Letters to the Editor
-
The Works of Castaneda Echo Edmund Sledge's "The Perfect Kick in the Nuts"
http://electricstorytime.blogspot.com/2006_10_15_archive.html
-
Sajan...
I am my own master, you fool...( or maybe my wife is?) Hey does that make me self-serving? I always wanted to be self-serving.
As to your primary question: No, Bob Dylan was not a Hippie. Any fool knows that and since you are a fool you should have known it! Bob Dylan was/is a pop star. But, Hippies did/do like him. His jingle-jangle morning is still ringin' in my ears from my childhood. Even I like him, overrated as he may be.
I say euthenasia for all old Hippies, because you all seem to be nuts! :-)
Hey I think I've had too much coffee today and not enough too do, I'm on fire, somebody help me! David Sugarman?
-
Errrr, I meant Sajwan....
See what I mean? I need to be stopped. Maybe I should join a cult or read Casteneda?
-
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.
-
Chacmools taking dictation...
Thanks for your kind words Amy. I remembering reading that you had a book out but I've got an ever growing long list of books to get around to reading and haven't gotten down anywhere near that far yet.
As to who told me about the dictation thing, I'm not certain. It's been more than a few years ago. I believe what I was told was that she took dictation of some sort of last proclamation or whatever as Carlos lay dying of cancer but that it was burned because they decided it was too crazy. Anyone on the meds they give dying cancer patients will tell you it doesn't make for clear headed, lucid thinking. And that's with normal people; I can only imagine what an flights of perverse fantasy this Carlos character might have gone to. Or perhaps I should say I hope I CAN'T imagine those outer limits.
I think it was one of the people I emailed about Caren from alt.dreams.castaneda but I would have to plumb my email archives to be certain. It it's important I can plumb away. mentalpix(at)fastmail(dot)us
-
On a more serious note.
Amy Wallace: Thanks, and thank god you made it out. The defenders of Castaneda should be ashamed of themselves. Cults are terrible. I lost an uncle to the LaRouche cult. He is a smart man who was ruined in Vietnam and has worked for LaRouche his entire adult life. It is sad. He basically has lived off the products of others through theft and "political donations" for 30 years. It is as pernicious a cult as any really. Last time I spoke to him he said "I agree with everything Lyndon LaRouche has ever said." I don't even agree with everything I have ever said much less anyone else. It doesn't take torture or sleep deprivation to maintain a cult, just a cunning, self-serving leader and some weak and fragile minds to bend. Yes, perhaps it is the individual's responsibility to take care of himself, but what about those who take advantage of weaker people, like Castaneda? When harm is done they should suffer the wrath of justice, as LaRouche did.
[To David Sugarman: You are an Ancient Hippie? I never would have guessed. (ps. I think you called me a schoolyard bully once.)]
-
Caren or Nyei
Mike Jackson, Caren/Nyei lived through an exciting adventure with Carlos, survived, and is now in charge of Cleargreen, and one of the few heirs to Castaneda's estate. Are those such bad things? I would call her life a success!
-
i can *imagine* me saying that - but that was in another life
i'm 61, that's ancient enough. and i smoked and got laid, that makes me a hippie, no? i'm sort of embarrassed about my nasty tongue - don't remember any more of them, ok? i'm one of those people who flash angry, but as quickly forgive (and *actually* forget, as you see)
-
Mike Jackson and On A Serious Note
Ouch, Larouche! Phew. I once met a Rajneesh guy who stood to inherit the world's biggest marmalade fortune. His parents disinherited him cause they knew where there money would go. Years later, the guy still swore "by everything Rajneesh ever said." Thanks for your support, I'm glad I got out too, to put it ever so mildly. I could have had a "nest" for life: less exciting without Carlos, infinitely, (so to speak), but a nest all the same. Carlos, while reminding us we were nothing but "beings who were going to die" also made us feel real special: our awareness was "growing" in a special way, etc. etc. -- and we had each other to spend infinity with if all went well.
To Mike -- no, don't bother going through your emails, its not important. Your posts are cool.
As far as Nyei's dictation, yes, I heard something about that "will and testimony" too. One "witch" didn't go with the others, as Robert wrote -- Carol Tiggs. She still runs Cleargreen, I suppose. She told me Carlos was dictating all this really disturbing stuff, a demented "novel" she destroyed called "Assassin".
I don't know about the morphine drip; I wasn't in the house at the end so I didn't see that. However, Carlos also had severe adult onset diabetes, and had to inject insulin. He had a lot of trouble changing his diet (I used to pick up his morning pastries for him sometimes) -- so that added to his altered states.