Riding the Plumed Serpent

Quetzalcoatl. Mention that name and the plumed serpent comes to mind because that’s what Quetzalcoatl means. Along with many stories and interpretations of them. Quetzalcoatl has arrived, for all intents and purposes, as the next salvation myth. Creator sky god, bringer of peace and harmony, representative of good and light. Bridge between heaven and earth, priest of learning and knowledge. Symbol of authority. Heck, I even found a Wikipedia link that actually says, Some Mormon scholars believe that Quetzalcoatl, who has been described as a white, bearded god who came from the sky and promised to return, was actually Jesus Christ. Whatever gets you through the night.

On my recent journey to the Yucatan I became inspired to do a piece of artwork that incorporates the plumed serpent. I’ve been sitting with the image in my mind for some time because what I saw does not look like the interpreted art that has been created. In fact, I don’t even know if I will be able to draw the image shown to me because it is so abstract.

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Floating in the Sea of Awareness

Don Juan had defined the concept of warrior-travelers, saying that it referred to sorcerers who, by being warriors, traveled in the dark sea of awareness. He had added that human beings were travelers of the dark sea of awareness, and that this Earth was but a station on their journey; for extraneous reasons, which he didn’t care to divulge at the time, the travelers had interrupted their voyage. He said that human beings were caught in a sort of eddy, a current that went in circles, giving them the impression of moving while they were, in essence, stationary. He maintained that sorcerers were the only opponents of whatever force kept human beings prisoners, and that by means of their discipline sorcerers broke loose from its grip and continued their journey of awareness. ~ Carlos Castaneda, The Active Side of Infinity

I believe that I read a similar interpretation of this in a book I read by Ken Carey, maybe in The Third Millennium: Living in the Posthistoric World. Carey, who had an apparent connection to the works of Castaneda which is evident in his writing, said something about how the Earth was a travel destination for universal beings, a place where they stopped to refuel, refresh and explore and that one day, a predatory race came to earth, never left and took over. If this is true then it may well explain the alien petroglyphs that have been found carved in stone around the world. Perhaps this was their “I was here” mark, much like people carve their initials in trees. Or maybe, they were depictions carved based on what those who inhabited earth at that time saw. Or both.

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Dancing Past the Predator

The Predator consumes our awareness through our emotions, properly directed by the internal dialogue. They have designed our social environment in such a way that we are constantly shooting off waves of emotions, which are immediately absorbed. Best of all, they like attacks of ego; for them, that is an exquisite mouthful. Such emotions are the same anywhere in the universe where they occur, and they have learned how to metabolize them. ~ Encounters with the Nagual

Perceiving and witnessing the Predator (flyers, inorganic beings) from a predilection of stalking is quite incredible. With a predilection to stalking I perceive the predator in various situations or aligned with people and slash at its impositions with my warrior sword or vajra dagger…cutting through the illusion one line at a time; well sometimes multiple lines!

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Words, Words and More Words

Words are tremendously powerful and important and are the magical property of whoever has them. Sorcerers have a rule of thumb: they say that the deeper the assemblage point moves, the greater the feeling that one has knowledge and no words to explain it. ~ Don Juan, The Power of Silence

It’s a funny thing, these words. Any words. One of my predilections is communications. I am a communicator. My major was communications; international communications, multi-cultural communications, bi-lingual communications, interpersonal communications. And, I love to write as a means of communicating.

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The Ruthlessness of a Warrior

Man’s predicament is that he intuits his hidden resources, but he does not dare use them. This is why warriors say that man’s plight is the counterpoint between his stupidity and his ignorance. Man needs now, more than ever, to be taught new ideas that have to do exclusively with his inner world – shamans’ ideas, not social ideas, ideas pertaining to man facing the unknown, facing his personal death. Now, more than anything else, he needs to be taught the secrets of the assemblage point. ~ Don Juan, The Power of Silence

This quote speaks of the fixation of the assemblage point of the earth. The fixation is a man-made assemblage that tells us that there is only one story on earth, one way to live and that until we are able to live in this single manner, and we will have no choice but to perfect ourselves in order to align with it. While there are multiple ways to align with the story, the point is conformism and compliance to a system of beliefs founded and grounded on authority, control and over-consumption.

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Constant Movement

Dreams are, if not a door, a hatch into other worlds. As such, dreams are a two-way street. Our awareness goes through that hatch into other realms, and those other realms send scouts into our dreams. For us to perceive those other realms, not only do we have to covet them but we need to have sufficient energy to seize them. Their existence is constant and independent of our awareness, but their inaccessibility is entirely a consequence of our energetic conditioning. ~ Carlos Castaneda, The Art of Dreaming

The other evening I was dreaming and a scout appeared. This scout repeated the same three things over and over and again while allowing me to perceive a most amazing spectacle. First let me tell you what he said. Recapitulate. Shift Your Assemblage Point. Keep Moving.

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Busting Through Patterns

If the world is saved, it will not be saved by old minds with new programs but by new minds with no programs at all. ~ Daniel Quinn, Ishmael

A lot of people are talking about breaking patterns. My own walk on the Toltec Path is all about breaking patterns through erasing personal history, breaking the mold of man and recapitulation. These methods have been quite successful for many and assist one in heightening awareness, shifting the assemblage point and in providing the energy necessary to see.

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Destroying the Man-Made Matrix One Line at a Time

Every one of us human beings has two minds. One is totally ours, and it is like a faint voice that always brings us order, directness, purpose, the other mind is a foreign installation. It brings us conflict, self-assertion, doubts, hopelessness: it’s ourselves as the me-me center of the world. ~ Don Juan, The Active Side of Infinity

Not much has been said with regard to female warriors throughout the Castaneda books. Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner wrote books in order to offer a female perspective of female sorcerers though the teachings that they had received from some of the elder women in don Juan’s party. Most of their writings were an attempt to guide women into becoming free from a male-dominated, patriarchal world which they believed held them captive and perpetuated an energy of being preyed upon and to exist in a role of subservience. Little was said about the power of the feminine energy that has the potential to dream a new dream here on earth, while systematically destroying the ancient lines that support and maintain this current paradigm, particularly by those women who are committed to the warrior’s path.

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The Importance of Silence for Warriors

Silence is a passageway between worlds. When our mind stays silent, incredible aspects of our being emerge. Starting from that moment, a person becomes a vehicle of intent, and all his acts begin to ooze power. ~ Carlos Castaneda, Encounters with the Nagual

Don Juan affirmed that we spend our lives regurgitating an endless list of opinions on almost everything. We receive thoughts in clusters; one connects with the other one, until the entire space of the mind is packed full. That noise has no use, because, practically in its entirety, it is devoted to the enlargement of the ego.

Most people are no longer willing to be silent. They want to fill their lives with noise and activity, to listen to something or to say something or to do something. Cell phones, computers, iPods, video games, noisy cars, trains, airports, television, night-clubs, shopping malls, the endless drone of incessant chatter, email, social networks; all contribute to the constant bombardment of incoming stimuli. External stimulation is taking its toll and serving to disconnect people from the power of silence and the source of all things.

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The Sorcerer’s Revolution

When a warrior has put an end to his routines, when he doesn’t care anymore whether he has company or is alone, because he has heard the silent whisper of the spirit; then you can say that, truly, he has died. From that point on, even the simplest things in life become extraordinary for him. For this, a sorcerer learns how to live again. He tastes each moment as if it were the last one. He doesn’t waste any effort on feeling dissatisfied, nor does he throw away his energy. He doesn’t wait until he becomes old to ponder the mysteries of the world. He is ahead, he explores, he knows and marvels. ~ Carlos Castaneda, Encounters with the Nagual

The Gulf oil spill that has turned out to be much more than a spill and instead a catastrophic disaster of monumental proportion threatening to wipe out ecosystems and oceans and marine life and livelihoods. A recent “discovery” of nearly $1 trillion of untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan will create new opportunity for the earth to be mined, blown up and destroyed further and has the potential to ultimately lead to war as each country vies for control somehow with the US claiming finder’s rights; the horrific stories of the world as it is, as it is becoming combined with the continual push to save the earth, raise consciousness, take responsibility, do what’s right…like a jack-hammer constantly threatening to tear the thin and fragile fabric of existence.

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