Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan [Paperback]

Carlos Castaneda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1991

In "Journey to Ixtlan," Carlos Castaneda brings to a new height his account of the teachings of Don Juan.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in 1925 in Peru, anthropologist Carlos Castaneda wrote a total of 15 books, which sold 8 million copies worldwide and were published in 17 different languages. In his writing, Castaneda describes the teaching of Don Juan, a Yaqui sorcerer and shaman. His works helped define the 1960's and usher in the New Age movement. Even after his mysterious death in California in1998, his books continue to inspire and influence his many devoted fans.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press; First American Edition edition (February 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671732463
• ISBN-13: 978-0671732462
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in 1925 in Peru, anthropologist Carlos Castaneda wrote a total of 15 books, which sold 8 million copies worldwide and were published in 17 different languages. In his writing, Castaneda describes the teaching of Don Juan, a Yaqui sorcerer and shaman. His works helped define the 1960's and usher in the New Age movement. Even after his mysterious death in California in1998, his books continue to inspire and influence his many devoted fans.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic of Modern Spirituality, May 11, 1999

By 

rampageous_cuss (Under Billy Penn's Hat) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan (Paperback)

This is a life-changing book and a spiritual classic (I rarely give ANYTHING 5 stars) but someone ought to mention that there is a certain amount of controversy about the accuracy of Castaneda's Don Juan series. Researcher Richard de Mille is probably the most even-handed of the critics and The_Don_Juan_Papers is worth a read, though some of the criticisms are merely carping small-mindedness.

Regardless of your attitude toward Castaneda's (or Don Juan's!)literal accuracy the series, of which Journey_to_Ixtlan is the best, presents a coherent and engaging spiritual existentialism. A Must Read!!!

73 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than his first two books, February 4, 2001

By 

David - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan (Paperback)

It took a lot for me to get through Castaneda's first book, The Teachings of Don Juan. I was totally unimpressed with it. The whole book was essentially about how a Yaqui Indian "sorcerer" put naive Carlos, then a graduate student in anthropology from UCLA doing research on a hallucinogenic plant, through a bunch of weird drug trips that shook his view of reality. And to me, that doesn't jive at all.

But in Journey to Ixtlan, Castaneda goes back and says, "wait, start over, reset. I was wrong about all of that drug stuff, it's really not necessary, don Juan just put me through that because I was too stubborn and 'rational' to see that there may be other views of reality than the ones I subscribe to." In this book he discovers that he doesn't need drugs to experience other worlds. Rather, there are a series of practices for right living that enable the possibility of perceiving in nonordinary ways.

So Journey to Ixtlan is where the real lessons about living life in the warrior's way begin. I recommend this book highly as a starting point for Castaneda's work; forget the first two books.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the journey, April 17, 2005

By 

Hallstatt Prince (MA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan (Paperback)

Forget the debate as to whether Castaneda's writings were a hoax or that his books became important reading for the drug culture. Although I suggest you read his first two books before reading this one but if you read only one book by Carlos Castaneda this is the book to read. Be his books accurate reporting by a cultural anthropologist (which is becoming increasingly more and more  doubtful), mysticism or hokum, this particular book is quite moving and lyrical. And whether his stories are real or imagined and whether the teaching he transmutes came from Don Juan or from his own mind by his knowledge as a trained anthropologist the underlying mystical principles of these stories cannot be dismissed out of hand.
  Shaman, poet and perhaps an academic scoundrel it is Castaneda's poetry and story telling that comes shining through in this book.
  If Castaneda's books were a hoax and were represented as cultural anthropology as a better hook to sell books it is a shame because he did a disservice to science and to his legacy. Still I myself, as a former researcher in Harvard University's anthropology department and a student of human ethology, can forgive this sin on one level and enjoy this book as a powerful work of liturature.
For if there has been a wrong that has been committed against anthropology it is one that was done by the way the books were marketed and perhaps by the author's personality itself. The works themselves should not suffer and be shunned for this.
His legacy would have been better served if he wrote these same works as a writer of fiction.
I believe the author would have been wiser to present his works the way Gurdjieff presented "Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson" rather than obstinately insisting there really was such a person as Don Juan (even if in the off chance that his teacher did exist).
Despite the controversy his writing stands on its own and Journey to Ixtlan is a powerful, touching, enchanting and beautiful book.