The Sorcerer's Crossing: A Woman's Journey

I’m a huge Carlos Castaneda fan and was very eager to read Taisha Abelar's book. It was highly recommended to me as a more practical understanding and application of sorcery and more specifically, of stalking, a disciplined technique for conserving energy and thereby having enough power to alter perception. Unfortunately, for me, the best parts of the book were the Foreward written by Castaneda and the Preface written by Abelar. Sure, Abelar is a smart, competent writer, and she does a decent enough job of explaining her indoctrination into sorcery by a Mexican woman known as Clara Grau. Abelar copies Castaneda’s revolutionary writing format and style. This is where instead of observing (as an anthropologist), Castaneda tells us about his personal conversations and experiences with Don Juan. Likewise, Abelar tells us about her somewhat similar personal experiences with Grau. My big hope was that Abelar would also capture the extraordinary magic and mystery that Castaneda presented in his experiences, but it wasn’t there. This is the biggest disappointment and the primary reason why, at page 95, I lost interest in the book and didn’t finish it. Another reason I put the book down is because Abelar’s story has a convenient, contrived vibe that didn’t work for me. Of course, I realize Castaneda’s work is challenged as a hoax as well, but I never got (or get) the same contrived vibe from him. This book might appeal to anyone who’s a Castaneda fan or an affectionado of sorcery.

I love the way she draws you into the 'story' while showing you how to set yourself free. If you read this book with an open mind and heart you will be able to apply the insights to your own life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see life differently and yearns for a life based on personal freedom.

I have read all of Carlos Castaneda's, Florinda Donner-Grau's, and the only book by Taisha Abelar. This was the last book that I read. It was the best by far. Why didn't she write more?!? It not only gives you a different perspective on sorcery, but gives you concrete information on how to begin the sorcery path yourself. Of course this is pertaining to women. Men might find more help from Carlos's books. The best thing about this book was all the details of the recapitulation process. By the way, if you need details on where to do this yourself, refer to "The Teachings of Don Carlos" by Victor Sanchez. Please, take my recommendation on this book!

This is maybe the most practical book written about nagualism, as first described by Carlos Castaneda. It took me a long time to read this book, not because it was slow or dense, but because there are so many descriptions of practical exercises (often reminiscent of certain aspects of Tensegrity, but not always), that it took me five times as long to practice the maneuvers than to actually do the reading.That said, it is a very good book, even if you're not planning to recapitulate or anything like that. For people who haven't read any Castaneda, it will probably seem a little off-the-wall, especially given that Taisha Abelar doesn't really provide a wealth of explanations as to what she experienced -- only descriptions -- which is perhaps a sign of why Castaneda described her as such a stupendous stalker.This book is a good entry point into sorcery, especially so for women who have had a hard time getting into Castaneda, because of his inherently male bias. This book also works really well in conjunction with "Being in Dreaming" by Florinda Donner -- together, the two books cover the companion disciplines of stalking and dreaming.Finally, if you're serious about freeing up energy and breaking the barriers of perception, Taisha Abelar's book has the most detailed account of the recapitulation out of any of the related works. You'll learn a lot by listening to what she is told.

Taisha Abelar's book provides a woman insight into sorcery and this is important, because as wonderful and significant as Castaneda's books are, they are from a male perspective, and men think or order reality in a way that is fundamentally different from women. Women are synthesizers, men categorisers. Men are experts on gathering inventories and splitting hairs, women on making a coherent whole. Both are obviously useful and necessary ways of dealing with the cosmos, but Abelar's book shows for one thing how much more direct is women's dealings with life than men's. She does not have to engage in endless dialectics in order to reach the place where she can simply give herself permission to try. Her rationality was not as much of a bar to her in exploring these revolutionary concepts and her book is therefore direct and candid. Try it. If you like Castaneda, you'll find this one equally delightful and insightful and important.

Once I started reading this book, I stayed up all night to finish it. It was like a mystery--and showed me such a difference slice of human experience that I had to find out how it ended. Taisha's book was more satisfying to me than Castaneda's works, althought it travels in the same world. Maybe it's just the way she writes, or the fact that it is a woman's perspective, but I was totally captivated by this story. It showed me a way of life unlike anything I had imagined possible. Each person must decide for themself if her story is true. For me, I believe it.When I finished this book, I was left with several new ideas that didn't fit into my old way of thinking. Over the last year, I have been working them through, and have discovered the answers for myself. For a while, I wished that I could go to live with some scorcerers and have a similar growth experience. What I have accomplished is to find my own mystical path in the midst of everyday living, paying ! ! the rent, and keeping the fridge full. It's a solution that works for me. Taisha's book gave me a jump start into an area I didn't even know existed, and I'm grateful for that experience.