05-29-2002, 12:00 AM
One of the more all-encompassing aspects of is the dual conception of reality expressed by the terms "tonal" and "nagual', without a doubt one of the many examples indicative of its pre-Columbian substratum. It is not difficult to establish the close relation between such concepts and the two facets of Cometeotl, the principal maintainer of the world in the ancient Nahuatl tradition, whose highest expression was reached in the Toltec world.
Castaneda makes his most detailed exposition of the tonal and the nagual in Tales of Power. There he reveals to us the two aspects of the tonal: as the space in which the average person exists during the duration of life; and as the organizer that gives meaning and significance to everything having to do with awareness. The tonal includes all that a human is, thinks, and does, all that we can think and talk about. Reason, thought, and the ordinary description of reality are the fortress of the tonal, the entire spectrum of the known. It is noteworthy that for an average person there exists only the known, so that all conscious experience is restricted within the confines of the tonal, which begins at birth and ends in death.
The nagual then would be all that remaining outside the tonal. It is that about which it is not possible to think. Castaneda presents the tonal as an island upon which is passed the whole of life. No one knows anything about what lies beyond the borders of the island. The nagual would be all that space of unfathomable mystery surrounding it.
Although the nagual cannot be understood or verbalizedsince understanding and words belong to the tonalit nevertheless can be witnessed and experienced. That is one of the prime objectives of a sorcerer. It is not important to try to understand or rationalize the experience of the nagual; the sorcerer is interested only in the pragmatic possibilities it puts within his or her reach.
Although ultimately everything occurs in the nagual, which is all encompassing, the task of the tonal is to endow the reality of the nagual (the universe of the eagle's emanations) with order and meaning, which are not part of transcendental reality.
The tonal and the nagual aspects of the world also have a corresponding expression in every human being, each of whom has a tonal side and a nagual side. In the work of Castaneda they are also called awareness of the right side and awareness of the left side, ordinary awareness and awareness of the other self, the dreamer and the dreamed. The tonal, in giving order to the chaos inherent in the nagual, protects our being from the devastating impact that would result were we to confront the nagual unprepared.
This distinction between tonal and nagual colors all of don Juan's didactics, which are divided into teachings for the right side and teachings for the left side. The first serve to create more healthy and functional elements on the island of the tonal or what is known as "sweeping the island of the tonal". The second have the purpose of bringing the apprentice to directly witness the nagual in such a way as not to lose sanity.
So, if the tonal of each individual is what gives order and meaning to the world, and the reality thus perceived has no transcendental existence, then how is it that human beings share a similar view of reality among themselves? What is it that causes the tonal of every one of us to construct a reality we all share?
Part of the answer can be found in what was said about the collective construction of ordinary perception using the first ring of power. However, there exists another factor known as the "tonal of the times", which can be understood as a general description of the world that the members of each society share in their specific time and place. This they sustain between themselves by having internalized it simultaneously and by transmitting it to the newly born within the society. The latter must assimilate it to integrate themselves as members, which they become the moment they are capable of reproducing and sharing said description. It is precisely the tonal of the times that imposes on each individual a description that, combined with the personal tonal, constructs a perception to agree with the rest of the members of the society. Naturally there exist small differences from person to person that have their origin in the individual personal history of each one. Lone Wolf
Castaneda makes his most detailed exposition of the tonal and the nagual in Tales of Power. There he reveals to us the two aspects of the tonal: as the space in which the average person exists during the duration of life; and as the organizer that gives meaning and significance to everything having to do with awareness. The tonal includes all that a human is, thinks, and does, all that we can think and talk about. Reason, thought, and the ordinary description of reality are the fortress of the tonal, the entire spectrum of the known. It is noteworthy that for an average person there exists only the known, so that all conscious experience is restricted within the confines of the tonal, which begins at birth and ends in death.
The nagual then would be all that remaining outside the tonal. It is that about which it is not possible to think. Castaneda presents the tonal as an island upon which is passed the whole of life. No one knows anything about what lies beyond the borders of the island. The nagual would be all that space of unfathomable mystery surrounding it.
Although the nagual cannot be understood or verbalizedsince understanding and words belong to the tonalit nevertheless can be witnessed and experienced. That is one of the prime objectives of a sorcerer. It is not important to try to understand or rationalize the experience of the nagual; the sorcerer is interested only in the pragmatic possibilities it puts within his or her reach.
Although ultimately everything occurs in the nagual, which is all encompassing, the task of the tonal is to endow the reality of the nagual (the universe of the eagle's emanations) with order and meaning, which are not part of transcendental reality.
The tonal and the nagual aspects of the world also have a corresponding expression in every human being, each of whom has a tonal side and a nagual side. In the work of Castaneda they are also called awareness of the right side and awareness of the left side, ordinary awareness and awareness of the other self, the dreamer and the dreamed. The tonal, in giving order to the chaos inherent in the nagual, protects our being from the devastating impact that would result were we to confront the nagual unprepared.
This distinction between tonal and nagual colors all of don Juan's didactics, which are divided into teachings for the right side and teachings for the left side. The first serve to create more healthy and functional elements on the island of the tonal or what is known as "sweeping the island of the tonal". The second have the purpose of bringing the apprentice to directly witness the nagual in such a way as not to lose sanity.
So, if the tonal of each individual is what gives order and meaning to the world, and the reality thus perceived has no transcendental existence, then how is it that human beings share a similar view of reality among themselves? What is it that causes the tonal of every one of us to construct a reality we all share?
Part of the answer can be found in what was said about the collective construction of ordinary perception using the first ring of power. However, there exists another factor known as the "tonal of the times", which can be understood as a general description of the world that the members of each society share in their specific time and place. This they sustain between themselves by having internalized it simultaneously and by transmitting it to the newly born within the society. The latter must assimilate it to integrate themselves as members, which they become the moment they are capable of reproducing and sharing said description. It is precisely the tonal of the times that imposes on each individual a description that, combined with the personal tonal, constructs a perception to agree with the rest of the members of the society. Naturally there exist small differences from person to person that have their origin in the individual personal history of each one. Lone Wolf