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The dark legacy of Carlos Castaneda
The godfather of the New Age led a secretive group of devoted followers in the last decade of his life. His closest "witches" remain missing, and former insiders, offering new details, believe the women took their own lives.
By Robert Marshall [2007-04-12]

  • Thank you for "My Girlfriend The Chacmool"

    That was an exceptionally well-written piece, thank you. I worked in the Cleargreen office with Nyei and knew her for years, its fascinating for me to read your story. Who was the other ex-Cleargreenee who told you about her taking dictation from a dying Carlos?

    It appeared at the time that Nyei had a desirable situation, because she had so much contact with Carlos, something we all wanted dearly -- in fact the dictation was extremely trying.

    Someone rebutted your comments by observing that no sleep deprivation, starvation, etc. was used by the groups' "leaders".

    Its true that no such extreme measures were taken, however other forms of classic mind control were daily fare: public humiliation, management of the intricacies of daily life (diet, our whereabouts, our weight, etc.), and the classic mind control technique of "love-bombing" followed by love-withdrawing. Thank you again for your post! And cheers to Robert Marshall for his fine article.

    Here's hoping the LAPD investigation proves fruitful, to the Marquez family and many others.

    -- amy wallace
    [Read amy wallace's other letters]
    Thursday, April 12, 2007 02:42 PM
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