Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties [Paperback]

Jay Courtney Fikes (Author), Jay Courney Fikes (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 313 pages
• Publisher: Millenia Pr; 1 edition (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0969696000
• ISBN-13: 978-0969696001
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #277,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Arts & Literature > New Age

More About the Author

My latest book, Unknown Huichol: Shamans and Immortals, Allies Against Chaos, summarizes what I learned from four shamans; by making many pilgrimages with them to sacred sites, observing their rituals and translating many of their songs and myths. I hope my 2010 book, Unknown Huichol, will disseminate little known truths about shamanism. Accurate and insightful understanding of esoteric oral traditions is rare in today's world, which is still dominated by sensational & self-aggrandizing stories about shamanic practices.
As an undergraduate I was inspired by the books of Carlos Castaneda. After completing my doctorate in anthropology at the University of Michigan I wrote an expose: Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism & the Psychedelic Sixties. During my research some professors threatened me with lawsuits. My first publisher, Madison Books, abandoned publication of my Castaneda expose because of threats of litigation made by Peter Furst. I sued Peter Furst but my case was dismissed by New Mexico's Supreme Court.
On my website--www.jayfikes.com--I invite readers to decide what if anything is missing for waterfall jumping in Mexico, as described by Furst, Myerhoff and Castaneda, to be defined as fraud and conspiracy. The 2007 BBC film documentary called Tales from the Jungle, Carlos Castaneda is my favorite sequel to my expose.
As a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. I participated in a coalition dedicated to restoring religious freedom after the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Smith. As part of that lobbying effort, I began writing a biography of a prominent Native American Church leader, which was later published as Reuben Snake, Your Humble Serpent. Since 1999, teaching social anthropology students at Yeditepe University in Istanbul has given me an opportunity to learn more about symbolism and ritual while preparing lectures for them. I have continued doing research with Huichol shamans, including making pilgrimages, that I began in 1976 in Santa Catarina. See my website, www.jayfikes.com for updates about my research and books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth takes longer to disseminate than fiction., January 22, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties (Paperback)

As an undergraduate I was heavily influenced by the books of Carlos Castaneda. After I began learning first-hand from Huichol healers and singers, the problems with Castaneda's version of American Indian spirituality became evident. I was amazed at the amount of indifference and hostility I encountered among academic anthropologists as I did my investigative research. Some professors threatened me with lawsuits. My first publisher, Madison Books, abandoned publication of this book because of threats of litigation. When I and two other Huichol scholars sent complaints about the professor who made those threats the Ethics Committee of the American Anthropological Association did nothing. In fact, the Ethics Committee is now defunct and there are no professional standards enforced among American anthropologists. I guess that means academic freedom is unlimited. Although I did more than 20 radio interviews nationwide, Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties has been curiously neglected by the mainstream print journalists. I deduce from this that debunking sensational and misleading accounts of American Indian shamans and ceremonies is less "sexy" than publishing them was almost 30 years ago. I am convinced that eventually the truth about authentic Indian shamans will be more widely disseminated. The net is a great way to bypass the academic censors and official reviewers. I apologize to readers for the technical elements in my book. I look forward to doing another edition of this book.It will include the failure to deal with ethical issues within the profession of anthropology. This must be seen as an important public issue. My ability to write clearly for a general audience has improved since I wrote Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties. My latest book, Reuben Snake, Your Humble Serpent, is written for a non-academic audience. It is the biography of one of America's greatest contemporary spiritual and political leaders.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well thought out attack on Castaneda's honesty, January 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties (Paperback)

Yes, Castaneda's mystical system works for many people. However, I think it is important for people to realize the inconsistencies in his system and what actual Native American shamanic systems are. I do not believe this book was meant to denounce people who follow Castenada's mystical system, instead it was meant to denounce his unprofessional academic behaviour. It is important for scientists to report the truth about their research, and this book goes into how Castaneda was dishonest with the academic community. The people giving this book one star remind me of the fundamentalist types who denounce anyone who says that the history in the bible isn't 100% accurate.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critics Critique Themselves, December 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Carlos Castaneda: Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties (Paperback)

Firstly, since Castenada's first book was an academic thesis (not a private, commercial publication), and given that academic degrees are not usually (in the field of the social sciences) awarded for works of fiction, it must be relevant to ask whether "Don Juan..." was a genuine anthropological study or complete invention. It follows, then, that this book fulfils a useful purpose - academically speaking.

Its second, less obvious but far more profound value lies in its ability to show whether the reader (if they have read Castenada's work at all) has understood the essential message that Castenada brought back from Don Juan, Don Genaro et al.

The simple fact is that books like Castenada's, if they have any worthwhile effect at all, do not "teach" in the sense of pouring information into our empty heads. Rather they draw out the ideas, wisdom and understanding that we already possess.
Mr Fikes, in writing this book, provides an excellent example of a tool to separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff. Those fans of Castenada's work who can read this book with equanimity have indeed understood an important part of what they were reading.
Those who find it necessary to revile Mr Fikes and his work are clearly still caught up in illusory hero worship. How wonderful that they can still look forward to meet the true Man of Knowledge.