A junkie, a liar, a seducer - all of these definitions relate to Carlos Castaneda, although most people would hardly associate him with them. For his thousands of readers, he is a spiritual master and writer whose books are unfolded with great impatience and interest. But here comes the truth: it turns out that the example of a thinker was hiding many faces, some of which were not harmless. Castaneda himself has refused to share specific facts about his past life, and even his death in 1998 is covered in a mystery. Counterfeiting began as early as his birthday: he himself mentioned it in 1935, 1936. It turns out that the exact year was 1926 and probably led by vanity, the writer saved 10 years of his age. In the same way "forgotten" and which is his home country. He was referring to Brazil and Argentina, and once he even said he was an Italian who had gone very young to South America. In fact, Castaneda was born in the small town of Camargue in Peru, located 856 km from the capital Lima.
There from a small sunken atmosphere of legends and legends related to the Inca Empire, and with the special ritual spells of their heirs - the Corded Courage. No one, however, encouraged his interest in them, as his parents were sober people who stood firmly on the ground. Castaneda also claimed that he represented his father as a university lecturer. The shame of his real profession is unexplainable. Cesar Castaneda was a failed artist who owns a jewelery shop. He not only supported his son in everything, but almost every day he took it with him to play in expensive jewels. The "amnesia" of the writer to his mother is also inexplicable. In one of his stories ("Heart-Drawing Reality"), he pityfully admits: "I remained a 6-year-old orphan ..." The truth is that his mother was alive and healthy until he was 22 years old, and they were very fond of each other.
The childhood of Castaneda was calm, but he, like most of his acquaintances, suffered from the extreme remoteness of the city from civilization. The train did not reach Kahamarka, and the nearest station was a mule-day drive. That's why the family's decision to move to Lima was perfectly logical. Carlos enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts and went into bohemian life. His fellow student, Jose Bramaconte, describes him as a "trickster, inexhaustible to the number that is mainly supported by mosquitoes (cards, horses, dice)". At the same time, Castaneda was also the first-class Don Juan. Despite his low stature, bristling hair, and gloom, he was very fond of women. "I remember," continues his colleague, "that the girls all waited for him at the academy in the morning." One of his acquaintances departed from his choices - the student of Sino-Peruvian descent Dolores del Rosario. To seduce her, Carlos vowed to marry her and even published a newspaper message. The wedding was prepared, the guests - invited, but the fiance himself - disappeared. As can be supposed, this was not due to an accident.
He knew he would become a father, Castaneda just escaped from Peru, boarded a San Francisco ship, and never called Dolores again. She became a laughing woman in front of the whole city and was forced to give her child a monastery. And Castaneda himself, taken along the road of life, devoted himself to new entertainment. So the tiny cunning emigrant no longer had any scruples. He was the one who bore the most of his origins and imagined a relative of Osvaldo Araña, one of Brazil's most prominent politicians. When he met his future wife, however, he devised another heartbreaking story: that he was actually an Italian born 16-year-old girl born out of wedlock. And, of course, only by love of art, he wanted to paint naked. 34-year-old Margaret Rannion did not wait long to convince her. She did not pay attention to his other adventures, and besides the physical attraction, they linked them to their common spiritual interests. This was the time when writers like Jack Kerouak,Allen Ginsberg William Burroughs and others were on the wave crest. All were worshiped by Castaneda. He was a maniacal admirer of Khrushchev and the Soviet state. Ignoring the prominent politicians and rock stars. For the next few years, until 1965 he devoted himself primarily to meditation, sociology, testing of various hallucinogenic plants.