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SPIRIT
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Sacred
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Sacred Masculine
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The 36 pages in this Sacred Feminine & Sacred Masculine
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Castaneda
By Northernwolf
I was perusing Paulo Coelho's website
like I do from time to time and came upon this again. It’s
about a couple of things Castaneda said and I found in hindsight
that it’s was a very masculine approach to learning so
I thought I’d share here. I don’t necessarily abide
by everything written here nor comprehend it but it is a different
view.
http://www.warrioroftheli...om/engl/edi173_roda.shtml In
the wheel of time
I had proposed to publish here, once
a year, texts by Carlos Castañeda, an anthropologist
who influenced my generation with his tales of meetings with
Mexican sorcerers. For lack of space, I have not done so since
2004. Today I woke up thinking: Castañeda, despite all
his critics and all his work that later on seemed so disorderly
to me, should not be forgotten. So here we present some of his
reflections.
Intention is the important thing:
for the old sorcerers of Mexico, intention (intento) is a force
that intervenes in all aspects of time and space. To be able
to use and manipulate this force calls for impeccable behavior.
A warrior's final goal is to be able to lift his head above
the rut where he is confined, look around him, and change what
he wants. To do so he needs to have discipline and pay attention
all the time.
Nothing is easy: nothing in this
world is given as a present: everything has to be learned with
a great deal of effort. A man who seeks knowledge must have
the same behavior as a soldier going to war: absolutely attentive,
afraid, respectful and utterly confident. If he follows these
recommendations, he may lose the odd battle but he will never
cry over his fate.
Fear is natural: fear of the freedom
that knowledge brings us is absolutely natural; however, no
matter how terrible the apprenticeship may be, it is worse to
live without wisdom.
Irritation is unnecessary: becoming
irritated with others means giving them the power to interfere
in our lives. It is imperative to overcome this feeling. By
no means should the acts of others distract us from our only
alternative in life: coming in touch with the infinite.
The end is an ally: when things begin
to get confused, a warrior thinks about his death and immediately
his spirit returns to him. Death is everywhere. Think of the
headlights of a car following us along a winding road; sometimes
we lose sight of it, sometimes it appears to be too close, sometimes
the headlights go out. But this imaginary car never stops (and
one day catches up with us). The very idea of death gives men
the necessary detachment to go ahead despite all their tribulations.
A man who knows that death is approaching every day tries everything,
but without feeling anxiety.
The present is unique: a warrior
knows how to wait, because he knows what he is waiting for.
And while he waits, he wants nothing, and in this way anything
he receives - however small - is a blessing. The common man
worries too much about loving others, or being loved by them.
A
warrior knows what he wants - that
is all in his life and that is where he concentrates all his
energy. The common man spends the present acting as winner or
loser, and depending on the results he becomes persecutor or
victim. The warrior, on the other hand, worries only about his
acts, which will lead him to the objective he has traced for
himself.
Intention is transparent: intention
(intento) is not a thought, nor an object, nor a desire. It
is what makes a man triumph in his objectives and lifts him
up from the ground even when he has delivered himself up to
defeat. Intention is stronger than man.
It is always the last battle: the
warrior's spirit does not complain about anything, because he
was not born to win or lose. He was born to fight, and each
battle is the last that he is waging on the face of the Earth.
That is why the warrior always leaves his spirit free, and when
he gives himself to combat, knowing that his intention is transparent,
he laughs and enjoys himself.
CinnamonMoon:
Thank you for sharing this,
Northernwolf. I hope you'll share some of your thoughts too,
pro and con. Being a woman and more attuned to the North American
ways, my perspectives are going to be different than a man's
would be, or even others. I'm familiar with Castaneda's work
though, and have read his entire series of books. So I'd rather
stand back and see what our community thinks before making comments
about my observations.
Northernwolf:
Actually I only read one
of his books. So I don't have that broad of a perspective on
this. It’s just when I came upon this it made me think
with all the warrior talk that it seemed to fit the masculine
approach. I really don't have a lot of thought on Castaneda's
work itself since I found it rather confusing. Maybe I was looking
at it too literally and not as a metaphorical perspective. It’s
too bad though, in a conversation I had with my mom recently
a facet of the masculine way of learning dawned on me so clearly.
I’m not sure I remember. I have something in mind but I’m
not certain that it is it. It was so simple. In a way it has
to do with the school of hard knocks. Although I think those
kind of lessons, shadows lessons, are found in both ways of
learning I think that the way it is expressed varies. I’ll
use a personal example. I realized that when I feel in a rut
I have a tendency to rebel and be a self-saboteur in a way.
In those instances it seems that I just have to see how far
I can go before I get a slap on the nose (and that any consequence
be them benign or negative will at least spur things into motion).
That slap on the nose then works as a wakeup call and puts things
back on track. Now could that slap have been avoided? Sure.
Could I have seen it coming? Absolutely. Was I aware of the
direction things were going? Of course. The slap was the 2 in
the 1 +1 = 2 direction I was going in. (After rereading this,
for the first time I think I’m seeing coyote at work in
this.) So we have established that I was aware of that. I knew
what I should be doing to get out of that
rut. But maybe not how to go about
it come to think of it. Where to start, the big how to. Then
why did I do it knowing that in the end its going to come back
and bite me? Maybe I didn’t care? But I don't think that’s
it. What I think was happening in all of that is that I had
to see it for myself. I needed the slap. I needed to know what
brought on that slap, live it and in hindsight see what had
happened. Learn to recognize the pattern to better avoid it
in the future. Its twice that this situation happened to me.
Twice I got the same ( similar )slap in the same context. hope
there won’t be a third lol. But I digress. So that living
part, that outwardly experiencing a situation to gain understanding.
If that is not text book description of masculine medicine I
don't know what is lol. That came as a pretty weird notion to
me since I always thought that I had a more feminine approach
to learning, a stronger feminine side, more introspective. Now
I’m starting to think, that I can go a good part of the
way with introspection and such but I need to put myself in
it for it to sink in, because if I don't it just stays as thoughts
and concepts to be mulled over and over again ( something I
do very well btw lol ... the mulling over and over ). I’d
venture to say that it’s the experience that anchors the
notions behind the lesson.
mm that’s about it for now.
I reread myself and the inspiration is gone now. Guess I said
the core of what needed to be said anyways.
Wynsong:
I'm glad you wrote that
out too, Northernwolf. What your wrote also echoes the Taoist
version of warrior. I'm still working through the masculine
and feminine (with large breaks to recover), and I never read
Castaneda either, although I have most of his books here. Maybe
I'll get some of them out this week.
Mouse:
I am currently reading
Don Miguel Ruiz's Four Agreements, which are largely based on
Castaneda. I'm very much enjoying it.
Wynsong:
That would explain why
it all seems so familiar...I love Don Miguel Ruiz's books, and
have read all of his stuff.
Thanks Mouse for saying that.
Northernwolf:
I have no idea who Don
Miguel Ruiz's is. but I’m glad that some of my musing as
stirred interest. I wrote that today after centering and meditating
for the first time last night in what as seem a very long time.
I can’t believe the difference it made. I had been feeling
so ill all week and today I was actually feeling ok. It surprised
me once more how all of that can do the body good. It had been
a long time since I reconnected to that... although that doesn’t
have anything to do with this topic lol Come to think of it
Wynsong, I’d be interested in that Taoism warrior you were
talking about. If you feel like sharing that is.
CinnamonMoon:
If memory serves correctly,
Don Miguel Ruiz was a direct student of Carlos Castaneda.
Wynsong:
There is a Grand Master
in Boston. His name is Alex Antole and he wrote a book called
The Truth of Tao. It is a very 'masculine' based look at Taoism.
I took a course from him in New York State, and was quite impressed
by his presence. It was organized by a Taoist monk I had studied
with in the path I took, who crosses many ethnic paths and is
accomplished in ways I cannot describe, but into whose hands
I put myself when I was diagnosed with cancer. The marital aspect
of living life is the general theme behind not having to fight.
CinnamonMoon:
Northernwolf,
Whether you're well read on Castaneda or not, it's good the
insight came and brought you the curiosity to explore because
it does have you looking at things and putting your pieces together.
If we can see our own unique learning patterns we're all the
better for it and I know what it is to Dance with Coyote. LOL
I'm glad you're delving into things though, and if you've perceived
heavier with the feminine side of things until now this is likely
why you're looking at it from the more masculine side. It will
give you a more balanced perspective and that's what the energy
we're dealing with right now is calling for. Whether we're a
man or woman doesn't matter, we have a bit of both inside us
and it is time to understand how we walk with them more intimately
so we can restore our own center of balance and create a 'whole
us' instead of one or the other dominating. In this light perhaps
you can see that the duality of the two within us creates the
one....the trinity is the One in union with the two.
Traditionally
the masculine approach is more physical and experiential which
is a masculine comfort zone. The externals as you've mentioned.
The physical world is full of masculine energy but it's time
for both to walk in harmony so we're each a part of that process.
Part of the process includes bringing up what's inside us and
looking at it, raising our Self (which is the Inner Spirit and
neither male nor female) to conscious awareness and consciously
walking with that in balance too. Our awareness is evolving
according to where we're standing on our paths and more and
more people are coming to 'wake' to that in whatever degrees
they need to and can hold. Our awareness comes in layers too.
*Soft smile* Evidently it's time for you to do some personal
questing with this. I encourage you to explore your thoughts
and share what you can. I think it's a fascinating discussion
for our members.
In a way
it has to do with the school of hard knocks. Although I think
those kind of lessons, shadows lessons , are found in both ways
of learning I think that the way it is expressed varies.
Oh yes,
I agree 100%.
“I’ll
use a personal example. I realized that when I feel in a rut
I have a tendency to rebel and be a self-saboteur in a way.
In those instances it seems that I just have to see how far
I can go before I get a slap on the nose (and that any consequence
be them benign or negative will at least spur things into motion).
That slap on the nose then works as a wakeup call and puts things
back on track. Now could that slap have been avoided? Sure.
Could I have seen it coming? Absolutely. Was I aware of the
direction things were going? Of course. The slap was the 2 in
the 1 +1 = 2 direction I was going in. (After rereading this,
for the first time I think I’m seeing
coyote
at work in this.) Nods. I think we all have our own 1+1=2. When
we don't 'get it' by observing or listening we will by experience.
It's a law of nature.
So we have
established that I was aware of that. I knew what I should be
doing to get out of that rut. But maybe not how to go about
it come to think of it. Where to start, the big how to. But
in seeing the pattern here for yourself you can now trigger
with it when it hits and better handle the 'how to' portion.
That's a breakthrough in itself.
Then why
did I do it knowing that in the end its going to come back and
bite me? Maybe I didn’t care? But I don't think that’s
it. What I think was happening in all of that is that I had
to see it for myself. I needed the slap. I needed to know what
brought on that slap, live it and in hindsight see what had
happened. Learn to recognize the pattern to better avoid it
in the future. Its twice that this situation happened to me.
Twice I got the same ( similar )slap in the same context. Hope
there won’t be a third lol. But I digress.”
There you
go! (And I hope twice was enough for you too. *Soft smile*)
“So
that living part, that outwardly experiencing a situation to
gain understanding. If that is not text book description of
masculine medicine I don't know what is lol.”
Absolutely.
The masculine way of learning had to touch the tangible first
and then it registers internally as a reality. The feminine
way of learning touches the intangible first and then takes
it out into the world to make it a reality. Then both need to
be balanced so we come from opposite directions to get to the
same center and since you've already got a solid understanding
of the feminine the timing for the masculine approach being
studied seems very important and in keeping with the evolutionary
energies at play right now. *Soft smile*
“That
came as a pretty weird notion to me since I always thought that
I had a more feminine approach to learning, a stronger feminine
side, more introspective. Now I’m starting to think, that
I can go a good part of the way with introspection and such
but I need to put myself in it for it to sink in, because if
I don't it just stays as thoughts and concepts to be mulled
over and over again ( something I do very well btw lol ... the
mulling over and over ). Id venture to say that it’s the
experience that anchors the notions behind the lesson.”
Absolutely!
And for a woman it's natural to take the introspective portion
out into the world and manifest with it...to act on it based
on what our senses and feelings are telling us. For a man it's
more natural to touch and experience and then bring it back
into himself to own it. Women own their sensory impressions
naturally, we don't have to mull them over, we Know what they're
telling us. If we start to mull we get into internal arguments
(senses and mind) we know are ridiculous and will sooner or
later come back to bite us...as you've experienced...if we don't
heed our nudges or warnings. I know that happens to me every
time. Men naturally tend to see that unless you can touch it
or experience it physically it's ridiculous to embrace it--yet.
They'll explore to find out if their hypothesis or inspiration
will physically work or truly exists before they accept the
reality beyond just interesting thoughts or mental exercises...but
until it's tangible they do tend to hold off embracing.
You have
fortunately had a lot of the feminine approach experiences from
different sources for years and that predominance is likely
going to help you embrace the masculine approach more now. I
had to come at my training through the masculine ways for many
years before the women's ways came to open up more for me. I
had my own feminine methods that I was used to, I worked from
that perspective naturally in the first place, but the teachings
challenged me along masculine lines, I needed to learn to use
my masculine side and be willing to take on the warrior within
me to do it. I reeled at those teachings at first, they seemed
like the long way around to get where I was going but they also
taught me how to bring the spiritual into manifest form and
summon greater strength in the work I did. Now I walk in harmony
between the two...right hand and left hand do know what the
other is doing. I'm hoping in your case it's much easier and
faster for you since it should be the gender that you relate
to in these teachings.
Castaneda
might be a bit of a challenge since his work is fear and death
based to keep the sharp edge, and with the foundation you already
have I just don't see where that would be necessary to raise
your awareness. It's a more primitive way of teaching IMHO (and
my memories are coming from the 60’s with this back when
I read his works). While the truths remain universal they are
evolving to the time we live in now. Castaneda is very controversial
and it was largely based on hallucinogenic lessons with a lot
of speculation that what he wrote about never really happened.
It’s not that mescal and peyote don't serve under proper
use and guidance, but they aren't necessary and they can alter
impressions as well as open us to things. He had some pretty
wild journeys. I wish you a much gentler time with this, my
friend. I also think that you can find better suited sources
of men's teachings for yourself. Have you read any of the Black
Elk, Lame Deer, Fools Crow, Kenneth Meadows material? They're
some that come to me off the top of my head, but there are many
others out there today that have their teachings in written
form. I wish you the best with this, Northernwolf!
Personally
I didn’t care for Castaneda’s work, I felt that he
took a very difficult path to reach his understanding and that
it was fear-based teachings. I also believe there are much gentler
means of keeping ourselves aware than Death stalking us like
a predator. Perhaps that’s because I walk the Path of the
Feather myself, maybe a bit of the feminine side too, but this
seemed to be a very convoluted path to enlightenment to me
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Libraries
are on this row
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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©
Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon (Founders.)
2000-date
All rights reserved.
Site
constructed by Dragonfly
Dezignz 1998-date
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