The Warrior's Party - Reality or Myth?

Since the topic of a "warrior's party" has come up in several threads on the Carlos Castaneda FB group recently, I'd like to open a discussion on the subject. I'll offer some of my own opinions, which anyone is free to disagree with - though I'm hoping for some genuinely authentic forward thinking here.

From my own experience and Knowledge, I'd have to say that the idea of a warrior's party as it was described by Carlos is probably not as viable in today's world as it was when Carlos was roaming the desert with Don Juan Matus (and that's IF those events really happened as they are described, vs. whether they may be allegorical). Though they are valid either way it is my opinion that IF the events as described are accurate, what Carlos left us with is what amounts to a road map to freedom. Both Carlos and don Juan made comments which implied that the old lineages were ending. That being the case, it is also my contention that Carlos was "selected" (whether by DJM or by Spirit) to chronicle some of the Toltec wisdom and the ways of nagualism - not just as field notes for an anthropology thesis, but for future generations.

If read as a whole unit, CC's books (as well as the writings of many other Toltec/nagualism authors) provide the seeker with various techniques, as well as with the suggestion that any REAL change has to come from the Self. No teacher, no other warriors, no nagual man or nagual woman is going to take you to Freedom. If you're going there, it's a one-way trip and a one-person ticket. The idea of a warrior's party (in my opinion) is more of an allegory than a fact - so for those who are actually looking for a warrior's party... I think you would have better luck looking for leprechauns or Lilliputians.

This isn't to say that warrior's parties don't exist. They probably do. But I'm not sure they are what a lot of seekers imagine them to be. So many seekers I've worked with over the years have an idea in their head that a warrior's party means gathering in the desert to participate in mitotes, to argue vehemently with other warriors, and to sit at the feet of some don Juan character who exists solely in their own head.

The path must evolve - and I feel that it has since CC wrote his books, and it will continue to evolve and adapt because that is simply the way of Spirit. It approaches us on the level where we presently exist, and encourages us to advance, grow and evolve. I'm sure there was a time when actual warrior parties were the way of things. But that is no longer the world in which most of us live, and yet I know from direct experience (with myself and many, many others) that Spirit still calls to us and gives us the means whereby to reach Freedom. No warrior's party necessary. What is necessary is "The Work", but also the willingness to let go of the "ideas" in our head which try to tell us - "It can only be this way and no other way." As long as seekers cling to such fixed and inflexible ideas, they are probably not in service to themselves, but to the Program, and to the Eagle.

The idea of a warrior's party is extremely appealing, even romantic in many ways (spiritually romantic, not necessarily sexually romantic, just for clarification). And yet... I don't perceive it to be a realistic goal in the context of the world we live in today. Most of all, a warrior/seeker has to be adaptable and forward-thinking at all times (fluid, in other words). Spirit and the nagual are all around us, and when we learn to connect to them through the power of silence (gnosis or silent-knowing) we have the library of the Infinite at our fingertips. The warrior's party is inside each and every one of us. Learning to recognize and identify the various "characters" within our own skin is just part of the journey. You are already don Juan, don Genaro, dona Soledad, La Gorda, the witches, Silvio Manuel... and all the rest.

Do you want to be hooked to your fellow men, or to infinity? Take back your power - that's where you'll find the warrior's party.

Della Van Hise

June, 2015

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