HOW DID CAROL TIGGS MEET CARLOS CASTANEDA?

 

Carol Tiggs was the 'nagual woman', that is, the partner of Carlos Castaneda, and there are three versions of how they met.

ACCORDING TO CASTANEDA

Castaneda in his book "The Eagle's Gift" (1981) asserted that he first met Carol in Arizona.

« I told [the Fat Lady] about an incident that took place in Arizona at the beginning of my apprenticeship.

One day I was resting at Don Juan's house after a tiring walk.  Don Juan seemed strangely nervous. Every so often he stood up to look out the door. He seemed to be waiting for someone.

Suddenly and quite abruptly, she told me that a car had just arrived at the bend in the road and was heading to the house. She said it was a girl, a friend of hers, who was bringing her some blankets.

I had never seen Don Juan so pitiful. It filled me with immense sadness to see him so unwell, to the point that I didn't know what to do. I thought perhaps he didn't want me to meet that girl, so I suggested I could hide, but there was nowhere in the room, so he made me lie down on the floor and covered me with a mat.

I heard the sound of a car engine being turned off, and then through the cracks in the sleeping mat I saw a girl standing by the door. She was tall, thin, and very young. I thought she was beautiful.

Don Juan said something to her in a low, intimate voice, then turned around and pointed at me.

-       "Carlos is hiding under the mat," he told the girl in a clear, strong voice . "Say hello to him."

The girl waved at me and greeted me with the friendliest smile in the world.

I felt stupid and annoyed that Don Juan had put me in such an embarrassing situation. »

(Chapter 6)

ACCORDING TO CAROL

In a workshop held in Longmont, Colorado, in 1995, Carol told the attendees a completely different story about how she met Castaneda.

« Carol said her first encounter with Carlos Castaneda and Don Juan was when she was 19. She said she had been in Mexico City studying art history. She described herself as a spoiled girl who spoke with a pronounced lisp that she believed made her endearing.

One night, while she was walking alone through Alameda Park, she noticed an old man and a short, stocky young man staring at her from nearby. They seemed like "rough Mexicans" to her.

She started walking quickly to get away from them, but they kept coming closer. The young man got very close to her and heard the old man say:

     -   "Don't let her get away. Grab her leg if you can."

The young man didn't know what to do. He asked Carol:

-       "Are you American? What's your name? How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Carol was truly terrified at that moment and threatened to scream for the police when the old man let out a tremendous burp. She froze and replied:

     "My name is Carol Tiggs, I'm 19 years old and I don't have a boyfriend."

»

THE TRUTH

In reality Carol did have a boyfriend named Mark Silliphant, and in the seventies Mark was part of Castaneda's inner circle.

Between 1970 and early 1971, when Carol was around 23 years old, Mark introduced her to Castaneda, who was 45 at the time.

And that's how Carol and Castaneda really met.