Product Details

• Actors: Miles Reed, Rylyn Demaris, Aerin Alexander, Brandon Scott
• Directors: Haley Van Oosten
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 2
• Studio: Terra
• VHS Release Date: June 7, 1999
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1893792048
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #265,959 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Are you feeling stifled? Indecisive? Perhaps the wisdom of the ancients can awaken your body to reveal new powers. Watch the body workers in Carlos Castaneda's Magical Passes: Unbending Intent and feel the power coursing through them; soon you'll be tracing these positions and movements yourself. Castaneda's teacher Don Juan Matus learned these martial art-like motions in dreams and passed them on to his apprentices as a means to achieving mastery over one's will, or "unbending intent." Now these instructions are made available on two videotapes showing clearly the precise movements and the theoretical benefits of each one. In time, you can perform each series with the same fluid grace Castaneda's disciples display, though to get the best results you may have to consult with an instructor. Simply watching the men and women slip, crouch, slide, and bounce is energizing, but following along can be a spiritual workout. --Rob Lightner

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical wisdom in daily life that really works., August 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Carlos Castaneda's Magical Passes: Unbending Intent [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This video is the companion to Carlos Castaneda's book Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico. It covers the first of the five parts depicted in the book, in addition to an alternative long form version of the movements strung together and an added Saber-tooth long form (very exciting and invigorating, by the way.) After a sophisticated intro of dragonflies landing on the opening logo, the video begins with a surreal setting of silhouettes against a sunset colored background, as narration briefly describes the source of these movements. The video then quickens the pace to a thorough rendition of the forms depicted from the book, in full, breathing color. With vibrant instructors and smart videography, the movements are easily digested and the viewer is given a substantial amount of lessons in little time. Not only are the movements demonstrated in an easy to follow format, but they really work. And there seems to be an undercurrent of awareness stirred in the body, strikingly similar to episodes read about. Not that the world flips fantastically, but rather, a subtle ignition of my facilities. For anyone looking for a practical way to feel good, I recommend this video. At first I was lured by it being a piece of the Castaneda collection. After seeing the video, I soon realized that it brought many aspects of what I enjoyed on an intellectual level to an intimate one, to which I could actually apply in daily living. All in all, a visually intriguing set of movements which offers dynamic yet simple strikes, breaths, and leg movements.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly Effective System of Movements, March 3, 2005

By 

Sandy Gardener "Sandy" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Carlos Castaneda's Magical Passes: Unbending Intent [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Freedom from suffering. Stopping the internal dialogue. Transcending your social conditioning. Awakening from the dream of the mind. Discovering inconceivable states of wellbeing. Say it however you want: Carlos Castaneda's Magical Passes will get you there, and quickly.

Here's the theory in a nutshell. Spiritual seekers usually reach the same deadend. They know that the mind is synonymous with resistance and suffering. The usual practices involving breathing, meditating, watching the thinker, going into the body, physical cleansing, practicing presence, etc. will get you TO the door, but not THROUGH it. The masters and gurus then advise you to accept your unconsciousness as part of the "isness" of being and thereby transcend it. Does this work? Has it for you?

What if the the mind, the source of suffering, was only the expression of a more primary condition: the dispersal and misallignment of energy within the energetic and physical body? (Also the cause of most illness, disease, and ageing.)

Castaneda's "passes" address this issue with profound effectiveness by stirring up and redistrubting energy in the energetic body. Castaneda correctly states that belief, faith, or knowledge is not required to succeed. Simply do your best while practicing the movements and results will follow. The "passes" are powerful!

There are two sets of movements: the short form and the long form , The Sabre Tooth Tiger of Intent. (Powerful techniques have powerful names!) Practice the short form (37 movements) for 5-10 days before starting the long form. If you jump too quickly to the long form, you may like it so much that you may be tempted not to go back and perfect the short form which is an integral part of the long form. The short form itself produces noticeable shifts in awareness.


None of the movements is harder than jumping-jacks. The body is drawn in by the movements and enjoys the process. The mind may be doubtful, but the body likes it! The short form training takes about one half hour. The long form is condensed once perfected, and takes about fifteen minutes. There also seems to be a momentum dynamic at work here: practicing makes you more conscious and capapable, making your practices more effective making you more conscious... Apply yourself to correct execution for optimal results.

Note that there are three other "Tensegrity" videos that were produced prior to Magical Passes. Start here. This is the "perfected" version and will produce the smoothest transition. The "Magical Passes" book could also be useful further down the road. Other Castaneda books (I've read them all) are superflous to success with the passes, the best one being "Journey To Ixtlan".

The process of awakening consciousness can be a bit unpredictable. I recommend the purchase of the book "The Power Of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. It's an excellent roadmap of human consciousness and will provide the guidance you will need as liberated awareness awakens in you. Read it first. Note that it is possible when being involved with several spiritual practices to misattribute the results. This mistake cost me three years of continued suffering. It was the Passes, not Tolle, that got me through.

Carlos Castaneda's Magical Passes truly are a magical passageway to inconceivable states of awareness and wellbeing. Thank you Don Carlos.

Note: This is an instructional excercise video. There is very little conceptual content to be found on this DVD. No knowledge, no information, nothing for the mind to grasp: just do the movements. I thought the movements were ridiculous the first time I did them. Most reasonable people would think the same. In this case, reasonable thought doesn't define the potential for results.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars magical movement, July 26, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Carlos Castaneda's Magical Passes: Unbending Intent [VHS] (VHS Tape)

these exercises create a return of energy to vital centers. they are not difficult. don't be distracted by the practitioners on the tape. just learn the basic movements. do them at your own pace and let your body modify them if it wants to do so. done in the dark you will see or feel energy currents around you, especially around your hands. close your eyes and still see the energy flow. this tape covers just one chapter from the book of the same name.