DUST OF THE EARTH, PT. VII

TRANSCRIPT FROM AN INTERVIEW WITH DON PEDRO

I attended Cambridge between 1907 and 1911. I had some friends in my House who were involved in the Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn. This was a sort of fraternal organization – like the Freemasons – but much more mystical and secretive. The Golden Dawn had a darker, more occult tradition. Early on, members studied black magic and demonology, as well as the Jewish Kabbalah and Eastern mystical traditions. There were various rites and initiations, and members advanced through ranks.

By the time I became involved, the Golden Dawn had broken off into a few different branches. The early leaders had quarreled and schismed, setting up their own “true” orders. Really, by the time I became involved, the Golden Dawn was on the wane, and today the order is practiced by very few scattered adherents. That tarot deck you see on my shelf there – that was designed by A. E. Waite, one of the early members of the group. It’s a beautiful deck…my favorite. Though Waite was probably the most scholarly and careful of the order, he was overshadowed by more flambouyant – and frankly, more egotistical – members like Aleister Crowley. Crowley thought Waite was a bore and a pedant.

(So wait. Did the Golden dawn actually practice Black magic? Like, did they call up demons and that sort of thing?)

Well…there may have been a few who tried it. But really, the Golden Dawn became more of a theosophical group. They were interested in secret knowledge and wisdom. No one I met – no one in the higher levels of the order – seemed to be supernaturally powerful. I never witnessed any apparitions or manifestations that broke the laws of physics. On the other hand, I thought that there was wisdom and knowledge to be found in the texts. The order based its rites on actual historical documents…ancient traditions, though obscure. Much of what people now practice as witchcraft or pagan religion derives from these traditions.

(Yeah, I’ve met a few people like this. Medieval wannabes. Society for Creative Anachronism types. Witchy women. Dress in black.)

*laughs* Truly, I think that a big driving force behind all these orders – the Freemasons, the Rosicrucians, the Golden Dawn – is the need for ritual in our lives. Protestants in particular have been attracted to these sorts of mystical orders. They grew up in sanctuaries devoid of sensory appeal – four walls and lectern, some have called it. In turning their backs on what they consider the Roman mumbo-jumbo, Protestants starved their own imaginations. Perhaps Calvin considered imagination something that leads to sin. Which of course it can. (laughs) But imagination also leads to truth and beauty. And what is imagination without the senses? There may be Platonic forms, but the only way we have of approaching the Ideal world is through our senses. So I think that participation in these mystical orders is an attempt to recapture the sensual beauty of our higher leanings. Smells and bells.

It's interesting how many Protestant clergymen became naturalists. The beauty they craved they found in the natural world, not within the walls of their churches.

(You know, I’ve never been to a Catholic service.)

Really? Well, it’s a pity you never went when the liturgy was still in Latin. Honestly, the vernacular service is why I rarely go to Mass anymore.

(That, and you don’t believe.)

*laughs* True. But I believe that others believe. And I believe in tradition. Many traditions, really. Mexicans, for the most part, are varying degrees of Spanish and Indian. There are also Mexicans with other European blood—the Germans in northern Mexico come to mind. But the Spanish colonists themselves were not wholly European – nor even wholly Christian. Most of the Spanish colonists came from southern Spain, which has a rich tradition of Muslim and Jewish influences. There was a time in the Middle Ages when southern Spain was governed by Islamic caliphates who were relatively tolerant of their Christian and Jewish subjects. As a result, there was a florescence of sophisticated culture. The Arabs had preserved classical texts that the Western Christians were unfamiliar with. At the time, the Arabs were much more knowledgeable about science and medicine than the Europeans were. The Jews shared in much of this knowledge and gave us some of our greatest medieval philosophy. Compared to Muslim culture in the Middle Ages, the Europeans -- even their kings -- lived like savages.

The Europeans learned from their Islamic conquerors, but they fought against them. Charles the Great finally returned most of Spain to the Christians. Yet the Christians were not so tolerant of the Muslims and Jews. The Spanish Inquisition forced mass conversions of Jews and Muslims. And if those who converted were found to be holding on to any of their traditions or trappings, the Inquisition would rub them out. However, many Jews converted outwardly to Christianity, while remaining secretly Jewish. Perhaps you have noticed the menorah on that shelf. That was passed down through my mother’s family. It was hidden and never displayed until it came to me. Times have changed, and my family’s Jewish ancestry is no longer such a stigma – though it’s nothing none of us trumpets from a mountain top. For one thing, we are perfectly assimilated Christians, and other than a few stories and traditions, there is nothing truly Jewish about any of us. And I would not presume to insult a real Jew by claiming to be Jewish – which after all is a religion and not a race or really even an ethnicity. But for my part, I am proud of this ancestry, and I honor it. I have spoken with local rabbis, and I have studied the religion.

Oddly, my first exposure to Judaism was through the Golden Dawn, which derives partly from the Kabbalah – Jewish Mysticism.

(And we’ve come full circle. Back to the Golden Dawn.)

*laughs* Just so.

(So I’ve actually heard of Aleister Crowley. People thought he was some kind of anti-Christ. He had big orgies and sacrificed babies and that sort of thing.)

Well….I was actually acquainted with Crowley. And I will tell you this. He wanted the world to think these things of him. He craved fame. But scandal and notoriety were an acceptable substitute.

I met Crowley not in England, but in Mexico. After Crowley’s falling out with the Golden Dawn, he lived in Mexico for a few years. He maintained connections there and visited from time to time. I met him as a graduate student at The University of Mexico, where I was studying Meso-American archaeology. There were a few of us in the department who were becoming deeply interested in the shamanic traditions of the indigenous Mayans and Aztecs. We were actually participating in the rituals ourselves. And strange things happened – unnatural things. (laughs) I think Crowley wanted to see some real magic for once. We brought him around to some of the shamans we had contact with, but Crowley became impatient and left before he had a chance to see anything. Frankly, I don’t think the shamans much liked or trusted him. Crowley was a Victorian and something of a racist – or ‘Euro-centrist’ might be the better term.

But Crowley did make a discovery that changed his life: the use of hallucinogenic substances to elicit a state of non-ordinary reality. The Victorians had opium and ether…and some of them partook of hashish. But none of them had substances as profoundly hallucinogenic as peyote and the other plants used by the Meso-American Indians. My fellow graduate students and I become our own guinea pigs in the study of these substances. We discovered that guidance and setting were vital in using substances to achieve a state of higher being – or ‘different being’ might be the better term. Anyone could ingest these substances and have hallucinations. One might even get the sense that they had arrived at the secret of the universe – that sort if thing is common enough. But our most powerful experiences took place when we were with the shamans – when we had been ritually prepared for the experience, and when we were under the guidance of the shamans while we were intoxicated.

Our interests in these subjects -- our closeness to the people we were studying – led to the eventual expulsion of many of us from the graduate program. Meso-American archaeology at that time was largely the domain of Americans and Europeans, and they were much more interested in the material remains of the great cultures – the pyramids, the hieroglyphics…that sort of thing. We were studying the cultural remains. A decade or two later, our immersion-style investigation would be much more acceptable, desirable in fact. Look at the work of Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict. Though even their research wasn’t participatory. Many decades would pass before participatory anthropology would be accepted – though it would still be controversial and ultimately unreliable. You mentioned being familiar with the works of Carlos Castenada.

(Yes! Did you know him too? You seem to know everyone.)

Well, I am telling you my life story! *laughs* Which necessarily involves people I know or knew. The list of people I don’t know is vastly larger than those I do, just like everyone else. Though admittedly, my list of people known – people of some repute – is longer than most.

(So Castenada. I loved those books. But I don’t know whether to believe them. I want to. They seem believable. It seems like I could sit in a bus station in Nogales and there would be Don Juan.)

Well…it depends on what you mean by true.

(I hate answers like that!)

*laughs* Part of what seems believable in the books is due to Carlos’ familiarity with the geography and culture of the region. He really did travel and study there for many years. He really did speak with the Indians. He really did get to know some of the shamans and became familiar with their practices. He undoubtedly ingested hallucinogenic plants – perhaps even under the guidance of a shaman. But as for the identity of Don Juan….I would say that Don Juan is an amalgamation of several different men he knew. Some shamans, and some men like me…men with knowledge of esoteric Meso-American practices and philosophies. And some…well, some…how can I put it…beatnik West Coast counter-cultural Aquarian gurus. *laughs*

(Men like you? He knew you? Talked to you?)

Yes, indeed. We corresponded for several months. And then Carlos and I met regularly. You really shouldn’t tell this to anyone. This is off the record, so to speak. For one thing, I have no wish to aggrandize myself. To you is one matter. *laughs* I think you can take it…and take me. And for another thing, I have no wish to harm Carlos. He is a troubled soul. Very…unruhe, as the Germans say.

Honestly, I saw much of what I told Carlos put into the mouth of Don Juan. In some ways I suppose I am Don Juan. I honestly do not hold this against Carlos. There is a great literary tradition of this sort of thing. And personally, I think the line between history and fiction is often blurred. It’s like watching a magician – the sleight-of-hand kind. You know that you are being fooled, but nevertheless you see something magical. You want to see magic! And as much as the sleight of hand is important, also vital is the narration of the magician -- the patter. This is the power of words.

Carlos has a wonderfully creative mind. And whether or not his stories are literally true, they contain truth. And they contain beauty. Some men, for various reasons, cannot handle the truths of this world. And so they create truths of a different world.

(Ain’t that the truth.)

Calla te! *laughs* You responded to something in Carlos’ stories. It called to you. And this is where the true magic is. When you feel that life is something bigger than our petty activities of the day. And that we can participate in that bigger life. Drugs are an easy passport to this bigger world – but there are dangers -- practical ones, but also, shall we say, existential dangers. They say in Zen that when you reach Nirvana, you realize that Nirvana is what you were doing before you started trying to reach Nirvana! The same, but now different.

(That would be a great name for a band...Nirvana.)

You and your bands! *laughs*

That's a great story, Reno. You should flesh it out and make a short story out of it. If you don't, I will. I'm a thief that way. ;)

Comment by Jim A Parks
3/26/2008 @ 2:02 pm

so, about time for part 8?

Comment by davo
6/18/2008 @ 11:37 pm

Yeah, about time. The story is drawing to a close. I know where to go with it. I just need to sit down and write. Thanks for the prod. :)

Comment by Jim A Parks
6/19/2008 @ 12:03 am

That's a great story, Reno. You should flesh it out and make a short story out of it. If you don't, I will. I'm a thief that way. ;) Comment by Jim A Parks 3/26/2008 @ 2:02 pm

so, about time for part 8? Comment by davo 6/18/2008 @ 11:37 pm

Yeah, about time. The story is drawing to a close. I know where to go with it. I just need to sit down and write. Thanks for the prod. :) Comment by Jim A Parks 6/19/2008 @ 12:03 am

That's a great story, Reno. You should flesh it out and make a short story out of it. If you don't, I will. I'm a thief that way. ;)

Comment by Jim A Parks
3/26/2008 @ 2:02 pm

so, about time for part 8?

Comment by davo
6/18/2008 @ 11:37 pm

Yeah, about time. The story is drawing to a close. I know where to go with it. I just need to sit down and write. Thanks for the prod. :)

Comment by Jim A Parks
6/19/2008 @ 12:03 am