The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1968. Octavo (23.5 x 16 cm.), x, 196 pages. FIRST EDITION. Castaneda's first book, a first-person narrative documenting his interactions with Mexican shaman don Juan Matus between 1960-65. The text was submitted as Castaneda's doctoral thesis in Anthropology at UCLA. '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 and flying using the "yerba del diablo" (lit. "Devil's Weed"; Jimson weed), and turning into a blackbird using "humito" (lit. "little smoke"; a smoked powder containing Psilocybe mexicana). The second, A Structural Analysis, is an attempt, Castaneda says, at "disclos[ing] the internal cohesion and the cogency of don Juan’s Teachings' (Wikipedia 12/15/20). In gray cloth-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine. Dust jacket is unclipped (priced $5.95), with very light rubbing and soil. Near fine.