The pragmatic use of non-ordinary reality was determined by directing me to focus my attention on certain component elements of the dependent range, in order to use them as points of reference for moving.
During the preparatory period that followed the second state of the series, don Juan refused to speculate on any part of my experience. He treated the second state as if it had been merely another prolonged transitional stage.
The third state of the series, however, was paramount in the teachings. It was a state in which the process of directing the intrinsic level culminated in the following results: The progression towards the specific created the easy perception that I had adopted an alternative form so completely that it even induced precise adjustments in the way I focused my eyes and in my way of seeing. A result of those adjustments was my perception of a new facet of the dependent range of appraisal — the minutiae that formed the component elements — and that perception definitely enlarged the range of appraisal. The progression towards a more pragmatic use of non-ordinary reality culminated in my awareness that it was possible to move in the dependent range as pragmatically as one walks in ordinary reality.
In the preparatory period following the last state of non— ordinary reality, don Juan introduced a different type of recapitulation. He selected the areas for recollection before he had heard my account; that is, he demanded to hear only the accounts that pertained to the pragmatic use of non-ordinary reality and to movement.
From such accounts he set the progression towards the specific by giving positive emphasis to the version of how I had exploited the crow's form. Yet he attached importance only to the idea of moving after having adopted that form. Movement was the area of my recapitulation on which he placed an interplay of positive and negative emphasis. He gave the account positive emphasis when it enhanced the idea of the pragmatic nature of non-ordinary reality, or when it dealt with the perception of component elements which had permitted me to obtain a general sense of orientation, while seemingly moving in the dependent range of appraisal. He placed negative emphasis on my incapacity to recollect with precision the nature or the direction of such movement.
In directing the progression towards a wider range of appraisal, don Juan centred his speculation on my account of the peculiar way in which I had perceived the minutiae that formed the component elements that were within the dependent range. His speculation led me to the assumption that, if it were possible to see the world as a crow does, the dependent range of appraisal had to expand in depth and had to extend to cover the whole spectrum of ordinary reality.
To direct the progression towards a more pragmatic use of non-ordinary reality, don Juan explained my peculiar way of perceiving the component elements as being a crow's way of seeing the world. And, logically, that way of seeing presupposed entrance into a range of phenomena beyond normal possibilities in ordinary reality.
The last experience recorded in my field notes was a special state of ordinary reality; don Juan produced it by isolating component elements of ordinary reality through the process of cuing about his own behaviour.
The general processes used in directing the intrinsic level of non-ordinary reality produced me following results during the course of the second special state of ordinary reality. The progression towards the specific resulted in the easy isolation of many elements of ordinary reality. In the first special state of ordinary reality, the very few component elements that were isolated through the process of cuing about the environment were also transformed into unfamiliar forms deprived of ordinary consensus; however, in the second special state of ordinary reality its component elements were numerous, and, although they did not lose their quality of being familiar elements, they may have lost their capacity for ordinary consensus. Such component elements covered, perhaps, the total environment that was within my awareness.
Don Juan may have produced this second special state in order to strengthen the link between ordinary and non-ordinary reality by developing the possibility that most, if not all, of the component elements of ordinary reality could lose their capacity to have ordinary consensus.
From my own point of view, however, that last special state was the final summation of my apprenticeship. The formidable impact of terror on the level of sober consciousness had the peculiar quality of undermining the certainty that the reality of everyday life was implicitly real, the certainty that I, in matters of ordinary reality, could provide myself with consensus indefinitely. Up to that point the course of my apprenticeship seemed to have been a continuous building towards the collapse of that certainty. Don Juan used every facet of his dramatic exertion to accomplish the collapse during that last special state, a fact prompting me to believe that complete collapse of that certainty would have removed the last barrier that kept me from accepting the existence of a separate reality: the reality of special consensus.
Appendix В
Outline for structural analysis the operative order
Man of Knowledge To Become a Man of Knowledge Was a Matter of Learning There were no overt requirements There were some covert requirements An apprentice was selected by an impersonal power The one that was chosen (escogido) The power's decisions were indicated through omens A Man of Knowledge Had Unbending Intent Frugality
Soundness of judgement Lack of freedom to innovate A Man of Knowledge Had Clarity of Mind Freedom to seek a path Knowledge of the specific purpose Being fluid
To Become a Man of Knowledge Was a Matter of Strenuous Labour Dramatic exertion Efficacy Challenge
A Man of Knowledge Was a Warrior He had to have respect He had to have fear He had to be wide-awake Awareness of intent Awareness of the expected flux He had to be self-confident To Become a Man of Knowledge Was an Unceasing Process He had to renew the quest of becoming a man of knowledge He was impermanent He had to follow the path with heart
A Man of Knowledge Had an Ally An Ally Was Formless An Ally Was Perceived as a Quality The ally contained in Datura inoxia It was woman-like It was possessive It was violent It was unpredictable
It had a deleterious effect on the character of its followers
It was a giver of superfluous power The ally contained in Psilocybe mexicana It was male-like It was dispassionate It was gentle It was predictable
It was beneficial to the character of its followers It was a giver of ecstasy An Ally Was Tamable An ally was a vehicle The ally contained in Datura inoxia was unpredictable The ally contained in Psilocybe mexicana was predict able
An ally was a helper
An Ally Had a Rule The Rule Was Inflexible
Exception due to ally's direct intervention The Rule Was Non-cumulative The Rule Was Corroborated in Ordinary Reality The Rule Was Corroborated in Non-ordinary Reality The states of non-ordinary reality Non- ordinary reality was utilizable Non-ordinary reality had component elements The component elements had stability They had singularity They lacked ordinary consensus The specific purposes of the rule First specific purpose, testing (Datura inoxia)
Manipulatory technique, ingestion Second specific purpose, divination {Datura inoxia)
Manipulatory technique, ingestion-absorption Third specific purpose, bodily flight (Datura inoxia)
Manipulatory technique, ingestion-absorption Fourth specific purpose, testing (Psilocybe mexicana)
Manipulatory technique, ingestion-inhalation Fifth specific purpose, movement (Psilocybe mexicana)
Manipulatory technique, ingestion-inhalation Sixth specific purpose, movement by adopting in alternate form (Psilocybe mexicana) Manipulatory technique, ingestion-inhalation
The Rule Was Corroborated by Special Consensus The Benefactor Preparing special consensus The other states of non-ordinary reality They were produced by Mescalito It was contained
