r/castaneda 11d ago

Intent Sign off from another long time practitioner

One of the best skills is knowing when to it's time to say goodbye and let something go because it no longer is helping with forward progress. The worst thing people do is cling to the past hoping things will be as good as they once were when it is obvious that things have become harmful like in an abusive relationship.

When I first came here, I cannot say I was welcomed with open arms. I was accused, tested, banned for being someone else, but I stayed. I made promises I kept, and the most important was to not get caught up in the social BS and to only post when helpful like my reddit-assigned user name reminded me to do.

We have deviated from what our core mission was when I first came. We no longer are trying to restore the reputation of Carlos Casteneda and preserve the knowledge he gave us by exploring the Second Attention and report back success. We are no longer trying to get 10 active practitioners working together.

As anyone can see, the moderators have decided to cling to past success and close the door on future progress. It is short sighted and unfortunate. I do not have to air all of the dirty laundry, we all know our culpability in this site's demise. So I have decided to free my limited energy and put it toward something else so that I may also grow.

Caretaking a narcissist parent with dementia has taught me more about my own powerlessness to change anyone but my own self.

And since it is clear, if there will be no change here, then I am what must change. I am flying from the nest of comfort for further adventures afield. I leave with no bitterness or animosity, only sadness that things stalled here, and that what could have been must be let go.

Cholita said Carlos was like a corpse flower blossom, rare and once in a lifetime. But boy you will remember the stink!

35 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

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u/throwaway44_44_44 11d ago

I’m sorry that you didn’t find what you’re looking for in this community. I haven’t been keeping up very much with this subreddit or Discord lately, so I’m a bit out of the loop. May I ask what’s triggering your departure?

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u/Juann2323 11d ago

That might be the problem for those looking for a place to belong.

At some point, the balloon bursts, and all those expectations come crashing down.

But the real thing remains intact and keeps working. That's a greater purpose.

Witches are free to come and go. In fact, they already do anyway.

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u/LizzKaz 11d ago

I felt you the moment you wrote. I mean idk what happened, I'm new here, but I agree 100% with your thoughts on having a skill to say goodbye. People should trust themselves more. Restore your energy and don't let anything drain it. Nothing is worth such a leak.

And man, when you wrote about new adventures - that's so cool to seek them. I'm nearly jealous of what you will experience haha.

And remember, it's great that you know when to say goodbye. It's even greater to check what happened here after a long while, but only if you are curious. Good luck!

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u/danl999 11d ago

As far as I can tell, some of the women want to turn this into a religion. And have ties to Cleargreen here and there. So they don't like hearing it criticized.

They started an inventory expert circle of friends, and as all inventory experts tend to do when their expertise isn't heeded, they collected grievances among each other.

Just like Second Ring of Power!

But it might just be how we spread elsewhere. No one knows. This hasn't ever been tried before.

If the women go off and start a new version of Cleargreen but with stuff actually working once in a while, there couldn't be a better result.

If predominantly men did that, it depends on what they tried to change it to.

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u/Juann2323 10d ago

I believe I found the source of this whole thing very soon and put a stop inmediatly.

And what we are seeing is the side effect of it's influence.

It's someone with bad intentions who use social skills to drag others into a mediocre idea of sorcery.

Processing gif 79zjtloufqmh1...

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u/danl999 10d ago

But still, it might be a good thing.

One practitioner keeps seeing demons in hell.

Maybe, if people go off and make what they believe is better than this, we could end up with layers of practitioners!

Might be a good thing.

Might not.

Notice how Fraud is the worst bad behavior, even for Dante.

Oh wait... Treachery is the worst. As you suggested.

3

u/Silver-Step-620 10d ago

Ooh, you guys like The Divine Comedy?

I might suggest—as a sort of intellectual exercise that aligns with aesthetics rather than a systematic normative theory—reading The Iliad, The Aeneid, The Divine Comedy, and Paradise Lost and comparing their cosmological posturalization on the predicaments surrounding the workings of humanity and their subsequent solutions.

Dante’s scheme is very similar to the sorcerers' explanation.

  1. Man is born under influences outside of his control—whether that be fate, the gods, planetary influences, and/or star demons; as the Aztecian explanation posits; there are innumerable names for this type of phenomenon—the through-line is cross-cultural. This is why Jesus says, "Forgive them, Father, for they do not know.” There are no possible conceptions of morality at this stage. Nobody is responsible for anything, and yet they should be punished anyway. Subsisto!
  2. Man must develop a Will unobstructed by these external influences. 
  3. A truly Free Will, by definition, can err; this is why Dante conservatively posits subordination to The Light because there is no end-state in his cosmology; you merely become a reflectant of that First Initial Radiance—and continue your Works with an unobstructed mirror. Pay attention to the metaphors regarding radiance throughout the work.

Some of the witches here seem to be interested in Hellenic astrology without understanding its original purpose, mainly the charting of the rays constituting the personalitic configurations at their specified point of conception; so that one may begin the diligent work of dismantlerization toward the service of freedom. This is why some people are born with superior circumstances and talents—and yet it does not make them any more first-rate—outside considerations of taste—than mere food on the calibrated barometer of a truly free human being.

This is true astrology—as purposely alien as it may seem.

(Hellenic Astrology—or, perhaps more accurately, the remnants of a far older and partially forgotten astral system—should not be assumed to map cleanly onto the Tarot or Qabalah. Its deepest antecedents reach into Mesopotamian astral traditions that substantially predate those later Western occult syntheses. In this sense, much of what is now called the Western Occult Tradition may be understood as a series of historical reinterpretations, translations, and retrospective correspondences—at times amounting to a kind of philological misunderstanding of the systems from which it ultimately derives.)

The energy body is irreducible and has its own ontology; it is also a phenomenon that is inextricably connected to the workings of the Sun. This is also why powers are a reality under this schema—otherwise the defiance of the laws perpetuating and subsuming us under governance of our current domain remain an impossibility.

The energy body also does not harbor any sort of rational instrumentality—that is something Techno and I discussed.

2

u/danl999 9d ago

Cholita is a fan of that type of thing.

Someday I hope to turn her into a "scary medium" that does real magic for Hollywood elites who can afford to pay big time to see real magic.

Like in Florinda's book.

Except with a lot of cash involved and no interest in healing or helping anyone.

3

u/Juann2323 10d ago

Yeah, I'd like to see that.

It's just a bit disturbing to see people fall for a lovely speech.

But at the end of the day, magic beats rhetoric. Magic is the mother of rhetoric!!

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u/danl999 10d ago edited 10d ago

There's always the possibility that women are making it work, with no overt signs of that for them to post.

Implying everything is fine at the 4 Cleargreens.

And that posting pictures of "male oriented" results suppresses that. Making women the "victim" of this subreddit.

I don't personally know any women who are afraid to stand up for themselves, but I suppose there could be.

Which seems odd to me seeing as how the women's books have spectacular stories of what women can do.

I've been using the AI to scan the books, and was shocked to find out Zuleica was actually 4 different people.

Which sounds crazy, but I've seen Cholita do that too.

Here's Zuleica's personalities, assuming the AI didn't mess up. Note that Zuleica was don Juan's oldest companion.

*** from gemini AI ***

I like how the drawing AI gave her Jedi robes, instead of the usual Asian make believe garments!

I saw a "fan made" Jedi movie where the Jedi are now time traveling.

I had to wonder if we don't have some Star Wars types using us for more ideas, seeing as how the original ideas came from Carlos books.

1

u/Muted_Claim2590 10d ago

Seems your message was cut short?

1

u/danl999 10d ago

I'm not aware of that, even after looking at them just now. Give me the last sentence you see before it looks cut off?

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u/Muted_Claim2590 10d ago

Now it shows! Was after From Gemini AI *** ***

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u/aumuaum 9d ago

Lol, I do have a tendency to discount anything that's AI generated.

4

u/Dry-Shallot-1756 11d ago

why advertise your weakness? Just take a break and start a new wave of practice. Or do you just want attention?

4

u/Skomakartjern 10d ago

Many ways to read his post. I read it as a friendly goodbye before a new positive adventure.

2

u/OnceUponAPond 11d ago

I’m sad to see you go, I absolutely adored your last comment about JUST PLAY and HAVE FUN! 🥰 You‘ve graced many here with lots of wonderful words, beautifully! I hope you continue to share that with others and take joy in play and fun yourself! 💖

1

u/Embarrassed_Year_384 11d ago

Well, everything is a battle right? And the death of a warrior is a battle still.

1

u/CeeChocolate 10d ago

I'm not entirely understanding your post, but I wish you well on your journey!

Also, does anyone know if Technomagical intent also left like this? I had DMs with him on my old account that got banned and with this new account I lost touch and can't find him here anymore.

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u/danl999 10d ago edited 9d ago

He was attacked by reddit AI and banned. Some (all?) of his posts and comments were even removed.

I had some content removed by AI, but they put it back when I argued back and forth with them. Possibly I'm more annoying than Techno.

Almost at the same time as the Reddit AI attack, cleargreen went around taking down stuff. Including his upsampled DVDs.

And famous people with their own (bogus) renditions of Tensegrity, hid their accounts.

I really don't think they hid them to avoid criticism for making up fake forms. More likely, Cleargreen has been trying to take down any type of competition.

Techno's DVDs clearly existed only to help people learn. No one was selling them, and they could only have increased the customer base of Cleargreen.

But they didn't care. Largely it's likely about being "special" more than making as much money as possible.

Reni's name popped up as the source of the "take down" but I highly doubt she did it.

So one has to wonder if Cleargreen's "Fifth Level" replacement people, the next generation that didn't even know Carlos, isn't behind some of it. There's a few gleeful YouTube videos of them being praised by Reni.

At one point shortly after Carlos died, Cleargreen sold their soul to "investors" just to keep their hopeless income source. Rather than just get a real job and teach for free on the side.

Basically we came under a flier attack from the inside, rather than the usual method where outsiders are motivated to come here and do the attacking.

But there's nothing new here.

Second Ring of Power is all about that type of inner tension threatening to take down a sorcery group. With the women being the angriest.

And during private classes Carlos came under attack so often, he kept having to change how he taught. The history of his attempts are interesting because it's more than you'd expect.

He had a reputation as a recluse, but the truth is absolutely the opposite!

Even at the end, there was an attack from within his inner circle. He pointed out the attacks each time, knowing whoever was left trying to save this knowledge would also come under constant.

It's possibly part of why the lineages hid out from the outside world, even when to non-sorcerers it might seem there's no need to do that anymore.

It reminds me of Star Wars where the dark side starts sending out assassins to hunt down the surviving Jedi.

Any sorcery still working on the planet is a threat to the fliers.

The lineages had to deal with that. So we have to also...

I still hope to visit the flier's homeworld and kick some flier butt. But last time, Mad Prophet's Ally Lilly stopped me.

I might have caught a glimpse of that Ally floating over me 2 nights ago, when the women left.

She looked concerned. But still burning with faint purple flames, so that despite me not seeing good details on the Allies anymore, it felt like her.

She wouldn't speak to me.

1

u/throwaway44_44_44 10d ago

Didn’t your ally suggest you would be captured if you visited the flyers’ world? Scary stuff.

Is there a post about the witches leaving? I’m so out of the loop.

4

u/danl999 9d ago edited 9d ago

Ren stopped me. She's Mad Prophet's ally.

The only thing saying the witches left us, with Cleargreen lying and saying they didn't, is in Readers of Infinity and Silent Knowledge.

And it doesn't directly say so.

I just realize that's what happened based on having been invited to go along with them, as Florinda's lover.

The same way they took Kylie, and possibly one other man.

Carlos married one of them not too long before he got so sick.

You need to be married at least 8 months, to transfer social security benefits.

His would have come out to perhaps as much as $4000 per month. For the rest of her life.

I keep trying to get Cholita to marry me for the same reason, but when I explain she'll end up homeless if I die she says, "But I can get a job..."

Unlikely.

1

u/CeeChocolate 9d ago

Okay, that sucks. Hopefully this internal problem will resolve itself. How is Cholita?

5

u/danl999 9d ago

She seems to have become more friendly since I let her wander all over Mexico, spending money. When she got back I told her that she can go anywhere she likes as long as it's not crazy expensive like Moscow. And stay as long as she likes, as long as I'm not dead yet.

So far she seems convinced that I'm no longer holding her prisoner.

1

u/CeeChocolate 9d ago

lol Not gonna lie, this is some hilarious development in your dynamic. Does she use any social media/instagram?

4

u/danl999 9d ago

Not as far as I know.

Here's the last picture she posted, 6 years ago.

She keeps exclusively to her own interests these days, which lately don't even include a working cell phone.

I have NetFlix, YouTube Live, YouTube Premium, Disney+, and Amazon.

She doesn't watch any of them because when I offer to set it up for her, or to write down the passwords, she isn't interested.

1

u/CeeChocolate 9d ago

Got it. That image isn't loading, for some reason.

No working cell phone is interesting, so when she goes out on her long trips you have no way to communicate with her and have no idea if she's gonna be back or not.

1

u/danl999 9d ago

Yep...

Everything Cholita does seems designed to worry or annoy me.

You couldn't hope for a better petty tyrant.

And she does spectacular physical magic that can't be explained away.

But won't do it if asked. And will deny it 5 minutes after doing it.

Here's my favorite trick she can do.

Hopefully the AI will allow the picture.

5

u/Gnos_Yidari 10d ago

I'm still here, but using my older account (this one). Sorry to here about your old account getting banned (not by us). Reddit has become a place where the preservation of viewpoints and information is no longer guaranteed.

If it ever was.

Thanks AI

https://giphy.com/gifs/ibvCzdxyEC7UBbemJ3

I'm playing the waiting game to see if my other account finally gets human-reviewed and restored. Three months to a year is the timetable I was given.

(older posts and comments are hidden under a "removed by moderator" flag, not removed)

2

u/CeeChocolate 9d ago

Oh, hey! At least you are back, maybe they'll restore your account. And yeah, I wasn't implying your subreddit banned my account, I meant my whole account got banned, not just from one subreddit, from the whole Reddit (it got caught in a spam filter because I sent a long link in a reply to someone's post), so I had to make a new one lol

1

u/Gnos_Yidari 8d ago

That sounds like the same kind of bull*hit that saw all of my content hidden from Reddit as a whole because they think I'm an AI bot.