A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda burst onto the academic and cultural scene in 1968 when he published the first of four books detailing his supposed apprenticeship with a Yaqui Indian sorcerer named Don Juan. While academic critics contend Castaneda invented Don Juan, believers say the fog surrounding his existence express the very ideals that Castaneda attributed to his apprenticeship. Little is known of the Peruvian claiming to be Don Juan's apprentice, but in addition to leading a generation into a mystical otherworld, Carlos Castaneda was also a man. Married to him for thirteen years was Margaret Runyan Castaneda. A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda reads partly like a love story, partly like a tell-all account of a celebrity writer. Margaret Castaneda concentrates on the years leading up to her marriage in 1960. It was then Margaret and Carlos explored many of the ideas -- from controlling dreams to using hallucinogenic mushrooms -- that he claims to have learned from Don Juan. Nevertheless, Margaret Castenada believes her husband was indeed a sorcerer, and she still loves him. She insists Castaneda's academic critics miss the point. "I'm willing to accept Don Juan as a spiritual teacher, and it really doesn't matter if he's not real." But the role she claims -- in developing the ideas Carlos purports to be Don Juan's -- ought to be recognized, she says, so she wrote this book.