Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico

It has been 30 years since Castaneda published The Teachings of Don Juan, the first volume of his continuing story of his extraordinary apprenticeship to a Yaqui Indian sorcerer. In the eight books that followed, Castaneda maintained secrecy about many of the practices he was taught. Here, however, he lifts the veil on aspects of a tradition that he claims reaches back 27 generations, revealing a set of physical movements, called ""magical passes,"" allegedly discovered by shamans of ancient Mexico. The purpose of the movements is to ""agitate"" and ""redeploy"" stuck energy fields within the body, inducing ""inner silence,"" a ""heightened awareness"" and ""an optimal state of being."" Castaneda has adapted these movements into his own modern version, which he calls ""tensegrity,"" a combination of the words tension and integrity, ""the two driving forces of the magical passes."" These postures and movements deal with issues including intent, ""recapitulation"" (remembering all one's life experiences), decision-making, dreaming, left- and right-body integration (similar to current views of left- and right-brain processes) and ""masculine,"" or aggressive, energies. All of the movements are clearly illustrated through 486 halftones, but some if not most may be difficult to achieve without personal instruction. They do, however, seem to offer the possibility of offering a unique new path to opening the perceptions and releasing energy in the body. (Feb.)