Flying Ointment
I came across the book Journey to Ixtlan, by Carlos Casteneda. The book tells the story of his apprenticeship with a Yaqui "sorceror," whom he met in the course of his university studies. Journey to Ixtlan is apparently the re-telling of the story, which he told first in other books. As an anthropology student, he first approached the sorcerer, Don Juan, seeking to learn about Yaqui ways -- not the least of which was the use of psychotropics, like peyote. Caught up in the technologies of this spiritual system, he misjudges their importance. It is only at the point of this third book that he comes to understand the particularity of the devices do not matter. The aim is to "stop the world" (a phrase which I have borrowed), and anything may serve as the wake-up call. The authenticity or quality of Casteneda's anthropological work has been questioned. However, the insight stands on its own merit. "Flying ointment" is not necessary, and it could be your destruction. March 2008
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