CARLOS CASTANEDA WAS VERY HUMILIATING TO HIS DISCIPLES

Several witnesses claimed that Carlos Castaneda was very contemptuous and demeaning toward his female disciples, and here I will compile several of those accounts. But to better understand these accounts, you must first get to know the people involved:

Nury Alexander was Castaneda's adopted daughter

Carol Tiggs was Castaneda's nagual woman and his shamanic partner

Taisha Abelar was one of Castaneda's witches

Florinda Donner was another of Castaneda's witches

Talia Bey was the president of Cleargreen, the company Castaneda founded to market his teachings.

Kylie Lundahl was the leader of the tensegrity instructors

Amy Wallace was a writer who was part of Castaneda's inner circle

CONTEMPT FOR CAROL

Amy Amy recounted that in the spring of 1993 she attended her first night class with Castaneda and his group at Dance Home in Santa Monica. During his remarks to the group, in between movement practices, Castaneda announced Carol had lost her set of keys to Nury’s apartment. Castaneda berated Carol, “This is intolerable, to have lost the keys! Unthinkable. For a sorceress? For Carol, the nagual woman?”

Carol stayed frozen while Castaneda railed, “We could all die because of this! If she lost our daughter’s house key, Amy might have flown away into the unknown, destroying us all! We’d all be finished! Kaput!! But Amy Wallace is here. We’re only here tonight because of Amy Wallace found the keys. Because of her, we may still have a chance.”

In the car with Carol and Florinda later, Amy asked, “What the hell was that all about, Carol, that business with the keys? Wasn’t that a little harsh?”

Florinda responded, “No! No, Amy, no. That was not human, that was a very powerful sorcery technique. If you view this kind of talk from the world’s point of view, it’s abuse. As sorcerers, we use it as a magical method for destroying our self-importance. You have to make a choice.”

Amy turned to Carol, “Well, what would you have done if I hadn’t been there?”

Carol responded, “Turned my face to the wall. Turned and walked away, until I died.”

CONTEMPT FOR NURY

Castaneda adored his daughter-lover Nury but still also denigrated her.

Carol took the Cleargreen members on a guided tour of Tula (it was probably on May 20, 1995). And in the speech Carol gave them, which was scripted by Castaneda, she told them, among other things:

“Of course I have to tell you that [the first time I was in Tula] I didn’t look like I do now. I looked like Nury, all snotty-nosed. The Death Defier took my nose and my stick-thin body…”

CONTEMPT FOR THALIA

At Castaneda's request, Talia severed all ties with her family and friends in Puerto Rico. Later, as her father lay dying, he desperately longed to hear his daughter's voice one last time.

The family called Cleargreen and say that a stranger answered and simply said, "She knows her father is dying," and nothing more.

Amy recalled how Castaneda ridiculed Amalia for being too close to her family after this phone call about her father. According to Castaneda, her personal relationships were a burden she had to get rid of if she wanted to become a shamanic warrior.

CONTEMPT FOR KYLIE

Journalist Geoffrey Gray commented:

« Privately, within the compound, Kylie was distressed. She was a natural beauty ("a classic Amazon," according to Amy) and was always in excellent physical shape ("with as little body fat as an Olympic athlete"). But because of her height and robust build, Castaneda complained to her and others that her legs were enormous.

To maintain Castaneda's regard, Kylie, like many others, went on diets. She considered surgeries like liposuction and starved herself to lose weight, which left her face gaunt, sickly, and with dark circles under her eyes. »

CONTEMPT TOWARDS AMY

Gray also commented:

« Castaneda kept pressuring Amy to have sex. She wasn't interested, but Castaneda persisted. Three times a day. Six times a day. Finally, she gave in.  The experience was cold and strange. She doesn't want to repeat it, and she tells him so.

“That’s fine, baby, that’s fine —Amy recalls him saying— but let me tell you, being around the nagual is like being on a drug.… You’ll have to rest after seeing me. But you’ll want more of this drug.”

Despite her refusals, his calls kept coming, morning and night, as if he were always there. He oscillated between being sweet and romantic and erupting in rage.

“You whore! —he said on more than one occasion— You’re spoiled rotten, born with a silver spoon, go get fucked in the ass!”

He’d push her to tears. It was a vicious dance—praise followed by abuse, a cycle that kept her ensnared.

“What am I, in business? To be your guru? —he’d say— No! I only want your freedom! You must choose.” »

Amy recounted this in her book 'Sorcerer's Apprentice,' and another example of contempt was the following:

« At the 1995 Cleargreen Christmas party, Amy tried to lighten the mood in the pre-dinner hour by reading to the group from the copy of the book 'The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right,' published this same year by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, which Amy found on Grant Vospher's desk.

After getting glares from Castaneda and Florinda, Amy put the book down, but Castaneda castigated her for taking something from someone else’s desk. His tirade went on for quite some time, and among other things, he said sternly:

“Those are never to be touched. A desk is sacred. Cleargreen is a temple, sacred! Those are not yours to touch, you piece of shit!”

Through tears, Amy returned the book to Grant's desk.

Nury arrived later and after going to the bathroom, returned with the same book and leafed through it enthusiastically, reading some fragments to the group.

Castaneda laughed and thanked him for the fun. »

CID OBSERVATION

It is true that there are techniques to reduce ego, and one of them is to rant at a person until they are no longer affected by these insults.

But Castaneda clearly abused this technique; it is noticeable that his objective was not to make his disciples stronger, but on the contrary to keep them in a state of constant fear, and also to satisfy his personal sadism (Castaneda showed that he loved to belittle) and turn his women into beings emotionally dependent on him.

And he succeeded because after Castaneda died, his closest women decided to commit suicide, and only one (Carol) preferred to continue living.

And that shows the sick manipulation that Castaneda exerted over his women and how false was this assertion that he was turning them into free shamanic warriors.