CARLOS CASTANEDA'S MARRIAGES

Marriage in Peru

Before  emigrating to the United States, Carlos Castaneda impregnated a woman named Gina Lu Corso, and it seems that he did marry her, although who knows how valid this marriage was.

Marriage to Margaret Runyan

In 1955 Carlos Castaneda met an American woman named Margaret Runyan, and in 1997 Margaret published the book "A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" in which she recounted her memories with him.

In this book, she mentions that they married in 1960 in Tlaquiltenango, Mexico. And between the end of 1961 and the beginning of 1962, they separated.

Margaret says that she was the one who decided to get a divorce and that Castaneda initially resisted but eventually agreed.

Castaneda took a long time to resolve the matter until they finally divorced in 1973. But Margaret claims that Castaneda had her sign forged divorce papers and that, therefore, technically, they remained married.

Note: While there is historical evidence showing that Carlos Castaneda and Margaret Runyan were indeed a couple for a time, some researchers (including myself) doubt the veracity of this marriage because, as far as I have discovered, no marriage certificate has been shown to prove it.

And in fact, the divorce document has not been shown either.

Alleged marriage to Carol Tiggs

When Jacobo Grinberg and his wife visited Castaneda and his disciples in 1991, after lunch they started chatting, and when the couple told them that they had just gotten married in Totolapan, Castaneda replied that he and Carol Tiggs, 'the nagual woman', had also gotten married there fulfilling an order from Don Juan.

But there is no proof of that, and it is most likely that Castaneda invented it just to impress his guests.

Marriage to Florinda Donner

Researchers discovered in the United States marriage records that Carlos Castaneda married one of his main disciples, Florinda Donner, in Las Vegas, on September 27, 1993.

Facsimile of the marriage certificate

Castaneda included several lies there:

  - He wasn't born in 1931, but in 1925.

  - It wasn't his first marriage, but his third.

  - His father's name is not Frank Castaneda, but César Arana Burungaray.

  - Her mother's name is not Susan Novoa, but Susana Castañeda Novoa.

These lies could invalidate this marriage.

Marriage to Carol Tiggs

And Castaneda also married another of his main disciples, Carol Tiggs, also in Las Vegas, on September 29, 1993 (that is, two days later), although there he used the name 'Carlos Aranha'.

Facsimile of the marriage certificate

All the information Castaneda provided is false except for the fact that he lives in Los Angeles, but he claimed that he and his parents were Brazilian, gave himself and his parents false names, his date of birth is also false, and obviously it wasn't his first marriage.

This completely invalidates that marriage.

Marriage to Deborah Drozz

Richard Jennings was Castaneda's student during his later years, and he noted that Castaneda also married Deborah Drooz, who was his lawyer and executor. But I haven't found any further information to support this claim.

OBSERVATIONS

Marrying more than one person is polygamy and in the United States it is considered a criminal offense, except in Utah where it is considered a misdemeanor.

But it is likely that those marriages to Florinda Donner and Carol Tiggs lack legal validity, not only because of the false information that Castaneda put in them, but also because Castaneda would not have really divorced Margaret Runyan, although who knows if he really married her, as well as the woman from Peru that he got pregnant.

And his marriages to Florinda Donner and Carol Tiggs contradict the teachings of Don Juan, who advocated the importance of freeing oneself from the ties invented by society.

I suspect that Castaneda did it to please his disciple-lovers, and this shows that he and his "witches" were not flawless warriors as they appeared to their followers, but simple humans who were still subject to their passions.