To: alt.dreams.castaneda
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 18:29:07 -0500 (EST)

Pasadena Dreaming

This account conveys some personal feelings and observations from the Pasadena workshop.

A word of caution:
What I have read about this and past workshops has not been  always factually accurate and often lacking in spirit. We  interpret these things from our energetic view point which is often nothing to brag about. Never should workshop accounts be taken as the real thing. The intensity and paradoxical  nature of the sorcerers’ world deflects any attempts to pin it down.

1. Set and Setting

Workshop surroundings were nice and quiet due to the thanksgiving holidays. North Wind with clear skies charged the air.

Cleargreen managed the workshop professionally. Service and  security functioned well. Cleargreen persons were as usual always helpful when needed.

2. Participants

About 750 people participated in the workshop. As far as I was able to figure out the people came rather evenly from South and North America and Europe including Russia. I didn’t detect any blacks and only one Asian.

The most striking feature about the participants was that  there was nothing striking about them! The ages of the  participants ranged from 18 up to 60, maybe a bias to the age group 20 - 40, a couple of kids under 18. About equal numbers of the different sexes, probably rather even occupational distribution. They looked, felt, thought and behaved as a  standard normal human beings would. If pressed hard I could  admit grudgingly that there were a few proper tonals, maybe even a couple of beings with inner grace.

The superficial reasons for participating vary: search for love, need to be discovered, need to find answers to personal  VERY IMPORTANT questions, need to gather status by meeting  the famous Carlos Castaneda, curiosity, hope to gain some insights and power by rubbing against the sorcerers, need to find spiritual leader or mother or father figure. Some came  because they had to without knowing for sure why or they came  for learning the passes or just for listening. The obvious common denominator for everybody is that they have read of the books and  have been impressed by them.

I liked the general mood of the seminar which was relaxed and  to the point. I think that during the workshop most were able  to be less of the usual asshole and more the silent being who is going to die.

3. Passes

The passes were taught by two groups of six practitioners. The groups were male and female. I like them, they seem to be modest in the right way, proper tonals.

The first series taught, heat series, forges the luminosity  of the two separate sides of the body. The movements are not  very complex, but they can anyway be difficult to execute properly. One has to give everything to them, the mood has to  be of power and vigor, even positive aggressiveness. The mass of the participants and presence of the nagual facilitated the learning and proper execution of the passes tremendously. When I went home I noticed that it is altogether too easy to  fall into flimsy execution without much effort.

It is good advice to do the heat series sparingly as Carlos  wrote afterwards. I overdid them and ended up being over-energized to the point that I couldn’t sleep and I felt like continuously burning inside. Powerful stuff!

It is easy to fall into conducting the heat series as  physical exercises. For sure everybody noticed their muscular effects (where did those muscles pop into existence!) but the  abstract purpose - forging the two sides of the body - is their intent.

If I understood it right the instructions stressed that the  explosive energy for the strikes comes from the abdominal region in contrast to some other passes where the energetic  center is in the kidney region.

Although the heat series is done with great force I have not noticed any physical injurious effects. It was instructed  never to extend the arms fully during the strikes and never to do the passes obsessively. Relaxation and tension should alternate also in the crab strike where it is too easy to  tense shoulders continuously. Searing pain is for sure a sign  of wrong technique or over doing of the passes.

The primate series is one of the most fun passes. Many other passes are strange, dreamlike, impersonal and abstract but  the primate series delivers familiar feelings from our close  ancestors. Feels good!

The egg series is also fun. I can almost see that shining egg now.

The pass for the left side is rather complex especially for  persons whose kinesthetic memory is not well developed but with the help of my friends I was able to learn it. It is  true that it can give sad feelings but doing it more I have  learned to love it. It is silent, modest, abstract and  elegant. It is but it is not.

Two breaths and beginning of the series for tendon energy or energy center manipulation were taught.

I am not sure if it was the mass of the workshop, the nagual,  the passes, manipulation of the energy centers or what but I was able to enter into dreaming awake a couple of days after the seminar. Waves emanating from the left side and currents of  electricity running on the body and back of the scull  started during the seminar and culminated in a brief  cancellation of the learned interpretation system when I did the passes at some odd hour and place. The happy part was  that it happened so smoothly. I was dreaming awake in a most natural way! And after that - nothing. Carlos is right when he says we all see energy as it flows in the universe and that sorcery is actually very simple. But it takes time to perfect the transition and make it *intentional*. I suspect that it has to do with the fact that we would decay or be lost if we would stay in the second attention before we have  the required discipline, energy and sobriety.

I made the mistake of the old sorcerers when the left side started to wake up. Excruciating vigilance must be maintained from moment to moment to eliminate self congratulation,  heightened sense of self worth and greediness. The most one can  hope for is to witness the world outside ourselves. We are  truly nothing.

4. Sorcerers

Calumetto wrote that it is difficult to know what the  sorcerers are. The mind enters into a void when trying to describe them. They are genuinely paradoxical. Feelings  towards them tend to be also paradoxical and contradictory. I  am not attempting here to draw not even an approximate  picture of them because it will be impossible. I just  write without coherence some bits and pieces floating around.

Sorcerers are true artists. All of them are superb speakers. Maybe their verbal expressions could be compared to the Art of Fugue.

They are energetically stronger than anybody I have met and yet  vulnerable to the core.

The impression they give is massive silent energy on top of  which their personalities play freely.

Their energy is *very* intense and disconcerting. Next to  them I feel like a wet rag.

For me their mood was summed up by the statement that they only have their fight and the being who is going to die. They  will fight whatever the outcome and it is impossible to take  away the being who is going to die. In the final analysis freedom may be just a dream but the fight will remain to the end.

I have the impression that they give their everything during the seminars.

It is inconceivable that they wouldn't share the knowledge of the passes because there will be no lineage after them.  Carlos said that he thinks dJ as well as the whole lineage  before him got caught in tradition (the rule ?). The tradition  required tremendous secrecy about the magical passes. Go to the  elders and ask. And the elders say: No, no. That has changed now.

Carlos is physically small but his energy makes him massive. I imagine it is like a dense block of dark stone lying on its  side and extending to some distance off his physical body.

Lots of people say that Carlos is like dJ. How do they know?

Carlos said that all they can offer is work and discipline.

They said that shit tends to float to the surface at the presence of the sorcerers (I think this was in connection with some description of their experiences with dJ). I for sure felt my shit hitting the fan the instant Carlos started talking. And of course I got mad to the imp who dared to do  that to me

Carlos is charming. He is funny beyond belief (my diaphragm  still hurts). And he is not funny at all. He is scary because he doesn’t care to pretend to be concerned about your preciousness.

They are not here to hold our hands like mamas and papas.

My feeling is that they feel acutely responsible for the knowledge they are passing. So I think that they try to  smooth out the rough edges which could send people freaking out.

They attempt to bypass the (flyer) mind when speaking to us.

A better name for flyer is "cosmic prowler". The name Los  Voladores was inherited from the old sorcerers.

dJ forced them to do outrageous not-doings. They will  introduce more intelligent ones to us.

The discussion about the more esoteric subjects like dreaming doesn't lead very far. When the inner silence is attained dreaming and other things will emerge by themselves.

They have hoped that explaining things would help us arrive  into realization and make the jump. Obviously there has not  been much progress so in the future practical actions will be emphasized even more than before.

Taisha's pass demonstrated the intent of the sorcerers.  The pass exemplified in my mind dreaming and INFINITY. It was strangely familiar. Taisha stared into Infinity at the and of the pass and afterwards it was difficult for her  to start speaking once again.

Their acts create cognitive dissonance which destroys  internal dialogue.

When inner silence is attained anything is possible. The possibilities are endless, endless … (You should have *heard* how Carlos said this. Still gives me shivers.)

As a sorceric task Carlos had to take care of the three  witches. dJ said that to manage them is as difficult as  changing the chain of a chain saw while it is running.

Some people saw their eyes. Shivers

They are more human and non-human than anybody I have met before.

When Carlos realized what was happening to him he was already  cooking (follows a funny cannibal joke). dJ gave them no  choice but Carlos would like us to choose the sorcerers' world.

What sorcerers mean by power becomes evident at their  presence. Who has glimpsed the annihilating force in the  universe understands that there is no possibility to beg  favors. The only way to stand infinity is power.

Carol gave us a stupendous gift of power but how many were aware of it?

dJ said: "Trust only infinity."

5. Aftermath

The question which have been posed is: is it worth while going to the workshops? To imitate Carlos I would say that  this question can’t be answered meaningfully. Sorcery is not  an asset. You don’t count gains and losses on the warriors way.

I thank the sorcerers for a magnificent workshop.
   

To: alt.dreams.castaneda
Date: December 1996

Accounts of the Nov 29th - Dec 1st workshop that took place in Los Angeles (Pasadena), California.

The theme of the workshop was "The Two Bodies That Form A Human Being".

The workshop was organized by Cleargreen, Inc.

From "unimportant" (a.d.c); Sat Nov 30 1996:

CC was really funny tonight at workshop. One remarkable thing was that for several times he cricitized DJ and other sorcerer for being limited to reach certain people and even said that they were afraid of breaking their rules to do so... CC said there is no rules. And this is what he gonna do till he has time to reach as much as people as he can. This little guy (CC) is really astonishing......

From "mviismith" (a.d.c); Mon Dec 02 1996:

A few (very few!) people left the Workshop early, disappointed (their dignity was hurt, or, as one person said, "Carlos injured my soul!")

I couldn't even walk before the Westwood Workshop, and now after this Pasadena Workshop, I can run! Tensegrity is magical. And Carlos is for real.

From "cymediatek" (a.d.c); Tue Dec 03 1996:

It is hard to describe exactly how I felt when I heard CC and Taisha speaking of how, after all their impeccable attempts, they were finally being forced to consider that they "may not be able to give this knowledge to ANYONE after all". It felt like having my heart cut out. I felt shamed. Desperate. I felt ashamed, not only of myself, but of all of mankind. And personally I felt like the biggest fool on earth, because I should have been able to do something about it, and didn't.

And yet...the feeling of the energy which came at the crucial moment when Taisha gave us that final movement of power, in absolute silence before 800 people, and her appearance, that of an eagle in flight or "the great bird of the Tao", was so awe-inspiring that anything seemed yet attainable.

Hearing the quickly stifled tremor in the Blue Scouts voice when she read to us that part of CC's upcoming book (Memorable Events) having to do with his feelings upon the return of Carol Tiggs after her 10 year absence from this earth, we got another little glimpse of a warrior's affection.

Thirty minutes after Kylie's final accurate and timely warning to push on and not give in to the inner-dialog which was telling us all that we just couldn't take much more, the deafening sound of the applause, the WILD screaming, mad dancing, shaking, leaping and cavorting which capped that final grueling three hour session of Tensegrity gave a real taste of the vigor and optimism of a warrior's discipline to everyone there.

The impressive international flavor of the entire event made it seem even more new, alive, and of planetary significance, with translators for Spanish, Italian, and Russian speaking to around a hundred and fifty speakers of those languages wearing special headphones to receive the translations, all impeccably set up by the impeccable crew (as usual).

The thrill of finally being able to purchase Florinda's book, the Witch's Dream, long unavailable, and autographed! By the way, that book was published in 1985, ten years before Tensegrity workshops, two years before CC's the Power of Silence, and in it, Florinda states that she was a disciple of don Juan Matus. The foreword is by, who else...Carlos Castaneda, and in it he affirmed even then that Florinda was indeed part of the world of don Juan Matus. Of course, that should already be obvious to anyone with a bit of a clue...

The laughter, which followed Florinda's revelations of her not-doings in the raw, pasting dead insects on her breasts, chopping off her beautiful hair, and walking around imitating some old nanny with her butt sticking out, and Carol Tiggs doing a marvelous job of portraying someone getting really "high" on water, totally cut through the stuffy crap of the usual social facade.

And when Carol Tiggs concluded her antics, soberly returning the 800 participants to blanket inner silence, and all the warriors then mounted the stage together to give us that one final message, the combined energy, intent and affection of all of them at once staggered me, and melted my heart.

All in all, it was magic. Unforgettable.

From "cymediatek" (a.d.c); Fri Dec 06 1996:

Here is a short breakdown of the magical passes taught at the last workshop. They put stricter copyright on the printed material from the workshop this time, so I'm not going to post the actual lists of pass names verbatim.

A great many of the magical passes taught at the Pasadena workshop were designed to enhance tendon energy, particularly on the left side of the body. The passes taught were divided into several series.

"The Heat Series" was subdivided into two parts, the first part consisting of 13 movements, and the second part consisting of 11 movements.

"The Egg Series" consisted of 6 movements performed together as a separate unit.

"The Primate Series" consisted of another 5 movements performed together as a separate unit.

There was another series of passes called "five magical passes for the left side and two for the right". The 5 passes for the left side were all performed in complete silence, flowing one into the other, as a separate unit. The 2 passes for the right side were each separate passes, consisting of sequences of 5 movements performed as a unit, and 6 movements performed as a unit, respectively.

There were two series of passes which made use of some balls (ceramic?) about the size of ping pong balls, but solid and harder, which were referred to as "a device to enhance centers of awareness". The first series was called "passes for the tendons of the left arm", and consisted of 8 movements performed on the left arm, wherein we used the balls to vibrate or apply pressure to certain critical points. The second series was a sequence of 4 movements repeated twice, where in the first part we vibrated 4 key centers of energy, and in the second part we applied pressure to the same points.

Then finally we learned Taisha's special magical pass.

If we count passes as sequences of movements which are performed together as separate units, we learned a total of 32 magical passes. If we count the distinct individual movements we learned 68 (not counting warmups).

All of the movements were extraordinary, as usual.

In the final three hour Tensegrity session of the workshop, of which I spoke in a previous post, we did significant repetitions of all of the movements.

From "Peter Hill" (IML); Fri Dec 06 1996:

the workshop in brief emphasized the following points.......

1. the warrior's way is a pragmatic way and that is where they are placing the emphasis....

2. as such, the body is the tool which needs to be in optimum condition because "seeing " is a complete body phenomenan so DO the movements with that intent in mind but not obsessively or compulsively because that will break the body down (negative effects like tendonitis etc.)

3. watch out for the "ME" that creeps into everything, each of the 4 ' cc, ta, fd, ct all were given different premises for the warriors way (they each knew don juan as someone else i.e. john michael abelar.etc. ) and of course each one had the MOST important premise (ME) ....carol talked about how donjuan helped her to see how she thought her father handsome because "he looked like ME" ' self reflection is where our awareness is stuck so we need to transcend the "ME" in everything.

4. developing the body and writing "blank checks of affection" are the best ways to reduce the "me" and to bring our awareness to higher levels. don juan asked carlos if he was willing to take care of the women ' he readily agreed ' "i would be honored to"....dj replied he will be very difficult, you must not judge what they do and you must support them no matter where their paths go. carlos thought he would get to control them and tell them what to do but dj had taught them well and they were too powerful to be told what to do so writing a blank check of affection was very hard for carlos.....he told a story of a broken engagement and how much he "loved" her dj replied he did not love her because all he was thinking about was "ME"

5. the movements for the most part were simple, efficient and of corse were exercises in applying the philosophy of tensegrity which is to get your continuos tension members to relax and work effeciently (not fighting themselves like the bicep fighting the tricep) and the discontinuos compression members (tendon ligament sinews) to allow for quick smooth reversal from movement to movement and of course all joints should be slightly bent to avoid joint injury. also it is important to listen to your body because it will speak to you if you are silent enough to listen.

6. right body ' taxonomizing, structure ' interpretation driven, loves to describe and reproduce.....left body/energetic ' the travelor, time has no concern to it, sees, feels, knows.........the movement and ME reduction (with ensuing silence) will help it awaken and take it’' rightful place WITH the right body...carol talked briefley about how she had asked dj "don't you mean right side/left side? like the brain?" not the case......

7. notdoing promotes cognitive dissonance and will be the next seminar.....notdoing for one person can be doing for another.......for instance florinda walking around naked was notdoing because she was very attached to immpeccable dressing practises and how she appeared......one of the reasons carlos is ending the lineage is doing away with the traditions of the lineage which were harsh and can be accomplished through other means....tradition can become a trap.

that was BASICALLY it..........

From "Randy" (a.d.c); Fri Dec 06 1996:

One highlight that immediately pops out is seeing for the first time one of the Gang actually demonstrate a pass. Taisha, after a powerful lecture, showed us View From an Energetic Bridge. The pass resembles the flight of an eagle and as she performed it with incredible fluidity and strength the impression that she could take off and fly right out of the room was intense. She became an energetic eagle; you could see it in her eyes, in her being. The effect shocked my internal dialogue into a muttering silence. (The result of doing 'bird' passes is that an energetic window opens before you on the floor. Through that window one sees the 'view from an energetic bridge'.) After doing the pass several times, breaking it down into sections so we could remember it better, she said, "Enough talk," and left.

Carlos spoke at the beginning Friday afternoon, gave the lecture that evening, and the one the following morning. He said there was an energetic 'crisis' and that the Witches could not lecture till it resolved itself. He joked that until it did, we had him. His three talks were over an hour and a half each. He focused mainly on Flyers without once mentioning them by name. He's a scary little man, if indeed he's still human .

When long tall Taisha came on stage that Saturday evening to lecture, the crowd broke into a rousing and affectionate applause, a long ovation. She started out by saying that *we* had resolved the energetic situation. The intensive Tensegrity of the day had allowed us to gain energetic mass. She went on to talk about IBs and not-doing, ending with the Eagle pass.

The last two lectures were Sunday afternoon from 2 to 4pm. Florinda came up first and spoke for an hour. She told some hilarious stories about not-doings don Juan had suggested. One, from the not-doings of clothing, involved walking around naked (but not in public) with various bugs pasted to her tits. On a bad day she'd use only flies, she joked. On other days she'd use butterflies, beetles, etc. When don Juan suggested she tie tomatoes to her genital area, the spiffy dresser and good German girl was appalled. She never viewed clothing quite the same again.

When Florinda finished, Carol took the stage. I know it sounds corny, and my account does poor justice to these events, but Carol is a show-stopper if there ever was one. She came on dressed in black slacks and black low-heeled shoes, a black sweater with red plaid in front, and a black beret with a silver wave-shaped pin. Her close cropped black and slightly gray hair contrasted strangely with the beret. Her pale, perfectly smooth complexion make her look very young. She appears, in both looks and movement, to be in her early thirties ' spry, great at acting out different characters, funny as hell. But I can't seem to remember what she was talking about . . .

We didn't see Carlos again after his Saturday morning lecture. That afternoon the Blue Scout read another chapter from his work-in-progress, Memorable Events. The chapter, about Carol coming back, was very moving. Taisha lectured that evening, but Carlos was around in the tone and mood (question is, was he ever there? .

To summarize:

1. They are entering a new phase of how they present what they present lecture-wise. A more pragmatic phase. Instead of merely talking about sorceric subjects, they're going to focus more on discussing pragmatic things to do. The first of which are not-doings. Each of them spoke about not-doings in their lectures. The next workshop will be devoted to that subject. Now everyone can not-do a seminar!

2. The internal dialogue is a Flyer installation. Not-doings shock the internal dialogue into silence. That silence is an escape hatch from the Flyers. Such an escape is not easy. The Left and Right bodies must be balanced. Flyers are tenacious. The discipline needed to shake them is not a discipline we are accustomed to. Discipline by the mind is useless. The discipline needed is magical. It is the discipline of Intent.

3. Tensegrity is a not-doing which allows one to reclaim energy calcified on the outer portions of our luminous being and bring it back to vital energy centers in order to gain momentum for the task of throwing off that tick-tock, faster than a heartbeat, unnatural helicopter in our heads (the crown) . . . and thereby bring the sixth center back to its former, more fluid, circular motion.

(How's that for a sentence?)

Carol joked that she was going to demonstrate the not-doing of Tensegrity next time.

Ha!

Hope this finds you all well . . .

Warmly, Randy

From "unknown" (a.d.c); Fri Dec 06 1996:

Taisha said that Inorganic beings do not have a shell, though they do have a definite boundary. They are not amorphous, but are held together by the binding force of the universe. The same binding force that holds together the inorganic beings without the containment of a physical vessel exists within each of us. If we strengthen the binding force enough to hold ourselves together, we can live as energy beings without physical bodies. Awareness in this configuration can be sustained for millions of years.

Dreamers move their Assemblage Points to the realm of the inorganics without necessarily becoming inorganic, and IBs come through the hatch into our world without becoming organic. Don Juan was trying to drum into his apprentices the perils of making deals with beings in possession of a vastly greater consciousness than themselves. Taisha says that don Juan told them not to trust other sorcerers or inorganic beings. Only trust Infinity, he told them.

To: nagual.net/ubbs
Date: Sat, 31 January 1998, at 5:27 pm CST

The Eagle

TAISHA'S PASADENA PASS:

1. Start with the legs straight, feet close together, arms at the sides, elbows slightly bent.

2. Relax arms, shake out hands as if ruffling feathers, then flex hands tightly into the shape of talons -- fingers bent at the first and second joints, thumb bent and tucked in, palm flat. (Talons are maintained till the end of the pass.)

3. Simultaneously swing arms out horizontally at shoulder level to a position where the right arm is 45 degrees from center to the left front side of the body and the left arm is in line with it to the right back side of the body, twisting the torso as needed.

During this movement rise up slightly with the feet, then dip down till the knees are bent into a standard Tensegrity posture (this stance is maintained till the last part of the pass). The face and knees remain pointing forward throughout.

4. Swing the arms around clockwise (horizontally) till the left arm is 45 degrees from center to the right front side of the body and the right arm is in line with it to the left back side of the body.

5. In one smooth motion, swivel the arms back around horizontally and let first the right arm and then, reversing direction, the left arm dip gracefully down and around describing a broad open-ended infinity symbol (sideways figure 8) in front of the body, the open end being on the side whose arm is describing the movement.

This alternating sequence of movements should be very flowing. At the end of the left arm's infinity symbol, return to the position of step number 3, following through with the natural momentum of the movement in a counter-clockwise direction.

6. Swivel the arms clockwise till they are straight out to the sides (body facing forward).

7. Move the arms in 3 small forward circles, then 3 larger forward circles, using more of the shoulders in the movement (winging forward).

8. Bring arms back out to the sides and do 9 small forward circles.

9. On the ninth circle, gracefully swing the hands up, shoulder-width apart away from the body to the front, and claw down, talons/palms facing forward, till the arms swing down and back a few inches behind the body at butt level, talons facing back.

10. Straighten up the torso AND LEGS while pushing out the chest, raising up the chin, and pulling back the shoulders. Hold for a moment, keeping arms and  talons tense.

(This strengthens the 'cloak of confidence', the bar across the chest which is used as a shield.)

11. Relax talons, opening the hands, and let arms slowly move back to the sides as the rest of the body also relaxes.