The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge was written by Carlos Castaneda and submitted as his Master’s thesis in the school of Anthropology. It documents the events that took place
during an apprenticeship with a self-proclaimed Yaqui Indian Sorcerer, don Juan Matus from Sonora, Mexico between 1960 and 1965.The book is divided into two sections. The first section, The
Teachings, is a first person narrative that documents Castaneda’s initial interactions with don Juan. He speaks of his encounters with Mescalito (a teaching spirit inhabiting all peyote
plants), divination with lizards (by using a hallucinogenic powder rubbed on his temples to understand their language), and flying in animal form using the "Devil’s Weed" (the datura plant).
The second, A Structural Analysis, is an attempt, Castaneda says, at "disclos[ing] the internal cohesion and the cogency of don Juan’s Teachings."[1]The story of a remarkable spiritual journey,
the first awesone steps on the road to becoming "a man of knowledge," the road that continues with A Separate Reality and Journey To ixtlan. Includes The Teachings and A Structural Analysis.
