THE SUCCESSORS OF CARLOS CASTANEDA

Carlos Castaneda spent a long time looking for someone to become his successor, and on several occasions he chose different people; I will now mention those I have discovered.

Carlton Jeremy Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda adopted the son of his first American wife, Margaret Runyan, who was named Carlton Jeremy Castaneda, although he later took the name Adrian Vashon.

Castaneda adored him, and when Castaneda became famous, Carlton was about ten years old, and most likely Castaneda must have wanted Carlton to become his successor.

In fact, when journalist Geoffrey Gray interviewed Carlton, he told him:

"My father told me that he wanted a tall, blond, blue-eyed warrior heir; so I would be the most powerful sorcerer on the planet."

But later Castaneda distanced himself from Carlton.

Marco Antonio Karam

Marco Antonio Karam, better known as Lama Tony, is a promoter of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1989 he founded the organization Casa Tibet México and has directed it ever since.

Karam met Carlos Castaneda around 1982 and Castaneda decided that Karam would be his successor.

Karam recounts that his first encounter with Castaneda was when Castaneda came to Mexico to talk about his sixth book, 'The Eagle's Gift'.

"There was great anticipation and the auditorium was completely full to the brim, but the organizer announced that Castaneda was going to be late because he was stuck in traffic. An hour passed, then another hour, most people left, and the cleaning crew came to fold up the seats. By then, with only a dozen big followers, Castaneda suddenly emerged from behind the curtains and gave an incredible lecture."

Afterwards, Castaneda stayed to talk with the small group, and before leaving he invited Karam to visit him at his compound in Los Angeles.

Karam recounts that for several years he was part of Castaneda's inner circle, until one day when they were in  downtown Mexico City they stopped for lunch at the Casa de los Azulejos restaurant belonging to the Sanborns chain.

There Castaneda told Karam that he wanted him to become the new nagual, offering the young man the opportunity to succeed him as the new leader.

"This is the moment to make a decision," Castañeda said, but Karam, disappointed by what he had seen, refused.

"Then I can't spend any more time with you," Castaneda exclaimed, his mood shifting, his tone sharp, and his voice filled with anger as he said, "I've wasted so much time preparing you, and now I won't have an heir. Our lineage is coming to an end right now."  Castaneda stormed off, and they never spoke again.

Jacobo Grinberg

Jacobo Grinberg was a famous Mexican scientist who was also interested in shamanism and who met Carlos Castaneda around 1991.

Initially there was mutual admiration, and several witnesses say that Castaneda proposed to Grinberg that he leave his laboratory at UNAM to join his group in Los Angeles, which was interpreted by some as an invitation to become his successor.

But Grinberg rejected the offer and the friendship subsequently broke down.

Castaneda's Death

Carlos Castaneda died on April 27, 1998, at the age of 72 from liver cancer. I don't know if he still hoped to find a successor or if he had already given up on that quest.

Shortly after his death, five of his main wives disappeared and are suspected of having committed suicide.

Carol Tiggs

The only "witch" who did not disappear was Carol Tiggs, and she is the one who stayed in charge of Cleargreen, which is the company that Castaneda founded in 1995 to market his teachings.

But several people from Castaneda's group (Marco Antonio Karam, Richard Jennings, Bruce Wagner, etc.) asserted that Carol Tiggs was not qualified to hold this role.

Renata Murez

In 2023, Carol retired and was replaced as Cleargreen's executive director by Renata Murez, who was initially one of the three Tensegrity instructors and, after Castaneda's death, held several positions at Cleargreen.