What Happened to the 'Witches' of Carlos Castaneda?

In 1998, several women associated with "Tensegrity," the belief system of 1970s New Age guru, cult leader and literary hoaxer Carlos Castaneda, vanished upon Castaneda's death. All but one of their cases remain unsolved. What happened to these women, and why did they follow Castaneda in the first place?

Chapters:
00:00-00:32: Introduction
00:32-01:09: The Witches Vanish
01:09-04:01: Who Was Carlos Castaneda?
04:01-06:39: Patricia Partin/Nury Alexander
06:39-08:33: Florinda Donner-Grau/Regine Thal
08:33-10:21: Taisha Abelar/Maryann Simko
10:21-10:57: Kylie Lundahl
10:57-13:32: Amalia Marquez/Amalia Marin
13:32-14:02: Carol Tiggs
14:02-16:51: What Happened? (Theories)
16:51-19:08: Amy Wallace's Story
19:08-22:59: Historical Question--Why?

[maurogarces]

As someone native from South America, descendant from (Quechua/aymara), when i read Castaneda's books i saw many things that i previously experienced, specially around the amazonas. Many of the things he speaks about, entities and the power of the night and open areas, i can say that he speaks factually. Many natives who never went out to civilazation and stood in their villages have knowledge that he speaks about very clearly, even body techniques. To me, his work is a door to the occult that not many can reach, and he shares it. People waste a lot of time arguing about whether everything was a farse or about females he had relationships with. It's more a reflection of who you are and why it pisses you off, or makes you invest so much time discrediting. (Not meaning your video, i mean in general). People need to go out and find for themselves. Btw south america experimented through thousands of years with Ayahuasca. Yet the component of that plant and Peyote, as well as other cultures (Africa specially) who are believed to have aquired consciousness through the usage of such plants, with help of "beings". Our reality today is basically cement.

[barrywilson]

In the early 70s I was a university student interested in eastern philosophy and psychedelics. I had two experiences that were powerful but baffling to me. Two or three years later I encountered the Don Juan books and was startled to find my experiences described as losing the human form and hearing the voice of seeing. I was hooked on reading all the works. Not being a joiner I never became involved with the movement. After reading Castaneda I did have other experiences similar to those from the Books but the pre exposure experiences seem the most uncanny. The later books were mostly about Stalking which involves intentional creation of a false crisis to move the students assemblage point for magical experiences. At 73 I remain puzzled but unable to completely dismiss Castaneda.

[christophersmith]

Ive read all of Castaneda's books and found them very interesting and thought provoking. And believable. My favourite is Tales Of Power.

[jackwood]

My sister owned a hippie bookstore in the early 70’s and that’s where I read Castaneda. It was a mind trip for me at 14 years old. Wild times indeed.

[noahjuanjuneau]

I was in a position to interact with Carlos Castaneda on two occasions at UCLA in the early seventies because I knew two young women, roommates, who had both dated him. He readily admitted his primary motivation in writing the books and getting his PhD. stemmed from deep feelings of personal insecurity based on his ethnicity and background. He said (something along the lines of) ‘I’m a short, brown Hispanic man from Peru who very much wanted to get dates with tall blonde girls, and obtaining my PhD was my goal so I could ‘score.’ The two girls I knew who introduced me to him basically supported that premise. Their friendship with him bore this out. He wrote his books in the library at UCLA and gleaned the hodgepodge of philosophical BS they contained from other philosophical and spiritual books he read. He mixed in colorful stories from his own trips in and around Latin America and the American southwest. And he exploited the interests of the era in altered states of consciousness. He created a fictional narrative that he exploited meet girls who otherwise would have never even noticed him. It was all a ‘schtick.’ Even he admitted it.

[laslobas]

My teacher in Tecate, the medicine man of the Yaquis, knew Carlos and helped him write the books. He told Carlos “if you make any money from these books bring some back to the tribe”.

He never did. My teacher always referred to him as Pinche Carlos.

Carlos took the spiritual practices of the Yaquis and twisted it for his own power. It is sad to see so many still follow Carlos

[marymarlowe]

Are you familiar with Merilyn Tunneshende? She wrote two books 📚 Medicine Dream-A Woman' Encounter with the Healing Realms of Don Juan and Don Juan and the Art of Sexual Energy. In the second book on pg 219 she describes Don Juan's death 💀. On pg 124 she describes diagnosing CC liver cancer. On pg 221 she talks about CC death 💀 in April 1998. No one mentioned her name in the comments so I 🤔 thought I would.😉

[nicolasrossi]

Nice piece. It is probably difficult now at this later date to understand why these books were so important within the context of the time in which they were written. It was necessary THEN for me to hear what he had to say, (both Castenada and Don Juan ) and to incorporate, or square that into/with my understanding of the world. To have a more vital and comprehensible connection with the mystical and unseen forces I felt/sensed were otherwise all around us, but just beyond my knowing. I made some of my own investigations (as did my friends) into the metaphysical and altered states of consciousness spoken about. because I was a curious/seeking young man of that era. This videos information is interesting, but really does nothing to diminish the first books as they concerned or influenced myself or others I knew then (1970's). Certainly one of those, "you had to have been there" points in time in order to fully appreciate the cultural context. Likewise with Hesse's 'Siddartha' or McKenna's books, or even in some ways Richard Brautigan's poetry and verse. All still relevant, but also very era specific too. Thanks

[dougyoung]

I was drawn to the castaneda books in 71 after returning from viet nam. LSD, pot, left me with life altering experiences and also a good deal of confusion. Casataneda capitalized on that moment in time where conciousness expansion was only a toke or pill away. I recall that about the third book i began to see this was a scam, no doubt making castaneda wealthy, famous, and sexually satisfied.
He was a gifted story teller but also an ass, preying on other peoples earnest desire to reach some deeper understanding of life. Turns out we're our own best teacher when we learn to listen to the spirit within. No mediator required though honest others are helpful.

[JohnEuliss]

I have always been enamored with Castanedas writings. The concepts seemed incongruous but they always had an element of truth. No self importance, no feelings of In superiority, or feelings of failure. Cutting off the internal dialogue is very important to developing the magic of Don Juan. This is all rather disconcerting and I would love to do further research on this whole subject.

[openeverydoor]

Cleargreen had to drop the term "Tensegrity" to "magical passes" because Buckminster Fuller's estate threatened a lawsuit....
Tensegrity is the foundation of geodesic domes as related by Buckminster Fuller. It combines the words tension and integrity. The very thing that makes structures impervious to outside influence.
The book is "Critical Path". It is a cracking good read and then some...
The point of Castaneda's teachings is internal silence
It's all about challenging perception❤❤

[andrewblake]

The historical moment you describe is not over at all. Meditation is more popular than ever but "gurus" or cult leaders are no longer very noticeable. The MSM however has lost interest decades ago.
I read and loved his books in the '60's and I am still at it in terms of enquiring into consciousness. I have never become disillusioned even though some teachers were less than they claimed, because our consciousness itself is endlessly fascinating. From where does it arise?

[robertoponce]

I met Castaneda around 1994 up north México City, during a three day seminar about Transegrity, attended by hundreds of people, many of them younger than me, with lots of loyal women recieving and headed the "lessons" to visitors like me and "pupils" who payed a fee, the last day Castaneda himself held a talking and talked to a small group of press reporters --me among them. So, that is why I liked your video, Sean, since I somehow understand what you talk about in general, but those women dissapearing was something I didn't know, the theme here is treated very seriously here by you, congratulations 😮

[cheshirecat]

The eternal question: Can one separate the art from the artist?

Carlos Castaneda was a captivating and gifted writer. Unfortunately, later on he became an abusive cult leader and egomaniac.

On which basis do we judge him — by his art, or his personal life?

I read his books as a teenager and young adult. I was hooked by his first three books which caught my imagination — so much so, that I once had a powerful acid trip that was inspired subconsciously by his writings.

By the fourth book, however, I realized Castaneda was a huckster.

Fraud or not, he was a fine storyteller. There was even a little wisdom in his books, sprinkled among the bullshit. Fertilizer does help the flowers grow, after all. It's a shame he didn't heed his own writings and grow wise as he aged. He did the opposite; he became a monster. At least he left three wonderful books for the world to read.

Thanks for this wonderful video, and your two subsequent ones on this topic.

I am currently reading "Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Amy Wallace. I highly recommend it.

[elasticharmony]

Since they taught erasing personal history this seems to be the strongest clue.

[jrae]

I read Travels to Ixylan years ago and loved the way it challenged my concepts of reality. I never took it as a literal account of events but rather an imaginary and mythical dive into spirituality. I enjoyed it from that perspective.
Erasing personal history goes back to early Christianity when one is born again. Nothing new here. Historically cults arise during times of conflict, change and or cataclysmic events. There is a good book that addresses this phenomena called “The First Messiah.”

[MrStrocube]

It doesn’t matter that Carlos made it all up. His work stands as an amazing work of fiction regardless.
It’s too bad Carlos went nuts and formed a cult around himself. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[kaijusushi]

One important aspect of this story is that the ritualistic use of peyote, datura and other halucinogenic plants that was a part of Castaneda's 'cult' could lead to mental derangement and insanity. Especially when used over an extended period of time, these drugs can be very damaging to one's mental health. These poor women may well have been completely out of their minds by the time Castaneda died.

[raymondkerr]

Nicely done. I was hooked by Carlos Castaneda’s adventures back in ‘73 and continued to read him right up to the bitter end, more out of lurid fascination at the whole saga than credulous adherence to his fantastic claims, which, if taken as psychotropic Vaseline dreams, might have loosely passed as phenomenological reports. They never were convincing enough that I would follow him over a cliff. Delving into his sources, digging out the truth of the matter occupied me for years. I think the philosophic seeds strewn throughout his far flung yarns owe more to Gurdjieff, Karlfried Von Durkheim, Alan Watts and others than to a Yaqui Indian named Don Juan Matus. According to his ex-wife “Matus” was Castaneda’s favorite brand of port. Cheers! Tensegrity’s “magical passes” are clearly no more than rehashed Qi Gong—in fact his book “The Fire From Within” bears a dedication to his martial arts instructor. And having read, God help me, the “witches’” books as well, I believe those manuscripts were quite likely written by Castaneda himself in his tireless campaign to shore up the credibility of his mythos. The writing style reads exactly like his. Recently I went back and had a look at his writings from “Tales of Power” on (I have a whole file box stowed away in the garage) and found his schtick completely unreadable—just plain bad writing. Oh well, live and learn.

[jameslyons]

I am an old Hippie, coming along as Hippiedom was just coalescing. A product of the psychedelic experience was the ever broadening of what Reality encompassed. A friend had written a book, THE PSYCHEDELIC GUIDE TO THE PREPARATION OF THE EUCHARIST, which very clearly describes how to create many psychedelics. Soon we were roaming the South Texas desert searching for peyote from which we chemically extracted mescaline. In the desert area were
local peyote pickers, licensed to provide the plant to Native Americans. Later, as I became aware of the Don Juan series I realized that the story was likely a work of imagination. It bore too much of the experiences that the “psychedelic experience” had already proven to be imaginary. The REAL MAGIC that took place was how real Love is and how close to the psychological surface it truly lays.