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The Eagle's Gift
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - Enthralling book, but only until you realize it was all fantasy
When I was a student, I like many others I know who will confess to having read a Castaneda book or two when pressed, went through a couple of years of Castanedism, reading the 8 classics 2 - 3 times each, and even the later four, quite different books a couple of times. Being someone who likes to give the benefit of the doubt until conclusive evidence proves otherwise, I must admit to only getting suspicious by Journey To Ixtlan, the third book. The second book, A Separate Reality, picks up on the supernormal happenings, but still these are within the realms of possibility, when one considers Spiritualist literature. By Tales of Power, when at the end Carlos throws himself off a cliff and only survives by becoming pure perception, bouncing elastically back and forth 17 times between the two inherent realms of all creation, the tonal and the nagual, the game was up. In Carlos' terms, my assemblage point had just experienced a considerable shift into the realms of disbelief. The cocoon had burst. I read the remaining books still interested, but with the growing realization that I'd been had. Bizarre ideas not found in any other spiritual traditions, such as the necessity for people on the path of knowledge to kill their children to reclaim the power they'd lost to them, plus fill in the holes in their cocoons the children had caused, made me wary. This was surely not a philosophy the whole world should turn to, or else we'd be living in a fearful, lonely world with every man for himself.
However, this would be fine if the books weren't made out to be non-fiction. While I have seen these books placed with science fiction books in many libraries, in most European bookshops they're still sold with real, non-fiction 'Mind, Body, Spirit' books. The reason I give this book such a low rating is that an intensive study of his works, the books by his various colleagues, plus Richard De Mille's intelligent criticisms, can only lead to the conclusion that Castaneda, the writer, used Don Juan and Carlos, two fantasy characters, to verbalize his own beliefs, which were culled from his own spiritual and academic experience. That there are not some useful nuggets of wisdom, or advice in these books I do not deny. That is their very attraction, plus the belief that it all really happened, and is a new spiritual revelation. But as these are mixed up with increasingly bizarre assertions and beliefs (by the Art of Dreaming it seems all pretence at non-fiction had been given up), it is doubtful whether a lifetime devoted to these practices (as opposed to say, real shamanic practices) would lead to spiritual improvement. If you must have a Castaneda book in your library, rather get The Wheel of Time, a selection of the spiritual highlights of the first eight books, but consider it rather 'The best of the personal philosophy of Carlos Castaneda' than anything to do with Don Juan or Shamanism. This understanding may not have the romantic mix of wild Mexican deserts, ancient wisdom, wise old men and naive westerners which captures the hearts of so many, but it is a lot closer to the truth.
The anonymous ghost-writer at Schuster and Schuster who corrected Peruvian immigrant Castaneda's English for at least all of his earlier works (a sample of his writing from 1969 reveals it was still far from perfect, not like what is in books), giving the books their special character, certainly deserves more credit than he or she gets. But they are not written well enough to succeed as fiction, hence their continued classification as non-fiction, besides the intense academic embarrassment it would cause copyright holders UCLA to have to admit such a dramatic change in classification, from fact to fantasy, after having previously given the author a doctorate for his 'Don Juan' work! (Journey to Ixtlan was accepted as his doctoral thesis.) I give this book one star on the basis that any book claiming to represent the truth which is later found to be fraudulent deserves no stars by definition, so I must give the minimum rating allowed. The day this book is reclassified as Fiction, I will up my rating to 3 stars though, as it is a quite entertaining and authentic piece of fiction-posing-as-non-fiction. Until then I'm afraid it's only useful function will be to remain as a kind of Home Spiritual Gullibility Test, a rating of 1 - 12 based on which book the reader had reached in the series before his faith that this was all true finally dissolved, with The Art of Dreaming (STILL classified non-fiction!) being the ultimate exercise, a belief in the truth of which leaves the faithful with the maximum Grade 12 in Spiritual Gullibility.
Rating:  - To Carlos, with gratitude
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
Rating:  - absurd and not absurd
of course to any everday rational person, the world of castenda is absurd. how could it be otherwise? nevertheless, read this book with disbelief suspended, and its a great read. for those who have persevered through the previous volumes of carlos' introduction to the ways of 'power', now comes the nub of the argument. the heart of the matter. all that power-plant taking, ally-mongering and what not of the previous volumes is left behind. what was the purpose of don juan's elaborate rituals in the ways of 'power', painstakingly taught to a dense, exasperating carlos? nothing less than a quest for freedom. the practices are not important; what is important is the effect on the practitioner. the world of don juan is entirely re-interpreted for the reader. a completely new framework must be understood. not familiar with the world(s) of don juan and carlos? never mind: this volume, more novel-like and fast moving than the others, reads well as fiction in and of itself, whether or not the reader cares to believe casteneda. comprehending the framework of what casteneda describes is a bonus. casteneda is a quietly skilled writer, who bears re-reading. i recommend reading and understanding all the books in this series, in order. the payoff is for thos who persevere. as for the now eternal question of whether this is true, real, logical, etc., how can the average reader ever know? why worry? as carlos himself was led this way and that by his benefactors, always in a certain direction, tending towards a finer understanding of their realm, so can the reader be led by casteneda.
Rating:  - Least favorite
While i was inspired by all of other castaneda books (i have not yet read second ring of power) this one was my least favorite. It did not have any of the great quotes of don Juan Matus or commical actions of Don Genaro, and it was not inspiring. it did have a few interesting parts here and there, but overall was kinda [crummy] compared to his other books
Rating: - Eagles and other bogies
Whether or not Casteneda's yarns are authentic representations of what is alleged to be Toltec is beyond comment. However, it is rather curious to reflect that in this system there is an image of the Creator as an Eagle that seems intent upon devouring what it produces. In purely psychological terms, that's an image of the Evil Mother. Besides being a useful go-get-'um, i.e., reason for doing for all the occult gymnastics, the Eagle, in other words, the Mother Complex, is indeed a major challenge in every man's psychological development. However, is the Mother Complex the same as the Creator, or, God? Which brings us to the other side of this Toltec coin: the so-called Human Form, which, don Juan assures us is our idea of God. This may, indeed, be a common idea of God, but it is altogether misleading to call this God, because what is commonly thought of as being God is not God, God having no image or form or name or whatever you want to ascribe to God unless, of course, you are talking about a god. It might be instructive for the credulous readers and fans of this very fascinating writer, Casteneda, to study such sources of the ancient wisdom tradition of the West as the writings of Plotinus or, God forbid, the Kabbalah. Perhaps, in the light of such readings, the wisdom and occult exercises of this don Juan character will appear in a richer and more balanced light. As for occult exercises, it would behoove the serious student of magic to look into the Golden Dawn system or something comparable. By the way, don Juan's virtuoso feat of disappearing into the void is not the exclusive property of the Toltecs or Aztecs. This technique is known in other cultures, even ones that know nothing about devouring Eagles and such. Attachment to such images is a bigger obstacle on the way than the devouring Eagle itself. All that said, there is much that is valuable in Casteneda. Let his readers sort that out for themselves.
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