Teachings of don Juan

In his books, Carlos Castaneda describes his studies with Juan Matus, a magician and representative of ancient shamanic knowledge. Many critics point to the improbability of the events described by Castaneda, but his ideas won many followers around the world. Don Juan Castaneda represents a wise shaman, whose image does not coincide with the stereotype of an Indian shaman, and the knowledge he shares does not coincide with the ideas of academic science about the shamanic culture of Indians. Castaneda believed that don Juan described a type of cognitive system unfamiliar to a European, who usually focuses on something "a priori" existing (on his ideas about how the world should be arranged, which was rigidly formed under the pressure of socialization).