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The Don Juan Papers: Further Castaneda Controversies
Book by De Mille, Richard
- GenresNonfictionAnthropology
Hardcover
First published June 1, 1980
2 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Richard de Mille
12 books3 followersRichard de Mille was born in Monrovia, California, to William C. de Mille and the Scottish author and screenwriter Lorna Moon. His uncle, Cecil B. DeMille, adopted and raised Richard, not telling him of his true parentage until the death of his birth father when Richard was 33 years old.
In 1955, he completed his B.A. degree at Pepperdine University and married Margaret Belgrano. He went on to get a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1961. He remained with that institution as a research psychologist until 1962, when he became a lecturer in psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1965, he left that position, becoming editorial director of the Brooks Foundation the following year. He stayed there until 1967, becoming a research psychologist at the General Research Corp. in 1968, where he remained until 1973.
De Mille wrote Castaneda's Journey: The Power and the Allegory (1976), a book describing the detective work which led him to claim that Carlos Castaneda was a hoaxer and plagiarist and that don Juan is fictional. He edited a second book on the same subject, The Don Juan Papers (1980), when he found that his exposé did not lead Casteneda's most ardent followers to fall away. This book contains documents representing views of Castaneda across the spectrum. He also wrote a biography of his birth mother, screenwriter Lorna Moon, entitled My Secret Mother: Lorna Moon.
In 1955, he completed his B.A. degree at Pepperdine University and married Margaret Belgrano. He went on to get a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1961. He remained with that institution as a research psychologist until 1962, when he became a lecturer in psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1965, he left that position, becoming editorial director of the Brooks Foundation the following year. He stayed there until 1967, becoming a research psychologist at the General Research Corp. in 1968, where he remained until 1973.
De Mille wrote Castaneda's Journey: The Power and the Allegory (1976), a book describing the detective work which led him to claim that Carlos Castaneda was a hoaxer and plagiarist and that don Juan is fictional. He edited a second book on the same subject, The Don Juan Papers (1980), when he found that his exposé did not lead Casteneda's most ardent followers to fall away. This book contains documents representing views of Castaneda across the spectrum. He also wrote a biography of his birth mother, screenwriter Lorna Moon, entitled My Secret Mother: Lorna Moon.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 5, 2021
Outstanding exploration of how a barber managed to spoof an entire Anthropology department who were too embarrassed to even follow their own well established guidelines for research. Don Juan was a literary creation. How he was and is evaluated in and out of academia demonstrates that sometimes a fraud can reveal more about a society than a truth, if it is closely examined in light of hopes, fears and expectations. A deep dive into Yankee Ways of Knowing Profits.
April 7, 2020
Don Juan, the most famous Yaqui medicine man of the 20th century, was invented in the rare book room at UCLA by a graduate student. de Mille unpacks the fascinating stories behind the stories of Carlos Castaneda. Well written, compassionate, and fascinating.
May 13, 2022
It's good but it's really only for Castaneda-debunking completionists, with essays on the nature of anthropology and whatnot. And it refers to his early books and assumes you've read them.
March 26, 2025
AN EXPANSION OF HIS EARLIER ‘CASTANEDA’S JOURNEY’
Author Richard de Mille (essays by others are also included) wrote in the first essay of this 1980 book, “[This book] may look like a collection of essays, but it is really the story of a five-year mission to go … into the mind of one of the world’s great hoaxers… What happened at UCLA? A frank and simple admission of effort by Castaneda’s patrons would have brought the project to a grinding halt. The mission was saved by the fateful fact that some people just can’t admit making a mistake… The Don Juan hoax has been a test in judgment in several fields: anthropology, of course, but also sociology, psychology, philosophy, religious studies, parapsychology… publishing, book reviewing… and journalism. More people have passed the test than failed it, but the failures tell us such fascinating things about what can go wrong with human judgment … that they will be treated at length in the next 42 chapters.” (Pg 10-11)
He notes, “Published during the psychedelic years, ‘The Teachings of Don Juan’ and ‘A Separate Reality’ recount 22 wondrous drug trips…but as new-age consciousness gained favor in the media ‘Journey to Ixtlan’ suddenly discovered a wealth of neglected drugless techniques in some piles of old fieldnotes Carlos had stupidly set aside.” (Pg. 17)
He explains, “Professors do get conned, admitted … a member of Castaneda’s doctoral committee, ‘but someone’s going to have to prove this.’ The proof comes in three forms. First, the so-called field reports contradict each other. Carlos meets a certain witch named La Catalina for the first time in 1962, and AGAIN for the first time in 1965. Though he learns a lot about ‘seeing’ in 1962, unaccountably he has never heard of it in 1968. ‘The Teachings’ tells a gothic tale full of fear and wonder… don Juan was a hard master… who seldom cracks a joke… in 1968… he finds ‘the total mood of don Juan’s teaching… more relaxed. He laughed and also made me laugh a great deal… He clowned during the truly crucial moments of the second cycle… and when we get to the third book, don Juan is a regular cut-up… notwithstanding that ‘Ixtlan’ is set back in the early period.” (Pg. 18) He suggests that Castaneda plagiarized Yogi Ramacharka, a "pseudonymous American hack writer," then concludes, “How many stylistic echoes would be needed to prove that don Juan’s teachings and Carlos’s adventures originated not in the Sonoran desert but in the library at UCLA?”
Hans Sebald says in his essay, “Most suspect … are the descriptions of hiking in the desert during… June, July, August, and September… Castaneda overlooks the fact that temperatures soar well above 100 degrees in the shade… and the body dehydrates so fast that exhaustion and collapse must follow in a matter of hours.” (Pg. 35) He continues, “While still a desert novice, Carlos easily catches a rabbit with his bare hands… This claim displays monumental ignorance. The swiftest coyote works hard to catch a rabbit.” (Pg. 37)
De Mille notes, “[Castaneda] regrets that he ‘was not permitted to tape-record or photograph any event that took place’ during that ten-year period. In contrast ‘A Separate Reality’ reports tape-recordings made on 14 May and 4 September 1968… A prudent allegorist did well to banish those potentially troublesome tapes into a separate reality…” (Pg. 87)
He notes, “Ralph Beals has said Castaneda’s undergraduate preparation was deficient, his coursework poor. The patrons responded that the candidate had been admitted to graduate study on the basis of examinations, had been required to take extra courses to make up his deficiencies, had done satisfactory course work, and had passed comprehensive predoctoral examinations. An effective answer, I thought.” (Pg. 129)
Jean W. Cox laments, “Readers like me who expected more wisdom and beauty from Castaneda’a fifth book must be deeply disappointed by ‘The Second Ring of Power,’ for nowhere in it can we find the parables and poetry that graced the earlier books… the occult dominates, while humanism all but disappears… four bizarre women fly in clusters, walk on walls, spin webs… The book is an ironical paean to powerful quasi-feminists magically menacing feckless male rivals…. [The book] replaces the nobility of the warrior’s way with petty bickerings among the pupils, an immature rivalry between the sexes, and morbid, empty occultism… Farewell, Carlos of the ‘Second Ring.’ I’m going back to ‘Ixtlan.’
Comparing ‘Teachings’ with ‘Ixtlan,’ de Mille points out, “‘Teachings’ has the two men talking in don Juan’s house, but ‘Ixtlan’ has them eating a late lunch in a border town. This is barely possible if don Juan’s house is close to the border, but on page 6 of the fieldnotes for that day we are told: ‘Don Juan … looked toward the Bacatete Mountains in the distance.’” (Pg. 332)
In his interview with Theodore Roszak, Roszak asked him, “how were you able to keep track of your experiences over such a long period of time? How were you able to record all of this?” Castaneda responds haltingly, “I had them all, ah, ah, meticulously, ah, FILED, sort of, and ah, I-, I-, in my MIND… You see I never took any notes… I took notes in a COVERT manner.” Castaneda goes on to describe at length how ethnographers write notes on pads inside their pockets.” (Pg. 381)
This book, and its predecessor, will be ‘must reading’ for anyone studying the Castaneda hoax.
Author Richard de Mille (essays by others are also included) wrote in the first essay of this 1980 book, “[This book] may look like a collection of essays, but it is really the story of a five-year mission to go … into the mind of one of the world’s great hoaxers… What happened at UCLA? A frank and simple admission of effort by Castaneda’s patrons would have brought the project to a grinding halt. The mission was saved by the fateful fact that some people just can’t admit making a mistake… The Don Juan hoax has been a test in judgment in several fields: anthropology, of course, but also sociology, psychology, philosophy, religious studies, parapsychology… publishing, book reviewing… and journalism. More people have passed the test than failed it, but the failures tell us such fascinating things about what can go wrong with human judgment … that they will be treated at length in the next 42 chapters.” (Pg 10-11)
He notes, “Published during the psychedelic years, ‘The Teachings of Don Juan’ and ‘A Separate Reality’ recount 22 wondrous drug trips…but as new-age consciousness gained favor in the media ‘Journey to Ixtlan’ suddenly discovered a wealth of neglected drugless techniques in some piles of old fieldnotes Carlos had stupidly set aside.” (Pg. 17)
He explains, “Professors do get conned, admitted … a member of Castaneda’s doctoral committee, ‘but someone’s going to have to prove this.’ The proof comes in three forms. First, the so-called field reports contradict each other. Carlos meets a certain witch named La Catalina for the first time in 1962, and AGAIN for the first time in 1965. Though he learns a lot about ‘seeing’ in 1962, unaccountably he has never heard of it in 1968. ‘The Teachings’ tells a gothic tale full of fear and wonder… don Juan was a hard master… who seldom cracks a joke… in 1968… he finds ‘the total mood of don Juan’s teaching… more relaxed. He laughed and also made me laugh a great deal… He clowned during the truly crucial moments of the second cycle… and when we get to the third book, don Juan is a regular cut-up… notwithstanding that ‘Ixtlan’ is set back in the early period.” (Pg. 18) He suggests that Castaneda plagiarized Yogi Ramacharka, a "pseudonymous American hack writer," then concludes, “How many stylistic echoes would be needed to prove that don Juan’s teachings and Carlos’s adventures originated not in the Sonoran desert but in the library at UCLA?”
Hans Sebald says in his essay, “Most suspect … are the descriptions of hiking in the desert during… June, July, August, and September… Castaneda overlooks the fact that temperatures soar well above 100 degrees in the shade… and the body dehydrates so fast that exhaustion and collapse must follow in a matter of hours.” (Pg. 35) He continues, “While still a desert novice, Carlos easily catches a rabbit with his bare hands… This claim displays monumental ignorance. The swiftest coyote works hard to catch a rabbit.” (Pg. 37)
De Mille notes, “[Castaneda] regrets that he ‘was not permitted to tape-record or photograph any event that took place’ during that ten-year period. In contrast ‘A Separate Reality’ reports tape-recordings made on 14 May and 4 September 1968… A prudent allegorist did well to banish those potentially troublesome tapes into a separate reality…” (Pg. 87)
He notes, “Ralph Beals has said Castaneda’s undergraduate preparation was deficient, his coursework poor. The patrons responded that the candidate had been admitted to graduate study on the basis of examinations, had been required to take extra courses to make up his deficiencies, had done satisfactory course work, and had passed comprehensive predoctoral examinations. An effective answer, I thought.” (Pg. 129)
Jean W. Cox laments, “Readers like me who expected more wisdom and beauty from Castaneda’a fifth book must be deeply disappointed by ‘The Second Ring of Power,’ for nowhere in it can we find the parables and poetry that graced the earlier books… the occult dominates, while humanism all but disappears… four bizarre women fly in clusters, walk on walls, spin webs… The book is an ironical paean to powerful quasi-feminists magically menacing feckless male rivals…. [The book] replaces the nobility of the warrior’s way with petty bickerings among the pupils, an immature rivalry between the sexes, and morbid, empty occultism… Farewell, Carlos of the ‘Second Ring.’ I’m going back to ‘Ixtlan.’
Comparing ‘Teachings’ with ‘Ixtlan,’ de Mille points out, “‘Teachings’ has the two men talking in don Juan’s house, but ‘Ixtlan’ has them eating a late lunch in a border town. This is barely possible if don Juan’s house is close to the border, but on page 6 of the fieldnotes for that day we are told: ‘Don Juan … looked toward the Bacatete Mountains in the distance.’” (Pg. 332)
In his interview with Theodore Roszak, Roszak asked him, “how were you able to keep track of your experiences over such a long period of time? How were you able to record all of this?” Castaneda responds haltingly, “I had them all, ah, ah, meticulously, ah, FILED, sort of, and ah, I-, I-, in my MIND… You see I never took any notes… I took notes in a COVERT manner.” Castaneda goes on to describe at length how ethnographers write notes on pads inside their pockets.” (Pg. 381)
This book, and its predecessor, will be ‘must reading’ for anyone studying the Castaneda hoax.
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February 24, 2018Carlos Castaneda's personal history revealed. His Don Juan hoax proved and evaluated. Thirty scholars and laymen celebrate or bemoan his influence on academic disciplines and private live
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews