CARLOS CASTANEDA'S WITCHES

Between 1960 and 1971, four women joined Carlos Castaneda and stayed with him until the end of his life.

JOANIE BARKER

The first was Joanie Barker, who worked at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as library and became Castaneda's first disciple-lover in 1960. At this time, Castaneda was studying at that university.

TAISHA ABELAR

The second was Taisha Abelar, who met Castaneda around 1964 when she was 19 and he was 39. At this time, they were both studying at UCLA.

Taisha's mother commented that her daughter had become romantically involved with a much older man, whom her daughter affectionately called "her teacher".

At this time Taisha lived with her sister Agnes, who also disapproved this relationship, and after several arguments about it, Taisha moved out one day and never returned.

FLORINDA DONNER

Castaneda continued his studies at UCLA where he was preparing his doctorate in anthropology, and five years later, in 1971, he met another woman at that university: Florinda Donner, who at this time was 27 years old and he was 45 years old.

Florinda was married but a few months later she got divorced and shortly afterwards she went to live with Castaneda Joanie and Taisha.

CAROL TIGGS

The fourth woman was Carol Tiggs, who had a boyfriend who was part of Castaneda's inner circle, and between 1970 and 1971 he introduced her to Castaneda.

Carol was 23 at this time, and Castaneda was 44 or 45. They began an affair, but in 1973 Carol decided to break up with Castaneda.

Ten years later, in 1983, Carol met Castaneda again and, to convince her to rejoin his harem, he promised to make her his official partner: "the nahual woman".

Carol agreed, but the other did not like the decision to make Carol their superior since they had been living with Castaneda for much longer, but they did not dare to contradict their boss.

Castaneda reveals the existence of his witches

Castaneda had kept these women a secret, but after Carol returned to him, he began to reveal them, first to his inner circle of students, and later also to the public (with the exception of Joanie).

Castaneda's followers called them "the witches".

Castaneda, his witches, and other personal students of Castaneda, claimed that Joanie, Taisha, Florinda, and Carol also met Don Juan, who made them his disciples and initiated them by that nahual.

And Don Juan, before leaving, placed them under the direction of Castaneda, who became his new nahual.

When Castaneda was asked why he hadn't announced them before, he replied that it was because Don Juan told him not to mention them to the public, but that with the miraculous return of the nahual woman, who had gone with the Death Challenger to another dimension of existence, that was a sign that the directives had changed.

 

In an interview, Castaneda said:  "The return of the nahual woman marked a new, more public phase in the work of us four sorcerers. With Carol Tiggs's return, it was decided to lift the traditional veil of mystery and secrecy and present the sorcerers' teachings to a wider world. And in this spirit, Florinda Donner-Grau and Taisha Abelar wrote books describing their training."

In 1985, Florinda published a book titled 'The Witch's Dream,' and in 1991 she published another book titled 'Being in the Dream.' In these books, she recounted her encounter and initiation with Don Juan and his sorcerers.

In 1991 Taisha published a book entitled 'Where the Witches Cross' where she also recounted her encounter and initiation with Don Juan's group.

Starting in 1993, Castaneda and his witches began to give workshops to the public where they mainly taught tensegrity and also gave talks where they told about their lives and also their experiences with Don Juan and his witches.

For example, from March 1 to 3, 1996, an exclusive workshop for women on "The Female Energy Body" was held at UCLA.

There Castaneda declared: “Don Juan could never have addressed a group like this tonight because he was only interested in himself and his group, but things changed for us when Carol Tiggs returned after a ten-year absence. Her return changed everything.”

Carol claimed to have spent so much time in other worlds that this one felt strange to her.

Castaneda then exclaimed, “People used to say I invented Don Juan!” Then, gesturing with his arm and pointing to the front row where the witches were sitting, he said, smiling and with a look of horror at the same time, “Well, I couldn’t possibly invent these creatures! Invent Carol Tiggs? I’d be terrified!”

THE END

And so they continued with their workshops until Castaneda died on April 27, 1998, due to liver cancer.

Taisha and Florinda disappeared the next day and were never heard from again (it is suspected they committed suicide). Joanie walked away. And Carol took over the company Castaneda founded to market his teachings.

VERIFICATION

Historical data shows that virtually everything Carlos Castaneda and his witches claimed was a lie. Furthermore, Castaneda pretended they were merely his personal disciples, but in reality, they were his principal lovers.