Teachings of Don Juan

[TruthSeeker]

I have been reading the books from Carlos Castaneda. He was taught by a shaman named Don Juan.

In the first book of the series, "teachings of don juan",

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671600419/sr=8-1/qid=1141543619/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7917769-0736928?%5Fencoding=UTF8

He talked about about mescaline cactus (don juan told him not to call it peyote).

After reading the material, I'm interested in at least trying the experience more for a spiritual experience than anything.

My Background:
I've been relatively drug free my whole life with only a few exceptions. I take adderall (four amphetamines) for my ADD (2 x 20mg daily). I also take wellbutrin (200mg daily) also for ADD. I have only been taking these for about a year now.

I have also heard good spiritual experiences with Ayahuasca from "broadband learning channel" (www.bblc.tv) under "the human soul".

I live in the mid-west, in the US. From what I know, legally I'm not able possess or ingest peyote or Ayahuasca.

Anyone recommend something that would work for me?

thanks!

[enquirewithin]

I'm not sure that you find that much truth in Catseneda's books. They are pretty much fiction, although they may have basis in fact.

If you Google enough, you can find sources for varous mesacline cacti, even peyote, but the policy of this bulletin board is that we don't discuss sources outside of a restricted forum.

Peruvian torch cacti are the most common-- sold in dried form, extract form or as live cacti.

Ayahuasca is much discussed on the web, for example, http://forums.ayahuasca.com/. Using Google will reveal places where you can buy the ingredients legally, but the main drug involved, DMT, is in itself illegal.

Try the search engine here for either!

I am not sure about the ineractions between amphetamines and psychedelics. The combination won't do any physical harm but could be uncomfortable

[armatitumor]

There are some mescaline-containing cacti that are legal in the US. SWIM has some experience with Peruvian Torch (T. Peruvianus) himself, and it's good, though kind of hard to choke down. San Pedro (T. Pachanoi) is also legal and has a relatively high mescaline content. Both are not explicitly illegal to possess, though they technically contained a controlled substance. SWIM has had no trouble ordering T. Peruvianus.

SWIM has no experience with Ayahuasca, but has found mescaline to be a fulfilling and profound experience. So my advice is go for it! Be careful and have fun.

[TruthSeeker]

Hi guys. thanks. I appreciate it.

Who or what is SWIM? I've seen this word several times, yet have no idea what it is. Is it the person who hosts this web?

Thanks again.

[radiometer]

SWIM is someone who isn't me (and someone who isn't you also) and he does all sorts of interesting things that we as law-abiding citizens would never consider.

Castaneda's books are great, but they have been pretty much proved to be fiction in at least some respects.

Reputation Comments on this post:

calm informative explination of swim .... most of use lose our temper answering this over and over again. kudos! ~pinkav...

[Pinkavvy]

castanedas books are great works of fiction, a must read. if there was a list of authors everybody should read, he would be near the top.

[lojzarb]

Amazing series. How far are you in the series? I think it's pretty much fiction, except there are definitely lessons to be learned. Whether it is fiction or not, we will never know, but hey, it could very well be the truth. If you cannot get ahold of some peyote or other mescaline containing cacti, try mushrooms. If you are in the right mindset it can be a very spiritual journey. Those are also mentioned in some of the books, in a smoking mixture. However it's pretty impractical to smoke mushrooms, considering one dose is 2-3g typically, and that would be a hell of a lot to smoke, especially since i the smoke is probably very unpleasant.

Yeah, I went on sort of a tangent there...

[lojzarb]

Sorry for the double post... looking back on that post swim thinks it was nonsense...

SWIM is pretty blazed right now

[Barebonejoe]

I just finished "The Teachings of Don Juan" a few days ago. If you're interested more in learning about shamanism, I would suggest something like "The Way of the Shaman" - it's much more comprehensive and actually written by an anthropoligist who became a shaman. There's even a quote on the back of Casteneda saying "This guy really knows his stuff..."

But, for a book dealing with life lessons and what not, I agree that Castaneda seems like a great ally. p

[TruthSeeker]

yes, many times I judge a tree by its fruit, no by if its fiction or not...for example, there is a new documentary that is trying to prove Jesus Christ himself is a myth and never really existed. What everyone seems to ignore is the message of the story. The message I'm referring to is not of a man hanging on a cross, but just he idea of a man who is willing to lay down his life for strangers. We have many others in history who have done similar things. Albert Einstein once said about Ghandi: "Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood". I am not making any argument nor attempting to convince anyone of anything...just throwing in my loose change.