From Academic Anthropology to Esoteric Religion: The Development of Carlos Castaneda’s Writings

Carlos Castaneda has been studied mostly as a fraud anthropologist, novelist/philosopher and a contributor to the emerging phenomenon of neo-shamanism. Instead, this article focuses on Castaneda’s individual philosophy and religious system as developed in his written works. A threefold classificatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kostićová, Zuzana Marie (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2023
In: Aries
Year: 2023, Volume: 23, Issue: 2, Pages: 206-232
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Castaneda, Carlos 1925-1998 / Philosophy / Religious conviction / Development / Text analysis / Spirituality / Shamanism
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AG Religious life; material religion
AZ New religious movements
Further subjects:B Neo-shamanism
B New Age
B Anthropology
B Sorcery
B Philosophy
B Castaneda, Carlos
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Summary:Carlos Castaneda has been studied mostly as a fraud anthropologist, novelist/philosopher and a contributor to the emerging phenomenon of neo-shamanism. Instead, this article focuses on Castaneda’s individual philosophy and religious system as developed in his written works. A threefold classification is proposed—early, transitional, and late works, complete with chief characteristics of each. The analysis shows how Castaneda slowly drifted from the scholarly style through stress on the narrative to full-fledged religious texts. These changes also reflect on Castaneda’s personal life; from academic ambition through public scandal ‘debunking’ his counterfeit works to the formation of a little new religious movement, of which Castaneda was a charismatic leader. Unlike most scholarly analyses of Castaneda that focus mainly on the early writings, this article takes into serious consideration his late works and shows that it was here that the author fully developed as a religious thinker and guru.
ISSN:1570-0593
Contains:Enthalten in: Aries
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700593-20211005