05-31-2025, 06:07 AM
I only know the basics of Castaneda's wider initiation story, but did read about the methods he was taught. I was more interested in the methods than all the story around it.
While I say his method is intense, I mean mostly on the amount of time one might expect to spend on it. It's not like a drug-induced DMT experience that people talk about on the influencer circuit, or not commonly. It's probably not any more or less intense than any other methods, in its own way. I don't know anyone that tried it, but I believe they'll work for those inclined toward going through with them. It's an interesting flavor of folklore surrounding it, but not widely practiced. Even within their own culture these shaman are a bit of an acquired taste. The rigor of the method probably screens out people that aren't a little bit odd to begin with.
As far as I know the Ganzfeld experiments used a red static field, but I don't know how widely they experimented with other colors. I think the key triggers are the static field and the rods. Red is the best color light for preserving night vision. I think it would make sense that a totally static field in zero light conditions would maximize the exposure of the rods and intensify the Ganzfeld effect. It would make sense that if there is something that exists on the fringes of human visual perception, that a good way to see it would be with the eye's aperture wide open while starved of all other input. It's also a blank wall meditation, in essence, so not totally removed from transcendental meditation.
I see where a lot of things all tie in, but I cannot yet draw a diagram of the knot.
While I say his method is intense, I mean mostly on the amount of time one might expect to spend on it. It's not like a drug-induced DMT experience that people talk about on the influencer circuit, or not commonly. It's probably not any more or less intense than any other methods, in its own way. I don't know anyone that tried it, but I believe they'll work for those inclined toward going through with them. It's an interesting flavor of folklore surrounding it, but not widely practiced. Even within their own culture these shaman are a bit of an acquired taste. The rigor of the method probably screens out people that aren't a little bit odd to begin with.
As far as I know the Ganzfeld experiments used a red static field, but I don't know how widely they experimented with other colors. I think the key triggers are the static field and the rods. Red is the best color light for preserving night vision. I think it would make sense that a totally static field in zero light conditions would maximize the exposure of the rods and intensify the Ganzfeld effect. It would make sense that if there is something that exists on the fringes of human visual perception, that a good way to see it would be with the eye's aperture wide open while starved of all other input. It's also a blank wall meditation, in essence, so not totally removed from transcendental meditation.
I see where a lot of things all tie in, but I cannot yet draw a diagram of the knot.