Castaneda, Carlos – The Second Ring of Power

the influence of his smoking mixture. I had experienced incon-

ceivable sensations. Once I saw myself all green as if I were

covered with algae. After that he recommended that I avoid

water.

Has my second attention been injured by water? I asked.

It has, she replied. You are a very indulging man. The

Nagual warned you to be cautious, but you went beyond

your limits with running water. The Nagual said that you

could’ve used water like no one else, but it wasn’t your fate

to be moderate.

She pulled her bench closer to mine.

That’s all there is to gazing, she said. But there are other

things I must tell you before you leave.

What things, Gorda?

First of all, before I say anything, you must round up your

second attention for the little sisters and me.

I don’t think I can do that.

La Gorda stood up and went into the house. She came back

a moment later with a small, thick, round cushion made out of

the same natural fiber used in making nets. Without saying a

word she led me again to the front porch. She said that she had

made that cushion herself for her comfort when she was learn-

ing to gaze, because the position of the body was of great

importance while one was gazing. One had to sit on the

ground on a soft mat of leaves, or on a cushion made out of

natural fibers. The back had to be propped against a tree, or a

stump, or a flat rock. The body had to be thoroughly relaxed.

The eyes were never fixed on the object, in order to avoid

tiring them. The gaze consisted in scanning very slowly the

object gazed at, going counterclockwise but without moving

the head. She added that the Nagual had made them plant

those thick poles so they could use them to prop themselves.

She had me sit on her cushion and prop my back against a

pole. She told me that she was going to guide me in gazing at

a power spot that the Nagual had in the round hills across the

valley. She hoped that by gazing at it I would get the neces-

sary energy to round up my second attention.

She sat down very close to me, to my left, and began giving

me instructions. Almost in a whisper she told me to keep my

eyelids half closed and stare at the place where two enormous

round hills converged. There was a narrow, steep water can-

yon there. She said that that particular gazing consisted of

four separate actions. The first one was to use the brim of my

hat as a visor to shade off the excessive glare from the sun and

allow only a minimal amount of light to come to my eyes;

then to half-close my eyelids; the third step was to sustain the

opening of my eyelids in order to maintain a uniform flow of

light; and the fourth step was to distinguish the water canyon

in the background through the mesh of light fibers on my

eyelashes.

I could not follow her instructions at first. The sun was

high over the horizon and I had to tilt my head back. I tipped

my hat until I had blocked off most of the glare with the brim.

That seemed to be all that was needed. As soon as I half closed

my eyes, a bit of light that appeared as if it were coming from

the tip of my hat literally exploded on my eyelashes, which

were acting as a filter that created a web of light. I kept my

eyelids half closed and played with the web of light for a

moment until I could distinguish the dark, vertical outline of

the water canyon in the background.

La Gorda told me then to gaze at the middle part of the

canyon until I could spot a very dark brown blotch. She said

that it was a hole in the canyon which was not there for the

eye that looks, but only for the eye that sees. She warned me

that I had to exercise my control as soon as I had isolated that

blotch, so that it would not pull me toward it. Rather, I was

supposed to zoom in on it and gaze into it. She suggested that

the moment I found the hole I should press my shoulders on

hers to let her know. She slid sideways until she was leaning

on me.

I struggled for a moment to keep the four actions coordin-

ated and steady, and suddenly a dark spot was formed in the

middle of the canyon. I noticed immediately that I was not

seeing it in the way I usually see. The dark spot was rather an

impression, a visual distortion of sorts. The moment my con-

trol waned it disappeared. It was in my field of perception

only if I kept the four actions under control. I remembered

then that don Juan had engaged me countless times in a similar

activity. He used to hang a small piece of cloth from a low

branch of a bush, which was strategically located to be in line

with specific geological formations in the mountains in the

background, such as water canyons or slopes. By making me

sit about fifty feet away from that piece of cloth, and having

me stare through the low branches of the bush where the cloth

hung, he used to create a special perceptual effect in me. The

piece of cloth, which was always a shade darker than the

geological formation I was staring at, seemed to be at first a

feature of that formation. The idea was to let my perception

play without analyzing it. I failed every time because I was

thoroughly incapable of suspending judgment, and my mind

always entered into some rational speculation about the

mechanics of my phantom perception.

This time I felt no need whatsoever for speculations. La

Gorda was not an imposing figure that I unconsciously needed

to fight, as don Juan had obviously been to me.

The dark blotch in my field of perception became almost

black. I leaned on la Gorda’s shoulder to let her know. She

whispered in my ear that I should struggle to keep my eyelids

in the position they were in and breathe calmly from my ab-

domen. I should not let the blotch pull me, but gradually go

into it. The thing to avoid was letting the hole grow and sud-

denly engulf me. In the event that that happened I had to open

my eyes immediately.

I began to breathe as she had prescribed, and thus I could

keep my eyelids fixed indefinitely at the appropriate aperture.

I remained in that position for quite some time. Then I

noticed that I had begun to breathe normally and that it had

not disturbed my perception of the dark blotch. But suddenly

the dark blotch began to move, to pulsate, and before I could

breathe calmly again, the blackness moved forward and en-

veloped me. I became frantic and opened my eyes.

La Gorda said that I was doing distance gazing and for that

it was necessary to breathe the way she had recommended.

She urged me to start all over again. She said that the Nagual

used to make them sit for entire days rounding up their second

attention by gazing at that spot. He cautioned them repeatedly

about the danger of being engulfed because of the jolt the

body suffered.

It took me about an hour of gazing to do what she had de-

lineated. To zoom in on the brown spot and gaze into it meant

that the brown patch in my field of perception lightened up

quite suddenly. As it became clearer I realized that something

in me was performing an impossible act. I felt that I was actu-

ally advancing toward that spot; thus the impression I was

having that it was clearing up. Then I was so near to it that I

could distinguish features in it, like rocks and vegetation. I

came even closer and could look at a peculiar formation on

one rock. It looked like a roughly carved chair. I liked it very

much; compared to it the rest of the rocks seemed pale and

uninteresting.

I don’t know how long I gazed at it. I could focus on every

detail of it. I felt that I could lose myself forever in its detail

because there was no end to it. But something dispelled my

view; another strange image was superimposed on the rock,

and then another one, and another yet. I became annoyed with

the interference. At the instant I became annoyed I also

realized that la Gorda was moving my head from side to side

from behind me. In a matter of seconds the concentration of

my gazing had been thoroughly dissipated.

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