A WOMAN JUMPED OFF A BRIDGE BECAUSE OF CARLOS CASTANEDA

Carlos Castaneda claimed in several of his books that he jumped from a cliff into the abyss and that this allowed him to "open the wings of his perception," and that this is what saved him from dying after taking this jump and enabled him to see the 'nagual' (the subtle world).

And unfortunately, one woman believed that to be true.

Janice Emery lived in Santa Fe; she was a great follower of Castaneda and attended the Tensegrity workshops.

But tragically, in 2002 she tried to emulate the "Nahual" and jumped off a bridge spanning a ravine over the Rio Grande. She was convinced that if she too took the "leap into the void," she too could access the "Other Reality" described by Castaneda.  But instead of expanding her perception, she ended up killing herself.

This tragedy was reported by  the newspaper 'Santa Fe New Mexican', in its February 20, 2002 edition, and below I transcribe this news that was on the front page:

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THAT WOMAN'S DEATH WAS NOT SUICIDE

Those who knew her say Janice Emery, who studied mystic Carlos Castaneda, might have believed she could fly.

Janice Emery apparently hoped she could fly like a bird, and sometime between Feb. 12 and Thursday, she might have tried to find out whether she could.

Police said Emery jumped off the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos.

(Cid's note: Taos is a town located in the state of New Mexico, USA.)

A few days before Emery left her Santa Fe house, she told a neighbor that women who studied with the mystic Carlos Castaneda would go with their teacher to a place in Mexico many years ago that they would jump from. One of the women, sometimes referred to as a witch, jumped with Castaneda, Emery told her friend. The friend couldn't say what happened to the witch, but Castaneda "woke up in his office in Los Angeles."

"I said, `Jan, you're not planning on jumping?' Jennifer Railey asked her friend incredulously. "On flying?" Railey was also a neighbor and spiritual student of Emery's.

"That woman was not suicidal," Railey said, "We can't understand what her path was, but her intention was not to kill herself."

But Emery told Railey, "I could (mess) up and do something stupid, get myself killed, but that's not my intention. Even though I'm your teacher, don't put me on a pedestal. All humans are subject to mistakes."

Emery had been a student of Castaneda, a man who wrote several books of his mystical experiences with a Mexican shaman whom he called Don Juan.

Emery told people she believed in changing her perception of reality through meditation and out-of-body experiences that allowed her to move her spirit from place to place at will.

On Feb. 14, authorities found the 47-year-old Santa Fe woman's Ford Taurus abandoned near the Rio Grande Gorge in Taos. On the gorge bridge, 650 feet above the Rio Grande, a patrolmen found a plastic milk crate propped up against the railing. Authorities feared Emery used it to "help herself over the bridge."

A day later, a search-and-rescue crew spotted the dead body of a woman in the river about a mile and a half south of bridge.

On Sunday, state police hired Known World Guides of Taos to help bring the body out of the water with a raft. The state Office of the Medical Investigator, using a photo of Emery, confirmed the identity.

Emery's friends and neighbors, who listened to and respected her spiritual beliefs but did not embrace them, said they are "shocked" by her death. None of them believed she intended to harm herself.

"I think she was really thinking she could fly off," said Elisabeth Sherif, a friend and neighbor of Emery's at their co- housing community on West Alameda Street.

"Jan's belief was that we didn't have to leave this plane with our body left behind," Railey said, "that we are magical enough to take our bodies with us when we go as the ancients in Mexico taught."

"She had built up her own little world," said Caroline Lippincott, another friend and neighbor.

"But she was very grounded," said Sondra Kosel, "It's hard to imagine her taking that kind of a risk."

Friends referred to Emery as practical, sensible, disciplined, down to earth and a good listener. "She wasn't airy fairy," Kosel said.

Emery, originally from Michigan, was happy and bouncy, Lippincott said. "She noticed everything ... the beautiful day, the clouds."

Emery's abilities, which included jewelry making, woodworking and scuba diving, were many. She was a masseuse, a healer and a teacher of Castaneda's spirituality. Emery loved the outdoors and would take friends on long hikes, Lippincott said.

But Emery also had a head injury brought on by cancer that probably led her to study healing in England and California. In her studies, she met Castaneda, who died in 1998. "I think she wanted to be with Castaneda's people and her injuries drove her to this path that kind of saved her but at the same time removed her from this reality," Lippincott said.

The last time friends saw Emery was the morning of Feb. 12. "I saw her light go out at around 4 a.m.," said Sherif, who lived next door.

Emery told friends and neighbors that week she was going to Michigan to take over a friend's massage business and would return in April. She left behind a "bogus" phone number where she could be reached, Sherif said.

Emery also told Railey that her trip to Michigan was "so much more. You just don't understand."

"I think she might have not wanted to tell people and went to experience (flying)," said Lippincott.

Before Emery left, she left gifts for her friends, including a large micaceous clay pot for posole she gave Sherif. She also made a terracotta goddess for Railey.

Emery also marked the pages of Castaneda's book The Wheel of Time for Railey with blue Post-It notes: "Whenever a warrior decides to do something, he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them."

"And that's what she did," Railey said.

OBSERVATIONS

The first thing I noticed is that Emery read Castaneda's book "The Active Side of Infinity" where he says that after jumping into the abyss he lost consciousness, and when he woke up he was in his bedroom (not in his office) in Los Angeles.

But if Emery had read the book "The Second Ring of Power,"  then she would know that in that book the witch Doña Soledad told Castaneda that women do not need to jump into the abyss since they have other means to achieve the same as men.

« Women are better off than men in this respect. They are not forced to throw themselves into an abyss. Women have other means. They have their own abysses. Women menstruate. The Nahual [Don Juan] told me that was their gateway. During their period, they become something else. I know it was during these times that he taught my girls.

For me it was too late because I am too old to ever know the true appearance of those gates. But the Nahual insisted that the girls pay close attention to everything that happened to them at that time. He would take them to the mountains during those days and stay with them until they saw the rift between the worlds. »

(Chapter 1)

But that doesn't absolve Castaneda of blame, since not all his admirers read all his books, and men do have to pass this test, and he was boasting that he really jumped into the abyss and came out unscathed.

He also pressured his followers with phrases like "When a warrior decides to do something, he must go all the way."

Furthermore, Castaneda and his witches often changed Don Juan's teachings to suit their own purposes, and I wouldn't be surprised if, to impress Emery, they told her that they went with Castaneda to that cliff where they also jumped.

CONCLUSION

Janice Emery was another of Carlos Castaneda's victims; she had her share of responsibility for blindly believing what this writer claimed, but if Castaneda had been more careful with the stories he invented, this tragedy would have been avoided.