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BarkellWH -> RE: Building two under influence of a 1973 Sobrinos de Esteso (Feb. 20 2021 13:58:31)
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quote:
They may have been fraudulent, but they were really entertaining, and his "research" got him a PhD from UCLA. RNJ
There is a Yaqui Indian community called Guadalupe just south of and adjacent to Tempe, Arizona. My parents and I used to go watch their Easter ceremonies, which are still performed today, a combination of native Yaqui culture and Christianity.
When Castaneda's books came out in the late 1960s and '70s, it was a time when many young people were embracing the idea of an "alternative reality" to be experienced with LSD, mushrooms, peyote, and the like. I think Castaneda was riding that wave with his so-called "research" under the supposed tutelage of the Yaqui "shaman" Don Juan.
Many scholars criticized his works at the time they came out as being fiction. He was challenged by scholars, but never really defended himself, leading to further speculation that his works were fraudulent as anthropology. And some scholars of Yaqui culture pointed out that Don Juan had no vocabulary possessed by actual Yaqui shamans or priests.
Yeah, it was fun at the time and filled a certain "zeitgeist," but in 1973, Time magazine probably summed it up best, describing Castaneda as "an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a tortilla." And that UCLA awarded him a PhD based on his so-called "research" just demonstrates how easily taken in universities were at that time by the "zeitgeist."
Bill
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