Goodnight, Carlos.

I idly googled Castaneda just now, and found that he is dead.

He had withdrawn from public life after Time magazine had described him (rather unkindly, I thought) as "an enigma wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a tortilla".

He lived in a big house with some other students of Don Juan and continued his experiments (?) with perception and alternative reality right up until his death from cancer in 1998. Nobody knew he was gone and his passing was not made public till many months later.

Back in the day his writings had an unsettling effect on me -- I felt he was on to something, but I wasn't certain what it was. And, yes, it did make me want to try peyote.

But one thing I am positive about - he believed. He wasn't a Lobsang Rampa, milking the metaphysical for all it was worth.

So good night, Carlos, and I hope you found what you were looking for.