Ancient Cycle

The world of inorganic beings – The Art of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming / By / 29 minutes of reading

This chapter details Castaneda’s first intentional journey into the world of inorganic beings. He learns to identify their “scouts”—incongruous elements in his dreams—and, following the ancient sorcerers’ method, voices his intent to follow one. He is pulled into a vast, spongy, tunnel-filled dimension, which the dreaming emissary explains is the interior of a massive inorganic being. The emissary acts as a guide, teaching Castaneda how to navigate this new reality and revealing that this is how the sorcerers of antiquity learned the secrets of dreaming. Don Juan warns him of the dangers, explaining that the inorganic beings are predators of awareness who imprison dreamers by catering to their desires. He recounts the cautionary tale of the nagual Elias and his partner Amalia, who were bodily transported to that world and became its prisoners, emphasizing the supreme risk of trusting these entities or becoming overconfident in one’s own control.

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The fixation of the assemblage point – The Art of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming / By / 38 minutes of reading

In this chapter, don Juan introduces the concept of “stalking” as the art of fixating the assemblage point, which is crucial for achieving perceptual “cohesion” in new worlds entered through dreaming. He explains that the mysterious voice Castaneda has been hearing is the “dreaming emissary,” a conscious but impersonal energy from the realm of inorganic beings, which he warns against trusting. To illustrate the long and complex history of sorcerers’ interactions with such forces, don Juan tells the story of “the tenant,” a death-defying sorcerer from antiquity who survives for millennia by forming a symbiotic, energy-draining relationship with his lineage of naguals. The chapter culminates with Castaneda performing a practical exercise in stalking, using a mesquite tree to fixate a minute shift in his assemblage point, which plunges him into a fully sensorial other world and highlights the difference between the “human unknown” sought by old sorcerers and the “nonhuman unknown” which is the goal of modern ones.

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The second gate of dreaming – The Art of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming / By / 33 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Carlos Castaneda details his journey through the “second gate of dreaming.” After mastering the first gate by developing his “dreaming attention,” he is instructed by don Juan that the next task is to learn to move from one dream into another. This practice leads him to experience jolts of fear, which don Juan reveals are the initial contacts from conscious, non-biological entities called “inorganic beings.” These beings are attracted to the energy charge created by dreamers. After Castaneda’s dreams become fixated on two candle-shaped inorganic beings, don Juan guides him to confront them in the waking world. Castaneda physically wrestles one of the beings, an act which establishes a “watery” or emotional connection that don Juan warns is dangerous and can lead to dependency, even as it opens the door to forming alliances and exploring other worlds.

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Sorcerers of antiquity: an introduction – The Art of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming / By / 28 minutes of reading

In this chapter, Carlos Castaneda recounts don Juan’s explanation of the foundational principles of sorcery, established by brilliant but obsessive “sorcerers of antiquity.” Don Juan contrasts their focus on concrete power with modern sorcerers’ search for abstract freedom. The core discovery of the ancients was the ability to perceive energy directly, which they called “seeing.” This led to the identification of the human energy form as a “luminous egg” and its crucial feature: the “assemblage point,” a spot of brilliance that assembles filaments of universal energy into our perception of the world. Castaneda learns that displacing this point—either as a “shift” within the luminous egg or a “movement” outside of it—is the key to perceiving other worlds and is the basis for the “second attention” and the art of “dreaming,” which is defined as the willful displacement of the assemblage point during sleep.

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Author’s Note – The Art of Dreaming

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming / By / 8 minutes of reading

In this introductory note, Carlos Castaneda clarifies his use of the term “sorcery” to describe the teachings of his mentor, don Juan Matus, distinguishing it from conventional definitions. He explains that for don Juan, sorcery is about manipulating perception to access other real worlds, a practice called “the art of dreaming.” Castaneda recounts his own experiences learning this art, his interactions with two distinct groups of apprentices, and the challenges of reconciling his experiences in the “second attention” with everyday reality. He states that the purpose of this book is to rearrange and present don Juan’s lessons on dreaming in a linear fashion, made possible by years of dedicated practice, and to ultimately explain the legacy don Juan left to his final students as an act of gratitude.

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Delia talks about women’s silent slavery

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Being in Dreaming, Florinda Donner Grau, Way of the Warrior / By / 10 minutes of reading

An intense dialogue between Delia and Florinda takes place as they travel by car. The conversation begins with Delia’s admiration for the Yaqui warriors, quickly evolving into a philosophical discussion about the different types of war and freedom. Delia then expounds on the idea that women are, because of their feminine condition and sexuality, slaves to men, even in modern society.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – Queries about the Warriors’ Way: The path without a teacher, Carlos’ plan, and Tensegrity

A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Nagualism, Warrior Path, Way of the Warrior / By / 7 minutes of reading

Carlos Castaneda addresses common inquiries about his role and the nature of Tensegrity and the warriors’ way. He clarifies that he sees himself as a counselor, aiming to guide others towards freedom from a “sight from the bridge” — a state of total silence where one perceives the present without the biases of the past or future. He emphasizes that the path is not about following a personal guru, as don Juan himself was a sorcerer perpetuating a lineage, not a teacher in the conventional sense. Instead, the true guide is the impersonal spirit or life force, accessible through inner silence. Castaneda explains that Tensegrity is a modernized system of “magical passes” — movements developed by ancient Mexican shamans to directly perceive energy — which were kept secret until now, as don Juan’s lineage concludes with his four disciples, freeing them to share this knowledge for the benefit of all, promoting well-being and breaking free from the constraints of everyday perception and self-importance.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – Queries about the Warriors’ Way: What is the point of doing all those Practices?

A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Nagualism, Warrior Path, Way of the Warrior / By / 4 minutes of reading

In this section, Castaneda addresses two common questions. The first concerns when a practitioner will achieve “seeing,” the direct perception of energy. He explains that while practices are important, the crucial element is to “intend” the outcome—the state sorcerers call “stopping the world,” which is achieved by obliterating self-importance. The second question is about fear over strange physical sensations during Tensegrity. Castaneda recounts how don Juan Matus explained such feelings not as external manipulation, but as natural physiological responses or a product of one’s own victim mentality. Don Juan’s advice was to counter fear by being “impeccable”.

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Journal of Applied Hermeutics – Fourth Principle of the Warrior’s Way: The Energy Body

A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, Ancient Cycle, Assemblage point, Intent, See, Will, Will / By / 6 minutes of reading

The fourth unit of the warriors’ way is THE ENERGY BODY Don Juan Matus explained that, since time immemorial, sorcerers have given the name of energy body to a special configuration of energy which belongs to each human being individually.

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