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Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer, 2004. A film by Ralph Torjan. 91 min. Color. Distributed by Indican Pictures, 8424A Santa Monica Blvd. #752, West Hollywood, CA 90069; Phone (323) 650-0832.http://www.indicanpictures.com.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I am not particularly familiar with the work of Carlos Castaneda. I only read his first book, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (1985) (in which "Carlos" meets his allegedly Yaqui mentor, who introduces him to the startling world of non-ordinary reality), and that was as a twenty year old, like everyone else, stoned on the beach at Zipolite. The book didn't leave much of an impression. However, as I have worked in Mexico's Sierra Mazateca region, where the inhabitants still ritually ingest hallucinogenic mushrooms, I have become aware of the power of the fantasy that Castaneda's work and life hold for people, as I receive at least one email every month soliciting my help from an earnest seeker searching his or her own personal Don Juan.
This film by Ralph Torjan, a former member of Castaneda's community, attempts to address the controversial and secretive life of Castaneda, who died in 1998 at the age of 72, when he was still revered as a quasi-divine being by some of his former acolytes. The film largely ignores the questions that obsessed anthropologists during Castaneda's heyday in the 19705-Is this a valid...