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The Active Side
of Infinity:
ISBN
9789163990779, Paperback 92 pages. More
than 50 years after Carlos Castaneda’s first book and 20 years after his
death the interest in his legacy is growing. The 12 books on his
apprenticeship with the Yaqui sorcerer Juan Matus
contain fabulous stories but most of all an abundance of shamanic wisdom.
According to Jörgen I Eriksson, who has worked in the
Nordic shamanic tradition for 40 years, Castaneda’s works represent deep shamanism from which present-day
students of shamanism has much to learn. But it is necessary to keep
Castaneda at arm’s length. In this book Eriksson tries to extract the very
best of Castaneda and in a way liberate Castaneda from Castaneda. Although
Castaneda himself always refused to be described as a shaman I don’t hesitate about categorizing him
in that way, especially when considering the impact that his books have had
and still have. He was not working as a healer but he fulfilled and developed
other aspects of the shaman’s traditional role, foremost as a spiritual
inspirer and wisdom keeper. Furthermore he had a special way of writing that
in itself can be characterized as shamanic. Reading
Castaneda is mind expanding; the reading in itself might induce an altered
state of consciousness. Castaneda didn’t write about shamanism, he wrote
shamanism. When
entering Castaneda’s world a certain precaution and a critical distance is
recommendable and my book is an attempt at de-mystifying and de-dramatizing
Castaneda, putting him into a comprehensive shamanic context. The books in
their entirety however contain fantastic life wisdom and many possible
entrances to shamanism and Dreamtime. Every new reading seems to open up new
perspectives into an almost inexhaustible source. We owe Castaneda many
thanks for making this magnificent path of knowledge available to the world.
From a plain literary perspective Castaneda does fit well into the Latin
American magical realism as one of its most enthralling authors. My
book is a textual analysis of Castaneda based on my own experiences of 40
years of shamanic work in the Nordic tradition. My ambition is to provide a
guide into Castaneda’s authorship that offers a grand adventure to the
patient reader. My hope is that it might work as a manual and a guide to some
of the gateways into Dreamtime. This
book can be ordered by e-mail and will cost US $30, £20
or 25 Euros (postage included); within Sweden 160 SEK. When
ordering the book, be sure to include your postal address. When confirming
the order I will bill you via PayPal (or the banking SWIFT-system). It
is also possible to order the book from Amazon or the Swedish web
sites Adlibris and Bokus.
My
book on Rune Magic is also available in English: Rune Magic and Shamanism – Original Nordic Knowledge from Mother
Earth. You can find more information here. |
