Hello all,

Been lurking the boards for a little over a year now... and think I've got a good feel for the strong sense of community here at the nexus.

I've chosen the name Don Juan, in reference to the Yaqui indian in Carlos Casteneda's book seires. These books really apeal to me in that they're about breaking away from the 'norm' and holding the view of the world as mystery and magical place.

I don't post to much, I've always liked the saying... "Better to be quiet and thought a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

In my spare time I like to play my ukulele and djembe, garden and listen to psychedelic speakers such as: Alan Watts, Terrence McKenna, John Ott, and the many others on the psychedelic salon podcasts.

As of late I've been wanting to post some in other sections of the forum boards that I frequent, and until now I've always been content to just read.

I hate to sound like a begger for access but I'm ready to take part in discussions and have a firm grasp of the Nexus rules.

Cheers~

welcome in..
..i really liked the Casteneda books in my late teens. i do think i learned some valuable ideas from them. techniques in "The Art of Dreaming" seemed to work.
always liked the giant gnat (guardian of the 'little smoke' in the first or second book..
have you learned things from these books that you've been able to relate to when using entheogens...?

Welcome to Nexia, Don Juan!

I think I read the first three of the books back when I was 17 or 18. I enjoyed reading them, even though people were saying they are all fake and Castaneda made the whole thing up to get people to follow him around like a cult. It never bothered me, because there was still something interesting about the books. I especially liked the third one (journey to ixtlan?) - where at the end the other Don tells his story of how he conquered the phantoms, but never found back home. This thing has always stuck with me, and every time I do serious work with psychedelics I kind of secretly hope this will happen to me too.

That being said, you will have to make a few post in the nursery section in order for us (or the mods) to assess that you are not a troll... fools I think we have no policy against so far

I hope psychedelics help you on your path of learning and growing.

¡Cuidate!

@ nen888

'Journey to ixtlan' and 'Tales of power' are my fav books so far, I've read quite a few of them and have also revisited some by listening to the audio book versions that are read by peter coyote. I highly recomend these! he has a excellent voice/delivery for it. They allow you to sit back blow your smoke and catch even more symbolism then when your busy reading.

Unfortunatley only 4 books of the series have been made into audio books and only two of witch were by peter coyote.

There is much to be learned from these books indeed, but one must remember to not take his (Don Juan's) advice at face value, as a lot of the meaning is burried under the fun and appealing facade of a indian shaman.

I'm halfway through reading "Journey to Ixtlan" and like it so much. I'm glad to see another Castaneda lover here, welcome Don Juan!