I haven’t read Carlos Castaneda in decades. I have his entire collection in my library. I was thinking of getting reacquainted again. Would “The Power of Silence” be a good start? 🖤
General Knowledgeu/IntentionWise91712026-01-18 22:50 UTC6 pointsdeleted
9 Comments
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u/TechnoMagical_Intent
13 points2026-01-18 23:01
You should take into account how long it's been since you've practiced any of it.
If ever.
But the drama of Second Ring of Power, and the somewhat heavy with terminology Fire From Within, could make them less optimal choices.
The information in our Subreddit Statement could inform you a bit more on why the BEST approach is to pick something and start putting it into practice for a while.
Then when you notice that something in the books lines up with what you've recently experienced, or you recognize the trials and trouble the individuals in the books went through in your own difficulties....it all hits home much more saliently.
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u/IntentionWise9171
2 points2026-01-18 23:05
Yes, it’s been around 40 years. 😳Makes sense! Thank you.
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u/Chance_Blood2272
2 points2026-01-19 12:25
Why not begin at the beginning?
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u/IntentionWise9171
2 points2026-01-19 12:54
Too late. Already hooked in & lovin’ The Power of Silence. 🖤
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u/danl999
11 points2026-01-19 12:31
That's a tricky question... But a fascinating one.
We actually don't know which order the books should be read in.
We're mostly just happy when people want to read them at all.
We do know that the first 3 books lead to serious delusions, which almost destroyed our community with endless pretending.
And now that there's real magic being practiced, and people are following the instructions Carlos left us before he died, we still get attacked on average 3 times a week (which seems lower in the last few months).
The attacks are 1/4th from "first 3 book" obsessed people who insist on pretending their results.
However, every single book is super valuable when you reach the level of doing DAZZLING magic, daily.
This magical system actually works, and due to its nature, sorcerers don't explain things as much as you'd wish they would.
Mostly because people think they can learn magic by "understanding it". And memorizing "facts" about it.
That of course only applies to fake magic, which pretty much has nothing other than "understanding it", and memorizing pointless facts and rituals.
Thus when you practice our magic at intermediate levels, you run into stuff you just plain don't understand.
Stuff such as my witch companion Cholita, splitting our home into two copies.
The same way Carlos had a home split into 2 on Pandora in Los Angeles.
And Zuleica near Fort Ortiz had a home split in 2.
I just realized... Vicam is about the right distance to be the actual city it was in. We searched on aerial maps, but I wonder if anyone looked towards Vicam?
So Cholita, using her ally Minx, created a phantom copy of our home which was so real you couldn't tell while inside it, except for all the strange things that happened.
That's when it's good to have one of the books mention that, so you don't worry if something is going wrong along the path.
Here's a single picture with the kinds of things we run into along this path.
Every picture there can probably be found to have a corresponding story in one of the 20 books.
And pretty much most of them can't be explained in any other magical system's writings.
Power of Silence is possibly one of the most jam packed with useful information, for those reaching intermediate levels.
The easiest path we know is to follow this map that Carlos gave us before he died. It was an "emergency" at the time because no one had learned for real, and he had run out of time.
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u/IntentionWise9171
2 points2026-01-19 13:04
Wow! Thank you for this. I wasn’t aware of the map. Yeah, very happy with my choice. But, from what I remember from all those years ago, each and every one had an interesting impact. 🖤
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u/danl999
8 points2026-01-19 13:26
Your far better off to read all of them, and ESPECIALLY the books of Taisha and Florinda.
Women have different ways of looking at things, which are sometimes more direct.
A classic example is us trying to figure out when you are "seeing".
Because as males, we're obsessed with "reaching the goal".
But La Gorda points out in one book, that anything you are looking at which comes from the second attention, is "seeing".
As a result of her comment anyone who makes it to the green level on that J curve, is already "seeing".
We've distinguished the purple zone at the end, as being "Silent Knowledge".
However, even that shows up at the start.
The Allies in fact (we have the two Allies of Carlos helping us), can cause SK to flow, even in the deep green or early red zone on that map.
Perceiving them at all is "seeing", and then if you interact with them (make friends), they'll literally teach you more magic, using Silent Knowledge to bring it to you.
They trick humans by streaming the human's own knowledge to them, before the human is able to move their assemblage point all the way to the end of that railroad track image.
All of this is 100% real. There's no visualizing or closed eye pretending in real magical systems.
You don't "intuit" a spirit's presence.
They jump out of the shadows and right up to your face, and scare the shit out of you!
Often in hideous form.
[-]
u/Chance_Blood2272
2 points2026-01-19 16:46
They're all good.
[-]
u/isthisasobot
2 points2026-01-19 16:56
Whatever you read first, why not couple it with practicing the Magical Passes? There are excellent Saturday Classes given ( for free!) once a fortnight by a direct student of Carlos, who is also active in this sub.
9 Comments
You should take into account how long it's been since you've practiced any of it.
If ever.
But the drama of Second Ring of Power, and the somewhat heavy with terminology Fire From Within, could make them less optimal choices.
The information in our Subreddit Statement could inform you a bit more on why the BEST approach is to pick something and start putting it into practice for a while.
Then when you notice that something in the books lines up with what you've recently experienced, or you recognize the trials and trouble the individuals in the books went through in your own difficulties....it all hits home much more saliently.
Yes, it’s been around 40 years. 😳Makes sense! Thank you.
Why not begin at the beginning?
Too late. Already hooked in & lovin’ The Power of Silence. 🖤
That's a tricky question... But a fascinating one.
We actually don't know which order the books should be read in.
We're mostly just happy when people want to read them at all.
We do know that the first 3 books lead to serious delusions, which almost destroyed our community with endless pretending.
And now that there's real magic being practiced, and people are following the instructions Carlos left us before he died, we still get attacked on average 3 times a week (which seems lower in the last few months).
The attacks are 1/4th from "first 3 book" obsessed people who insist on pretending their results.
However, every single book is super valuable when you reach the level of doing DAZZLING magic, daily.
This magical system actually works, and due to its nature, sorcerers don't explain things as much as you'd wish they would.
Mostly because people think they can learn magic by "understanding it". And memorizing "facts" about it.
That of course only applies to fake magic, which pretty much has nothing other than "understanding it", and memorizing pointless facts and rituals.
Thus when you practice our magic at intermediate levels, you run into stuff you just plain don't understand.
Stuff such as my witch companion Cholita, splitting our home into two copies.
The same way Carlos had a home split into 2 on Pandora in Los Angeles.
And Zuleica near Fort Ortiz had a home split in 2.
I just realized... Vicam is about the right distance to be the actual city it was in. We searched on aerial maps, but I wonder if anyone looked towards Vicam?
So Cholita, using her ally Minx, created a phantom copy of our home which was so real you couldn't tell while inside it, except for all the strange things that happened.
That's when it's good to have one of the books mention that, so you don't worry if something is going wrong along the path.
Here's a single picture with the kinds of things we run into along this path.
Every picture there can probably be found to have a corresponding story in one of the 20 books.
And pretty much most of them can't be explained in any other magical system's writings.
Power of Silence is possibly one of the most jam packed with useful information, for those reaching intermediate levels.
The easiest path we know is to follow this map that Carlos gave us before he died. It was an "emergency" at the time because no one had learned for real, and he had run out of time.
Wow! Thank you for this. I wasn’t aware of the map. Yeah, very happy with my choice. But, from what I remember from all those years ago, each and every one had an interesting impact. 🖤
Your far better off to read all of them, and ESPECIALLY the books of Taisha and Florinda.
Women have different ways of looking at things, which are sometimes more direct.
A classic example is us trying to figure out when you are "seeing".
Because as males, we're obsessed with "reaching the goal".
But La Gorda points out in one book, that anything you are looking at which comes from the second attention, is "seeing".
As a result of her comment anyone who makes it to the green level on that J curve, is already "seeing".
We've distinguished the purple zone at the end, as being "Silent Knowledge".
However, even that shows up at the start.
The Allies in fact (we have the two Allies of Carlos helping us), can cause SK to flow, even in the deep green or early red zone on that map.
Perceiving them at all is "seeing", and then if you interact with them (make friends), they'll literally teach you more magic, using Silent Knowledge to bring it to you.
They trick humans by streaming the human's own knowledge to them, before the human is able to move their assemblage point all the way to the end of that railroad track image.
All of this is 100% real. There's no visualizing or closed eye pretending in real magical systems.
You don't "intuit" a spirit's presence.
They jump out of the shadows and right up to your face, and scare the shit out of you!
Often in hideous form.
They're all good.
Whatever you read first, why not couple it with practicing the Magical Passes? There are excellent Saturday Classes given ( for free!) once a fortnight by a direct student of Carlos, who is also active in this sub.