It seems incredible, to live our western secular lives, and be almost completely ignorant of the extraordinary spiritual heritage possessed by American indigenous peoples. Castaneda’s mentor, Don Juan Matus, is a most mysterious figure indeed. From the time of the Spaniard Cortez, indigenous shamanistic traditions have been brutally suppressed and pushed into the background. Castaneda writes of Don Juan in The Eagle’s Gift: “He told me that if I wanted to fly, I had to summon the intent of flying. He showed me then how he himself could summon it, and jumped in the air and soared in a circle, like a huge kite. Or he would make things appear in his hand. He said he knew the intent of many things and could call those things by intending them.” All this sounds extraordinary, but we know Jesus could do these things. The Hindus have a word “siddi” to describe these capabilities that we regard as “miraculous.” The message was that these abilities were obtainable by anyone with access to a knowledgeable mentor, and who was willing to dedicate themselves fully to the pursuit. What is Creator’s perspective?

As bizarre and improbable as this sounds, we can tell you that it is possible for a human being to perform such feats. This is the reason many have dreams of experiencing levitation and transforming things through the power of intention alone, at least seemingly. There are many miraculous seeming phenomena that are simply the ability of consciousness to impinge on forms of energy you see as solid to change its properties, to make it weightless, for example, and this, in effect, is simply physics, although not of a sort appreciated yet by mainstream science in your culture. This, indeed, is an advanced application of consciousness with an inner focused attention that believes totally in the possibility of achieving the effect in question. It is somewhat akin to feats of strength. The reason some can lift a thousand-pound weight and others cannot make it move whatsoever is visually obvious in sizing up the physique of the weightlifters in this example. They cannot both be slight of build with scant musculature. One will always be superior visibly, in physical prowess by virtue of their physical build. The power of consciousness within, from individual to individual, cannot be assessed by appearance of the person possessing that consciousness. It calls on qualities that are soul‑based and not really a part of the physical being at all. So that which is paranormal or extraordinary involving things beyond the normal senses and physical constraints will be a flow of consciousness coming from the soul level. There is no ready yardstick to predict who will have a greater reach into their soul than someone else, but that is the basis for the ability to perform such manipulations of mind over matter. There are many examples, including, in fact, displays of great physical strength, where a slight of build yogi can resist the force of ten men trying to move him without seeming to move a muscle, and that is because that operation does not require muscles at all, it is entirely an energetic display of a kind that is invisible but quite powerful indeed.