Saturday, October 20, 2007

The longest books I have ever red: "The Teachings of Don Juan" - the magic of a blameless warrior

I've started my adventure with C. Castaneda's university of magic, maybe 5, maybe 10 years ago? Of course the first sparks of interest were fanned with the wave of general consumption of drugs, which at that times, (I think it was rather 10 years ago), was a very popular pastime. The need for some philosophical excuse, and maybe a universal necessity, maybe even hunger of knowledge have pushed me and some of my friends to study literature connected with drug consumption. There was "Cinnamon Shops" by Bruno Schultz, "Narcotics; Unwashed Souls" by S.I. Witkiewicz and, among others, we have discovered the magical world of Carlos Castaneda, the disciple of Yaqui Master Sorcerer (Nagual) and a Blameless Warior - Don Juan Matus. Unfortunately I couldn't find any pictures of Don Juan, but those two can give you an approach, of how he looked like:
















The stories of encounters of Castaneda with his "master", (so called only, because, as Don Juan says, the Warrior can't be a Master, and no Warrior has a Master), are embedded in the picturesque scenery of Mexican Sierra, and abound in disarming sense of humour. At first we were deeply impressed with the Castanedas adventures with The Pipe and Mr. Mescalito, but soon it became visible that it is something more than just "high". Indeed, I wouldn't recommend those books, (because it is a whole series of books), to junkies, because they are all about magic. And magic could be dangerous. Even one's life could be in danger if, as Don Juan says, his or hers Tonal is self-destructing and you indulge too much... The Nagual is not at all a funny guy. It is really scary.

And so it was, that to understand the principles of the Magic of Don Juan, one has to grow up to it. And it could take years, but it is worth more than anything else in this life, to discover the Separate Reality. And what started here



is really an adventure which has no ending... Although some people say that Teachings of Don Juan is an invention of Castaneda. I have read somewhere, that he was deprived his Ph. D. in anthropology, and have heard an opinion of a Polish Professor, who met Castaneda personally, that he copied his system from Tybetian Buddhism. Was she right? Did Castaneda invent everything? Maybe... But he didn't invent Magic, and he wasn't the only one to follow the blameless path of a Warrior. Invented or not Don Juan and Don Genaro are always characters which you would miss... My adventure with the Knowledge of Don Juan has just started, and I'm always at the beginning, no matter if it's 10 years ago, 5 years ago, or today...

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Fall In Albuquerque

Fall in Albuquerque...



Chilli roasting...














Wolves howling...














Coyotes crying...












Mist on the Sandias...



















Balloons...




























Beer Fests and Halloween...













Harvest and the Full moon...


















My Home...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

SEASONS IN MUSIC



Surf the SEASONS IN MUSIC Website and enjoy this week's Artist of the Week - PEARL JAM !

Magnetism...

It was a late night conversation…
I knew her, she knew me…
But we didn't know each other the way we wanted to,
The way we needed to.

We talked and laughed…
Our words turned to each other…

“Come over?” she asked…
I was nearly overcome by the wave of nervous excitement…

In her living room we stood…
Looking at each other…into each other.
Shadows ran across the room from the moonlight…it was the only light between us.

I moved to her, and she to me…
I can still feel her lips…
Her body felt good against mine…

We parted…
But she left a whisper on my lips…
And music in my soul…

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

WORLD UNITED BLOGGERS





This wonderful project, which unites bloggers from all over the world, is a spark of hope for peace and understanding between people of different ethnic provenience and cultures. Visit it yourself!

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Art in the Strangest Places

So I'm looking at a map; talking to the dots. The dots in this instance represent crimes and I must use the mundane and mechanical to determine what the dots are telling me...

Superficially, they tell me dates, times, locations, and what crime has been committed. But it cannot tell me the next set of events, nor can it tell me how it felt to be victim or criminal. It does not tell me motivation...

I start by using statistics, then GIS mapping systems; I might even throw in an algebra or calculus equation to be sure...

But the art comes by building a picture through imagination. I determine the set of motives based on method of operation (MO), I then use this information to determine what kind of person I am dealing with. Breaking and entering, no evidence, little damage, identified target items for theft with little effort searching...I'd say an experienced burglar, probably male, comes from the dominant ethnicity of the neighborhood if their were no witnesses and it was day time, maybe a risk taker...probably 29-35, been arrested before for various crimes, and will steer from violence unless cornered.

The above comes from knowing the creature...experience. There are other things; I've learned to treat repetitive predators like spiders. I will always tell a detective to ask himself: "what kind of spider is he?" If he has a hunting ground that victims stray into then he's a "webber" and he is comfortable operating in the area because he frequents the area or lives there...he even knows the residents and business persons who live around there. If he has no preferred ground then he's nomadic and hunts wherever he can find prey; say like a wolf spider or the like.

Then there's tracking criminal organizations like cartels, gangs, and terrorists. Developing alternative futures to determine the next set of actions your target may take is something you learn over time. You get better as you go along and can get a "feeling" rather than hard data to support your conclusions. Its difficult to get others to believe in your intelligence product when they know that half of it is done on a hunch; but once they know that your are operating on well developed instinct they learn to respect your artistic ability.