per his doctor’s report to Amy.
April 26, 1998 – Taisha asks Amy to call her the next day at 3:30 pm about picking up a window for her at a hardware store. It’s the last thing needed for renovations Taisha has been overseeing to the compound.
[April 27, 1998 – Castaneda’s Death Certificate, signed by Angelica Duenas, MD, reports his death at 3 AM that date, his cremation on that date by Spalding Mortuary in Culver City, and the disposition of the remains to Talia Bey on 4/28/98 (Death Cert. lists immediate cause of death as metabolic encephalopathy for a period of two days, triggered by liver failure for a period of two weeks, due to hepatocellular cancer for a period of 10 months — i.e., since July ‘97)]
Following Castaneda’s death, Taisha, Florinda, Talia and Kylie all leave together, reportedly heading toward Death Valley, and are never seen or heard from since. None of them receives any of the distributions they are entitled to under Castaneda’s will, per Deborah Drooz.
April 27, 1998 – At 3:30 pm, Amy calls Taisha’s number, as Taisha requested the previous day, and the line is dead. She calls Florinda’s and Castaneda’s with the same result. Carol’s is off the hook. In the days that follow, Carol admits to Amy that Taisha and Florinda, who along with Kylie and Talia had reportedly purchased guns in the days before Castaneda’s death, committed suicide.
April 27-May ?, 1998 – In the days that follow, Carol Tiggs initially tells the remaining Cleargreen contingent that Castaneda “burned with the fire from within,” and that the others who had left had done so in pairs in the Westwood compound. She claims Castaneda and Nury went together, then Florinda and Taisha, and Kylie and Talia. Cleargreeners are given tours of the compound, being shown where their “burning” departures supposedly happened in particular rooms, some even being told Taisha had all her magical jewelry on her to “charge it,” before leaving individual items to women in the group.
May/June 1998 – East-West Bookshop publication contains a one-page interview with Taisha by Sean Meshorer, to promote the appearance by her or Florinda at the bookstore scheduled for June 5.
[May 2, 1998 – Workshop at Santa Monica College Gymnasium. Carol spoke, mentioning how Old Florinda stayed behind for them. She expressed her thanks, and appeared tearful. Mood was somber, and I had a sense that something had happened. Carol spoke only 10 minutes instead of scheduled 30. Carol said that after don Juan’s party left, an “event” occurred that caused them to decide to teach the magical passes to the public. She said that “big” Florinda, who was called that because she was so tall and elegant and packed an incredible wallop, was left behind after don Juan’s party left to fine tune the four of them. (Her voice broke, but she recovered quickly.) [Note: If Carol left with don Juan’s party per the books, she should not have been around to get further training from Old Florinda, who should herself have been gone before Carol’s “return” in 1985.] She said one of the reasons they had brought Tensegrity public was to search for something big Florinda had foretold before she left. She had said that if the four of them had enough “gall” to continue to pursue the path of the warrior with all they had, that someday a time would come when the mood of the ancient sorcerers would be completely removed from the passes. Instead of being heavy, cold and detached, they would find a new mood, one that was light and very precise. “That time has finally arrived,” she declared. “It occurred right here in this room last month at the last workshop.” She claimed she had witnessed it for herself, and ascribed it to a combination of the energy of the participants and the instructors. She said that a new mood had begun and would prevail from now on. Later on Zaia said that “giving it their all” in instructing us was their way of saying thank you for all the help they had received.]
May 2, 1998 – When I called Florinda and Kylie’s phone numbers, they were disconnected. I reported this to Amy and she began sharing with me what she knew. In the following days and months, as Amy and I tried to process what’s going on and the various stories being told the Cleargreen group, I began my research into court, marriage, divorce, real estate and probate records to see what I could learn about the missing women and other key members of Castaneda’s entourage. Amy had given me the tip that Castaneda “married” Carol and Florinda in Las Vegas over the years.
May 2, 1998 – Nury’s red Ford Escort found abandoned on a dirt road near the Panamint Dunes in Death Valley. In the succeeding days, after Park Ranger Dave Brenner, who had inspected the vehicle and taken pictures, called Cleargreen since the car was registered to Cleargreen’s address. Amy was working there when Brandon took the call. Days later, one or more L.A.P.D. officers came to the office and met with Tracy Kramer. Tracy subsequently drove to the Death Valley, and others in the group were afraid he was going to commit suicide.
May 7, 1998 – Cleargreen issues an unsigned letter to Munich workshop registrants saying that “due to an energetic shift that could not be foreseen, none of [the three female students of don Juan] will be available to lecture at this seminar,” and that instead, lectures will be conducted “by the members of our German team of shamanistic instructors, each of them an apprentice of Carlos Castaneda, Taisha Abelar, Florinda Donner-Grau and Carol Tiggs.” Because of the change, they are reducing the price to $275 or 495 DM.
May 23-24, 1998 – Munich Workshop. A woman reported that when she asked Fabricio why the Witches hadn’t come, he told her “Oh, but they’ll be at the Ontario workshop in August.”
[June 6, 1998 – One-day workshop in Los Altos at Foothill College Gymnasium. Renata introduced herself and said, “I belong to Carol Tiggs.” She read a rather boring statement about the assemblage point and Wheel of Time.]
[June 13, 1998 – New York City one-day workshop in basketball gymnasium at Hunter College. Rylin was introduced as “the newest energy tracker.”]
[June 19, 1998 – Los Angeles Times’ obituary of Castaneda appears on page 1. (Obituary detailing how Castaneda’s putative adopted son, C.J. Castaneda, was responsible for making the death public appeared the next day, June 20, in the New York Times.)]
[June 22, 1998 – Cleargreen website contains ridiculous statement, claiming Castaneda left the world with full awareness, just like don Juan, but that there had to be a death certificate for mundane reasons.]
[July 31 – August 2, 1998 – Ontario Intensive Workshop, Ontario Convention Center, Exhibit Hall A. Castaneda’s departure was never once mentioned during the initial day. Carol spoke on the 2nd, beginning, “I am Carol Tiggs. I was the only one energetically available for this evening.” She advised that sorcerers stuff themselves with experience before they leave, and was discouraging people from the notion that they could join or catch up with don Juan or Castaneda. She also purported to speak for the other two Witches. This was Carol’s last public appearance for 17 years, until she showed up for two foreign workshops: Sochi, Russia, in 2015, and Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, in 2016.]
October 11, 1998 – Interview with Miles Reid, “Learning about Ancient Wisdom,” by Blanca Robleda, The News in Mexico City [“Carlos Castaneda departed on what shamans call the definitive journey, meaning that he left the world in the same manner that Don Juan Matus did; shoes and all, in full awareness.” He also claims that “The three female students of don Juan Matus: Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar and Carol Tiggs, will supervise the instruction and development of the magical passes [for the workshops].”]
[November 7-8, 1998 – Mexico City Workshop. Brandon and Miles responded to the question “Where are the Witches?” by claiming, “They remained to supervise the movement instructors. They supervise things as they develop. There are no hierarchies now.” To the question “What became of the Nagual’s party?” They answer: “The elements were not present (when he left?). Only the female companions of Don Carlos. Don Juan took his party of 16 warriors. Don Carlos didn’t. He made a bold energetic maneuver. He went away alone and left an energetic door open for whoever can go through it. Don Carlos said that he had a debt to the Spirit and he wanted to settle to that debt, leaving the opportunity so that anyone could follow him. Through the affection of the Nagual for his congeneres, he made a connection for each one of us with the infinite. He loved the sublime nature of the human race.”]
November 25, 1998 – Crossroads School special Tensegrity session that Reni had asked me to help organize, inviting a dozen or so of the prior Sunday Class group. Most of Cleargreen is on hand. We are given plastic bricks for special breathing passes. Miles makes nauseating statement about Castaneda having “set up” all of the workshops that follow, and asserts the Witches are supervising things, but probably won’t attend the workshops so as to avoid a “guru” mentality from setting in.
[January 1, 1999 – After a vivid dream I have that impels me to unburden myself of Castaneda related secrets, I launch the Sustained Action mailing list of former Sunday Group members and workshop goers as a means of ultimately disseminating what I’m learning about the real personal histories of Carol, et al.]
February 23, 1999 – Cleargreen “Magical Passes Practitioners’ Log” posted on website repeats statement read by Rylin at the Pomona workshop: “The three female students of don Juan would like us to read the following to you: . . . . The three female students of don Juan said it’s fabulous to see what these practitioners, these apprentices are doing. You are apprentices, if you choose to be. There’s no group — what there is is an agreement on the art of attention. This is in full evidence today.”
April 1999 – Interview by Concha Labarta (Barcelona workshop promoter) with Darien Donner, Gavin Allister and Brandon Scott in Más Allá [When asked “What is the situation at the moment of Carlos Castaneda’s cohorts, Florinda Donner Grau, Taisha Abelar and Carol Tiggs?” Darien responds: “The female students of Don Juan are here to supervise our efforts. We can say that they are our advisors. They want to see if it is possible for a group to pursue an abstract goal, and not follow a guru or a leader.”]
April 17, 1999 – Cleargreen Bulletin responds to hand-selected questions. The final question & response are: “Why did the female students of don Juan stay here? Are they going to appear at workshops? The three female students of don Juan Matus are here to supervise the efforts of the Tensegrity instructors in making one of Carlos Castaneda’s most cherished dreams a reality: the dream of a unified body of individual practitioners of the magical passes resuming their interrupted journey of awareness. For the moment, they are not going to appear personally at the workshops because they want this dream to take wings. For Carlos Castaneda and for them, it is a dream in which a group of practitioners is focused not on a person or a group of persons, but on the abstract purpose of freedom of perception.”
June 5-6, 1999 – Barcelona Workshop. 750-800 attendees. [There were Q&A’s in different languages. Rylin and Reni handled the English session. When asked, “How do the three witches teach you? Do they teach you directly, in dreaming, how?” One of them responded, “We don’t call on them, they call us. We may get a phone call ,we have meetings before workshops. They let us get on with it, they supervise us from afar.” In the French session, Nyei responded to the question “How is your relationship with the female sorcerers?” Nyei reportedly said, “The female sorceresses follow the energy. They are always here to help us to teach magical passes. The is no way to forecast when we are going to meet them. It is up to us to make decisions. They give us direction but no orders.” Eight from Cleargreen also attended the Monday practice session on June 7, teaching the assembled 80 or so Taisha’s match technique.]
