Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World (Harper Odyssey) [Paperback]

Florinda Donner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harper Odyssey | Publication Date: November 6, 1992

"A woman's gripping tale of self-discovery in present-day Mexico."
OLIVER STONE

"Donner's tale casts a spell; it is a magic theater of holy actors, a dancing world of fierce angels all sweating their prayers. She offers us a brilliant taste of

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Florinda Donner, the longtime colleague and fellow dream-traveler of Carlos Castaneda, offers a riveting autobiographical account of her halting, sometimes unwilling, often bewildering initiation into the world of being-in-dreaming. At turns spellbinding, mysterious, and humorous, Being-In-Dreaming is ultimately an unforgettable spiritual adventure. She is also the author of Shabano and The Witch's Dream.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (November 6, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062501925
• ISBN-13: 978-0062501929
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, April 10, 2000

By 

Manu (Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World (Harper Odyssey) (Paperback)

With this book, Florinda Donner (FD) gives us another view of the sorcerer's world revealed in the works of Carlos Castaneda (CC) - the way of knowledge ; the warriors path. As with CC's books it was a difficult book for me to put down. Unlike CC, however, FD's presentation is much more of a view from the outside, only entering that world for brief periods. Perhaps because FD is a woman, or maybe because she is not a "nagual", her tales of power bring that world to the reader in a unique way. It's the same world, seen through a different pair of eyes. Eyes which, for me, could more likely have been my own.

In one sense, "Being In Dreaming" is more believable than the stories of CC. The tales have a more ordinary, real-life quality, while still being told artfully and with a great sense of adventure and humor. This same real-life quality, however, in a sense makes it more difficult to accept the juxtaposition of such people to our day-to-day reality.

Throughout most of the book, it's easy to think (of the characters in "Being In Dreaming") things like "those people are crazy", or "they're just irresponsible non-conformists". But by the end of the book, our own phantom-like nature becomes clear, and one is left with the haunting realization that it's we, not they, who are not seeing "ourselves and our surroundings for what we really are: breathtaking events that bloom into transitory existence once and are never to be repeated again".

Where CC's works are like high explosives, shattering the ego at it's foundation, "Being-In-Dreaming" is like a subtle, consistent chipping-away at that same foundation. While the ego has the capacity to totally rebuild itself; to simply "forget" the blasts of CC, FD's stories enter the reader's mind and remain, like those small plants that grow in the cracks of huge boulders, eventually cracking them to pieces.

The subtitle, "An Initiation into the Sorcerer's World", is a very good description. Read with caution.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth it., November 17, 2005

By 

Ceol Mor "Book Editor" (Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World (Harper Odyssey) (Paperback)

A masterpiece. This book, like Taisha Abelar's "The Sorcerer's Crossing", is very well written and done with the same impeccable spirit as Castaneda's books. Fiction myth or truth; what one gains from the books will depend on the individual and their own sense of magic.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a second read, August 5, 2002

By 

Jill Zimmer "Bean" (Columbus, IN United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World (Harper Odyssey) (Paperback)

I like this book for the very fact that there are no teachings. Although I enjoy Castaneda's teachings, he can get very bogged down and frustrating. Books are the western way for learning, but "experiencing" is worth more than a thousand words in any book, especially, if one is to receive any training in shamanism, etc, or for that matter medicine, law, psychology, etc. Castaneda writes well, but is still just an intensely involved anthropologist in his projects.

I also wouldn't say this book was a waste of money (buy it second-hand...). And, self-importance is the irony of this book - of any of Castaneda's books. In fact, if I remember correctly, Don Juan constantly reprimands Castaneda for being so self-important.

I enjoyed the stories and EXPERIENCES of this book and the descriptions of the sorcerers. Florinda's descriptions made these people come to life and not remain flat, one-dimensional persona. Who would have thought that Casteneda by any other name, was funny and NOT entirely a self-absorbed person. I enjoyed the unfolding of Florinda's learning experience and her descriptions of dreaming awake.

Go ahead and read the book for its own merit - she writes fluently on a difficult subject.