3. Why are Left and Right Awareness Important?

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It is necessary to understand the separation of awareness into left and right divisions, because references to left and right awareness occur throughout the works of Castaneda and Abelar, signifying them as important concepts in the enhancement of perception and the expansion of awareness. Interestingly, decades of research in neuroscience, particularly studies with split-brain patients, have uncovered that indeed human beings do possess two different, and relatively independent, consciousnesses apparently arising from the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Pederson (1 p. 19) succinctly affirms the scientific importance of this finding by noting that Sperry, et al, were awarded the Nobel Prize for their historic discovery. 

 

In 1980 a Nobel Prize was awarded to Professor Roger Sperry of the California Institute of Technology for his work on identifying specific functions of the brain which were lateralized either to the left or right hemispheres. He concluded from his work that human beings consist of two people in the same body, he says:

 

[We are] … two separate spheres of conscious awareness, that is two separate conscious entities running parallel in the same bony cranium each with its own sensations, perception, cognitive processes, learning experience, memories, and so on.

 

Castaneda (2 p. 138) (2 p. 138) tells us that the Shamans of ancient Mexico recognized that human beings are “composed of two complete functioning bodies, one on the left and one on the right”, and they saw that fundamental division as an opportunity to effectively employ the left body in reaching their ultimate goals. 

 

These “two separate conscious entities”, each with its own cognitive processes and perceptions, play a key role in the shaman’s goal of expanding awareness. Abelar (3 p. 42) (3 p. 61) (3 p. 224) gives an indication of this objective when she describes “the abstract flight”, and "the sorcerer's crossing" as a shift in awareness from the left to the right side of the head and as "soaring from the side of the concrete, the physical, to the side of expanded perception and impersonal abstract forms".

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Furthermore, during his training in the practice of shamanic ‘dreaming’, Castaneda (4 p. 258) confirms that it is the order of predominance that shifts between right and left side awareness, in the special state called ‘dreaming’. In essence, the left side awareness becomes dominant over the normally dominant right side awareness.

 

Castaneda (5 p. 116) (4 p. 163) also explains that the shaman’s philosophy divides the energy of man into the “tonal” and the “nagual”, revealing a variety of names that shaman use for each division. Specifically, the “tonal” is also referred to as the “right side”, “normal awareness”, “this world”, the “known” and the “first attention”, while the “nagual” is referred to as the “left side”, “heightened awareness”, the “other world”, the “unknown”, and the “second attention”.

 

According to Castaneda (6 p. 270) (6 p. 266) (6 p. 122) (6 p. 141), the tonal is “that indescribable unknown filled with order”, “where all the unified organization exists” and the nagual is, “the unspeakable“, “that indescribable void that contains everything”.

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Employing different terminology, Gowan (7 pp. 3-4) perhaps lends further insight into the nagual, referring to “that indescribable void that contains everything” as the “numinous element” and the “mysterium tremendum”.

 

It is difficult, if not impossible, to state exactly what the numinous element is. The Aztecs called it "Smoking Mirror" which indicates its reflective impersonal aspect. It appears to us as fluidic and watery, without form, and hence in this sense "void." The Hindus call it "the clear light of the Void."

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The association between the right/left side and the tonal/nagual are also evident in the record of Castaneda’s experiences. Some examples of this include; the apprentices on the bridge (4 p. 100) were “compelled to cross from the right side, the tonal, to the left side, the nagual”, Castaneda was always flanked to his right by his teacher (the tonal guide) and to his left by his benefactor (the nagual guide) (6 p. 248), Castaneda’s awareness was split in half using dichotic listening (6 p. 183) with the teacher on his right and the benefactor on his left, and Castaneda’s imperative to ‘remember his left side’ (4 p. 57) which held the memories of his excursions into the nagual.

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Castaneda (8 p. 167) directly states that he understood his teacher’s descriptions as metaphor for the “dominance of the left hemisphere of the brain over the right” hemisphere. And while significant differences do exist between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, we believe Castaneda’s reference to left and right awareness refers to different modes of awareness that are substantially, but not exclusively, determined by hemispheric laterality.

 

Therefore, when we examine the practices described and advocated by Castaneda and his cohorts, it is not surprising to discover that they particularly rely on engaging the left body (right hemisphere) as a means to enhance perception and expand awareness. Indeed, it is that point where both are active, where our totality exists, where we find the crack between the two worlds.

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References, 

1. Pedersen, David L. Cameral Analysis: A Method of Treating Psychoneuroses Using Hypnosis. New York, NY , USA : Routledge, 1994.

2. Castaneda, Carlos. Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico. New York, NY, USA : HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1998.

3. Abelar, Taisha. The Sorcerers' Crossing: A Woman's Journey. New York, NY, USA : Penguin Books USA Inc., 1992.

4. Castaneda, Carlos. The Eagle's Gift. New York, NY, USA : Pocket Books / Washinton Square Press / Simon & Schuster, 1981.

5. —. The Fire from Within. New York, NY, USA : Simon and Schuster, 1984.

6. —. Tales of Power. New York, NY, USA : Touchstone / Simon & Schuster, 1974.

7. Gowan, John C. Trance, Art and Creativity. Northridge, CA, USA : John Curtis Gowan, 1975.

8. Castaneda, Carlos. The Active Side of Infinity. New York, NY, USA : HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.

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