The
following events were taken from accounts given by the press and also
by Richard Jennings on his website sustainedaction.org and Amy Wallace
in her book "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Richard and Amy were part of Carlos Castaneda's inner circle.
For a better understanding of this chronology, you should know that:
Carol Tiggs was 'the nagual woman' and Castaneda's partner
Nury Alexander was Castaneda's adopted daughter
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
These six women were the people closest to Castaneda.
CHRONOLOGY
Just after Castaneda's death
Carlos Castaneda died on April 27, 1998 at 3:00 am.
Taisha,
Florinda, Talia, and Kylie leave in two cars after emptying their
apartments, canceling their phone and utility services, and having given
away their jewelry and other precious items to Amy and other Cleargreen
members in the preceding weeks.
On
April 27, 1998, at 3:30 p.m., Amy called Taisha's number, just as she
had requested the day before, but the line was dead. She called
Florinda's and Castaneda's phone numbers with the same result. Carol's
number did work.
Carol,
being the only one left, becomes the leader of Cleargreen. She chooses
not to reveal Castaneda's death and the disappearance of the five women
to the public. However, she does have to tell the Cleargreen staff,
since they lived with the other women almost daily. She tells them that:
"Castaneda and the other women burned with inner fire, transformed into
spheres of conscious light, and passed into another dimension: the sea
of consciousness."
That
is what the great sorcerers achieve in the teachings of Don Juan: to
escape death, projecting themselves while still alive into this other
dimension.
Carol
prefers to lie to her colleagues rather than tell them the truth, and
even took them to Castaneda's residence to show them the places where he
and his women supposedly made this ascent, and asked them to keep it a
secret.
Workshop in Santa Monica
On
May 2, 1998, the Tensegrity Workshop was held in the gymnasium of Santa
Monica College. Carol spoke briefly at the beginning, mentioning how
Old Florinda (Castaneda's teacher) had stayed with them, and expressed
her gratitude, appearing moved to tears, but the atmosphere was somber.
Carol
spoke for only 10 minutes instead of the scheduled 30. She said that
after Don Juan's group left, an "event" occurred that led them to decide
to teach the magic passes to the public. She said that the "great"
Florinda, whom they called that because she was "so tall and elegant and
had incredible strength," stayed behind after Don Juan's group left to
"perfect the four of us."
(Cid's
note: She is referring to Castaneda, herself, Taisha, and Florinda
Donner, but if Carol supposedly left with Don Juan's group, as Castaneda
and his disciples claimed, then Carol shouldn't have been present to
receive further training from Master Florinda, and this is another
contradiction in the lies told by Castaneda and his women.)
Carol's
voice cracked, but she quickly recovered and went on to say that one of
the reasons they had made Tensegrity public was to search for something
that the great Florinda had predicted before she left.
She
had said that if the four of them had the courage to follow the
warrior's path with all their might, one day the time would come when
the atmosphere of the ancient sorcerers would disappear completely, and
instead of being heavy, cold, and distant, they would find a new
atmosphere, one that was light and very precise.
"That moment has finally arrived," she declared, "and it happened right here in this room, last month, in the last workshop."
She
claimed to have witnessed it personally and attributed it to a
combination of the participants' and instructors' energy. She said a new
atmosphere had begun and would prevail from now on. Later, Zaia said
that "giving it their all" while instructing us was her way of thanking
us for all the help they had received.
Nury's car is found
On
May 2, 1998, Nury's red Ford Escort was found abandoned on a dirt road
near the Panamint Dunes in Death Valley by park ranger Dave Brenner, who
had inspected the vehicle and taken photographs.
She called the police and Cleargreen, since the car was registered to Cleargreen. Amy was there when Brandon answered the call.
Days
later, one or more officers from the Los Angeles Police Department
(LAPD) arrived at the office and met with Tracy Kramer. Afterward, Tracy
drove to Death Valley, and the other members of the group feared she
was going to commit suicide.
The following workshops
On
May 7, 1998, Cleargreen sent an unsigned letter to those registered for
the Munich workshop stating that "due to an unforeseen energy shift,
none of Don Juan's three students will be available to teach at this
workshop," and that instead, classes would be taught by "members of our
German team of shamanic instructors, each of whom is a student of Carlos
Castaneda, Taisha Abelar, Florinda Donner-Grau, and Carol Tiggs."
Because of this change, they reduced the price.
On May 8, 1998, Castaneda's will was filed with the Superior Court of Los Angeles.
A
letter signed by Fabricio, in his capacity as finance director,
announced the cancellation of Friday night's conference for the Mountain
View workshop.
The
Munich Workshop took place on May 23 and 24, 1998. Darien described how
he had asked the Witches for help with his talk, saying that only
Carlos had responded, indicating that it was a task he should undertake
alone. They also advised him that every word a shaman utters is a
promise to the infinite. (Carla Luciani's notes report that when she
asked Fabricio why the Witches hadn't come, he told her, "Oh, but
they'll be at the Ontario workshop in August.")
On
June 6, 1998, a one-day workshop was held in Los Altos, at the Foothill
College gymnasium. Renata Murez, a Tensegrity instructor, opened the
workshop by stating, “I belong to Carol Tiggs.”
On
June 13, 1998, a one-day workshop was held in New York City at the
Hunter College basketball gymnasium. Rylin DeMaris was introduced as
"the new energy monitor."
Castaneda's death is made public
On
June 19, 1998 (nearly two months later!) the "Los Angeles Times"
newspaper published an obituary for Castaneda that appeared on the front
page.
The
following day, the "New York Times" also published an obituary for
Castaneda, stating that Carlton Jeremy Castaneda (Castaneda's adopted
son) was responsible for making the news of Castaneda's death public.
Cleargreen
staff gave different answers to callers asking where the Witches were.
Some were told they were "traveling," while others were told they were
"at the Second Attention," until finally they stopped answering
altogether.
On June 22, 1998, Cleargreen's website published Cleargreen's official statement, which included the following statement:
«
For Don Juan, the warrior was a being who, when the time came, embarked
on a definitive journey of consciousness, 'crossing towards total
freedom'.
Don Juan described this option to his apprentice:
"Warriors
can retain their consciousness, which is normally abandoned, at the
moment of death. At the moment of transition, the entire body is
illuminated with knowledge. Every cell becomes aware of itself and also
of the entire body."
Carlos
Castaneda left this world in the same way as his master, Don Juan
Matus: with full consciousness. The cognition of our everyday world does
not allow us to describe a phenomenon like this. Therefore, in
accordance with the legal norms and records required by the everyday
world, the death of Carlos Castaneda was declared .
(Cid's
note: Cleargreen says that Castaneda did transform into light, but
since this concept doesn't exist in the US bureaucracy, that's why they
said he died. What hypocrisy on the part of Carol and the other
Cleargreen leaders!)
The following workshops
From July 31 to August 2, 1998, an intensive workshop was held at the Ontario Convention Centre, Exhibition Hall A.
Carol
spoke on the 2nd, beginning: "I am Carol Tiggs. I was the only one
energetically available for tonight." She advised the sorcerers to fill
themselves with experience before departing and described Castaneda as
someone who "left the world saturated with consciousness."
She
advised people against joining or trying to catch up with Don Juan or
Castaneda. "They're running, and we're following them. It's impossible
to stay the way we were. Just do the work." She also claimed to speak on
behalf of the other two witches.
This was Carol's last public appearance until she appeared in two workshops in 2015 and 2016, and she has not appeared since.
On
August 14, 1998, Carol told Amy that she wasn't happy with how Debbie
Drooz (Castaneda's executor) was handling the probate process. Tracy and
Bruce were going to talk to her and help out. With the estate in
probate, there was little money available.
Carol
told Amy that the workshop in Germany had almost been a net loss. The
next one had gone well. She said that Taisha had tried to hide money,
and Carol seemed to imply that she wished they had.
There was also a conflict with the publisher HarperCollins regarding the book " Magic Passes ." They had decided to make only two videos instead of four.
In November 1998, HarperCollins published Castaneda's book " The Active Side of Infinity
." Carol is not mentioned in the book, even though a moving chapter
about her "return" was read at the Pasadena workshop in
November-December 1996.
Could
Castaneda have omitted it because he was angry at Carol's decision not
to leave with the other witches after his death? Was he bothered by the
string of love affairs she had with men in the group while he was dying?
Or did Carol have something to do with his elimination, knowing that a
quick search of public records would reveal that he hadn't physically
left for ten years?
On
November 7 and 8, 1998, a workshop was held in Mexico City. Brandon and
Miles answered the question, "Where are the Witches?" by stating: "They
stayed behind to supervise the movement instructors. They oversee
things as they develop. There are no more hierarchies."
To
the question, "What happened to the Nagual's group?", they responded:
"The elements weren't present (when he left). Only Carlos's companions.
Don Juan took his group of 16 warriors. Castaneda didn't. He made a bold
energetic maneuver. He left alone and left an energetic doorway open
for anyone who could cross it. Castaneda said he had a debt to Spirit
and wanted to repay it, leaving the opportunity for anyone to follow
him. Through the Nagual's affection for his fellow beings, he created a
connection for each of us with the infinite. He loved the sublime nature
of the human race."
On
November 25, 1998, there was a special Tensegrity session at Crossroads
School that Reni had asked Richard to help organize, inviting about a
dozen people from the previous Sunday's class group. Most of Cleargreen
was present. They gave out plastic bricks for special breathing
exercises.
Miles
read a statement about Castaneda saying that he had already “set up”
all the workshops that followed, and stated that the Witches were
overseeing things, but that they “probably would not” attend the
workshops to avoid setting in a “guru” mentality.
Cleargreen continues to insist that witches are supervising
On
February 23, 1999, "The Journal of Magical Pass Practitioners" on the
Cleargreen website repeated the statement read by Rylin at the Pomona
workshop:
“Don
Juan’s three students would like us to read the following to you: . . .
Don Juan’s three students said that it is fabulous to see what these
practitioners, these apprentices, are doing. You are apprentices, if you
so wish. There is no group; what there is is an agreement on the art of
attention. This is fully evident today.”
In
April 1999, an interview was conducted by Concha Labarta (workshop
promoter in Spain) with Darien Donner, Gavin Allister and Brandon Scott
in the magazine "Más Allá".
When asked: What is the current situation of Carlos Castaneda's companions, Florinda Donner Grau, Taisha Abelar and Carol Tiggs?
Darien
replied, “Don Juan’s students are here to oversee our efforts. You
could say they’re our advisors. They want to see if it’s possible for a
group to pursue an abstract goal without following a guru or a leader.”
On
April 17, 1999, the Cleargreen website newsletter answered some
questions. The final question and its answer are: “Why did Don Juan’s
students [Carol, Taisha, and Florinda] stay here when they were normally
supposed to leave with Castaneda? Will they participate in the
workshops?”
The
response was: “Don Juan Matus’s three students are here to oversee the
efforts of the Tensegrity instructors to realize one of Carlos
Castaneda’s most cherished dreams: the dream of a unified body of
individual practitioners of the magical passes who resume their
interrupted journey of consciousness. For the time being, they will not
be personally participating in the workshops because they wish for this
dream to be realized. For Carlos Castaneda and for them, it is a dream
in which a group of practitioners focuses not on a person or a group of
people, but on the abstract purpose of freedom of perception.”
Workshop in Barcelona
On June 5 and 6, 1999, a Barcelona Workshop was held which was attended by more than 750 people.
Miles,
in his introduction, explained that the “three remaining disciples” had
stayed behind, just as Florinda Matus had stayed behind to complete the
teaching of Castaneda and the Witches, to ensure that the vision of a
unified body of warriors would become a reality.
Gavin said that the spirit of the times dictated that today we no longer need naguals or gurus to help us on the warrior's path.
During
the question-and-answer session, in response to a question about family
relationships, they encouraged people to “maintain a good relationship
with our parents and respect what they have done for us.” But that
didn't sound at all like Castaneda's position, who had always pressured
his disciples to separate from their families, so “revisionist
nagualism” was already underway.
When asked, "How can one be with your group?", they replied, "You are part of our group, we have no advantage over you."
There
were also question-and-answer sessions in different languages. Rylin
and Reni led the English session. When asked, "How do the three witches
teach you? Do they teach you directly, in dreams, how?"
One
of them replied: "We don't summon them, they call us. Sometimes we
receive a phone call, we have meetings before the workshops. They let us
work on our own, they supervise us from a distance."
In the French session, Nyei answered a similar question: What is your relationship with witches?
Nyei
reportedly said, "The witches follow the energy. They are always here
to help us teach the magical passes. There is no way to predict when we
will meet them. It is up to us to make the decisions. They give us
guidance, but not orders."
When
asked about the Death Challenger and his whereabouts, they replied:
“The Death Challenger is here, but he is not energetically available. He
freely chooses to be in this world. His gift to Carlos Castaneda was
that Carlos could leave the door open for anyone who wished to enter the
warrior's path to freedom.”
Another
person's notes indicated that the Death Challenger was present in the
workshop in an abstract way. "She feels that her appearance is too
imposing for people to see, so she prefers to remain on other planes."
They
also said that it was “largely thanks to the instigation and energy of
the Death Challenger that the passes were taught publicly, and that it
was his gift to Castaneda that he could leave an energetic doorway open
for anyone who follows the warrior's path to pass through.”
The fraud is revealed
On June 23, 1999, the website Sustained Action published timelines that proved Castaneda had been lying.
In response, Cleargreen's website published the following statement on July 2, 1999:
" We
have recently received several reports and inquiries from practitioners
of magical passes regarding the emergence of a renewed interest in the
personal history and data of Carlos Castaneda and his colleagues."
[The
statement then repeats a statement Castaneda had issued a couple of
years earlier on the website, trying to deflect interest from his
personal story.]
The
Nagua told us that seers, instead of trying to categorize their fellow
beings, prefer to dream them. They know they have very little time in
this physical form, and they want to spend it filling themselves with
awareness, rather than with useless information.
Often
people would go to great lengths to meet and speak with the Nagual,
only to ask: Where do you live? How old are you? Are you married? and
things like that. These are not the real questions, even though they may
seem like it.
He
told us that the real questions we should be asking ourselves are: What
are you doing with your life? Are you following a path with your heart?
And if it isn't a path with your heart, he said, then we must have the
courage to abandon it and find something that is, before our brief time
on Earth is over.
[They
then quote a passage from Castaneda's introduction to the 30th
anniversary edition of The Teachings of Don Juan, where he states that
warriors cannot worry about "everyday matters because the only thing
that matters is their encounter with the infinite."]
For
Don Juan, this was an energetic fact. Like Don Juan and the seers of
his lineage, Carlos Castaneda spoke in terms of energetic facts:
conclusions those seers reached based on their ability to see energy
directly as it flows in the universe.
In
describing these energetic events, Carlos Castaneda's effort was to
build a bridge—for his apprentices and for all practitioners of magical
passes—between the cognitive world of everyday life and the cognitive
world of the seers of ancient Mexico. He told us that he had brought us
to this bridge, but that crossing it would be a voluntary decision for
each of us individually. For those interested: Let's do it !
The remains of Nury Alexander's skeleton are discovered
On
February 15, 2003, hikers found bones scattered in the Panamint dunes.
Subsequent investigation led Inyo County investigators to link the
remains to the red Ford Escort that Nury had abandoned nearby and which
was found on May 2, 1998.
In
February 2006, those remains were positively identified as belonging to
Nury Alexander using advanced DNA analysis techniques. They were
compared with DNA samples taken from Nury's mother and three sisters.
VERIFICATION
Despite
the fact that the detective couple Gaby and Greg filmed Castaneda as he
became increasingly ill, despite the death certificate indicating that
Castaneda died of liver cancer, despite the cremation certificate issued
by the Spalding Funeral Home in Culver City, despite the fact that Nury
Alexander was confirmed to have died in Death Valley, and despite the
fact that more than a quarter of a century has passed without any news
of the four remaining missing women.
Cleargreen
continues to declare that Carlos Castaneda escaped death by
transforming into conscious light and that his five women are
"traveling".
And
this shows you the incredible cynicism of the leaders of that
organization who, regardless of how much evidence they have against
them, prefer to continue with this charade rather than tell the truth,
so they can continue to deceive people.
