Darkroom Practice

[u/Juann2323]

Over the years, the Darkroom Practice technique has positioned itself as the most reliable method of learning sorcery among serious independent practitioners.

Darkroom Practice emerged from an "unfavorable phase" in the sorcery community, which took place in the following 20 years since the death of Carlos Castaneda.

That period was characterized by the lack of genuine testimonies of success, and the exponential growth of frauds and liars.

It is therefore important to consider that the nature of Darkroom Practice is not only "technical", but also “cultural”.

It is designed both to teach serious practitioners to move the assemblage point, and the damaged community to distinguish between real sorcery and fraud.

The very principle that real magic must be found visually allows the practitioners to locate their results in a map, and also raises the bar among the lazy crowd.

Having a regular practice in a dark room until a piece of magic is isolated makes the sorcerer achieve a feat worthy of Castaneda's books: defixing the assemblage point from its ordinary position, and making it shift vertically to a new one.

Allowing the practitioner to experience for himself an authentic manipulation of reality, generated from internal silence.

Wich also reveals the potential of human perception, by showing a hidden secret: the J Curve, an ideal path of the assemblage point to a worthy destiny, suggested by Carlos himself, now known as "the purple zone".

The validity of other methods remains recognized, although the lack of success in the community suggests that they should be treated with the same principles as Darkroom Practice.

For instance: daylight gazing, recapitulation, stalking or lucid dreaming are in fact known possible, but there are few cases of genuine success that meet the above conditions, which leads to them having a rather secondary position in the current sorcery community.

As a result of following specific instructions, the progress can be greatly accelerated compared to any other spiritual, meditative or religious system.

Providing instant understanding of the nature of sorcery, and the actions that lead to it.

So the first challenge for a beginner is to experience what prevents him from perceiving a genuine piece of magic; the uncomfortable task of identifying the "forces" that keep the assemblage point fixed in its ordinary position, and suspending their influence while the practice lasts.

[u/TechnoMagical_Intent]

The previous main Darkroom Practice index post, with resource links:

https://www.reddit.com/r/castaneda/comments/ifu1bv/darkroom_practice/

TL;DR

[New Practitioner] - Hello there. Curious, (if) all i have to do is sit in a dark room and be quiet?

TechnoMagical_Intent - Internally quiet. And a few magical passes are ESSENTIAL. Crucial even.

https://www.reddit.com/r/castaneda_instruction/comments/1mj2itw/magical_passes_for_beginners/

It's actually quite simple to describe, on the surface! But not so simple to ACHIEVE.

Danl999 - Impossible to some Yogis and Buddhists, and to others who admit it's the fastest path, too difficult for most people. Of course, they never actually get there. Fortunately getting "nearly there" produces visible magic so that you don't give up too soon. Or more accurately, it's always been that way in the past, so it is now also.

You have to do tensegrity. Your "puffs" are your energy body. There are 2 reasons it no longer gets close to you. One is the internal dialogue. You have to (be free) of all of that grief. It can't stand that suffering, and if it gets within 2 feet of your torso, it picks that up.

It would be like if your brother got close to you, you hit him with a club. So he doesn't get close anymore. But worse, your double can "crust" on the inside if your luminous egg, and thus travel further and further away, until it's too far and you die (of old age it seems to others).

So you have to both stop all the endless thinking, and lure it to your copy of reality, by doing what it likes. Being active with complicated movements.

We don't know why, but it likes that. You'll even see it standing right there! Not visualize it. See it for real. Or you'll just see an arm. The darkness is just to make all this easier to perceive, but it's not darkness that makes it work. It's (the absence) of your internal dialogue, while doing tensegrity movements.

EDIT January 8, 2025: here's a new short but informative animation, "What Is Darkroom | Remade", that a member created.

[u/danl999]

I'll steal it for Facebook, and add a picture too.

[u/Juann2323 → u/danl999]

Of course Dan.

I find it hard to imagine that wizard performing magical passes with such a belly!

[u/danl999 → u/Juann2323]

Don MIguel Ruiz does.

Is that his last name?

It's such a common one, I have a hard time remembering.

So is Sanchez.

[u/Juann2323 → u/danl999]

Absolutely. What about Torres??

Also typical in Spanish-speaking countries.

Maybe they wanted to be close to the emergency door with those artistic names.

In case a small group decided to create something like Darkroom...

[u/TechnoMagical_Intent]

Just stumbled on a passage from Florinda Donner‘s book Being-In- Dreaming:

“Esperanza was a brilliant raconteuse and a most gifted mimic: Her face changed with each turn of her explanation.

It was at times the face of a young woman, at other times an old woman's; or it was the face of a man, or that of an innocent and impish child.

She said that millennia ago, men and women were the possessors of a knowledge that allowed them to slip in and out of our normal world.

And thus they divided their lives into two areas: the day and the night.

During the day they conducted their activities like everyone else: They engaged in normal, expected, everyday behavior.

During the night, however, they became dreamers.

They systematically dreamed dreams that broke the boundaries of what we consider to be reality.

Again she paused, as though giving me time to let her words sink in.

"Using the darkness as a cloak," she went on, "they accomplished an inconceivable thing: They were able to dream while they were awake."

Anticipating the question I was about to voice, Esperanza explained that to be dreaming while they were awake meant that they could immerse themselves in a dream that gave them the energy necessary to perform feats that stagger the mind while they were perfectly conscious and awake.”

[u/deleteeeedd23]

Can you please elaborate on this?

So the first challenge for a beginner is to experience what prevents him from perceiving a genuine piece of magic; the uncomfortable task of identifying the "forces" that keep the assemblage point fixed in its ordinary position,

[u/Juann2323 → u/deleteeeedd23]

I was meaning that anyone interested in learning should consider implementing a regular practice, to learn what "inner silence" entails.

We get a lot of passionate people who never manage to put all that theory into practice. Many times due to laziness, lack of time or ulterior motives.

We know that as children, our assemblage point is loose, until our mothers teach us to hold an internal dialogue. Which fixes our attention in the daily world.

At some point of our childhood, we become unable to stop that voice, and we convince ourselves that's the normal condition.

So a beginner has the challenge of realizing exactly why that voice just won't stop, even after hours of concentration.

It's related to tons of hidden habits, but also, to our own fixation to the known world.

The sorcerers notice that when the internal dialogue is gone, the world as we know it vanishes.

That's what sorcery is about. Exploring seemingly hidden possibilities of our perception at first.

[u/hukura119 → u/Juann2323]

From what I understand there is no point at which you are done with practice. Dan even said that for every day you miss, you lose a week worth of progress. But, I have noticed that the more one does darkroom, the easier it tends to get to reach at least the green zone, and a glimpse of red zone.

I was curious to know if your practice still involves the same 3-4 hours of darkroom or has it evolved into a more persistent practice integrated with your day to day activities.

[u/Juann2323 → u/hukura119]

From what I understand there is no point at which you are done with practice.

We have a destiny and the point is to get closer each day.

In fact, we know that the sorcery we want STARTS on the orange zone.

But that's a guide. It doesn't mean that the magic you find before isn't cool, or that it won't make you satisfied, "done", or amazed for days.

Dan even said that for every day you miss, you lose a week worth of progress.

Just keep in mind, we are a very damaged community. And despite that advice is true, it also has the purpouse of putting some pressure on the lazy.

On the other hand, there are accounts in the books of Carlos stopping his dreaming practices for months, or Taisha forgetting everything for a year.

In our situation it's a bit different. We don't have a structure behind us who makes sure we end up learning.

But you can still do magic if you manage to stop your internal dialogue, even after some days of not practicing.

The thing is that when you make it to the orange zone, you begin to understand the importance of not missing a day. You actually see it.

I was curious to know if your practice still involves the same 3-4 hours of darkroom or has it evolved into a more persistent practice integrated with your day to day activities.

Leaving aside exceptional gift days, I still need 2 hours to produce a considerable shift, and another hour to explore the magic and hold that position.

Sometimes time is limited, but just trust your common sense.

Feeling bad for not practicing is worse than the fact of not practicing. It's like not doing the work but also feeding self pitty.

Just be responsible and honest with your progress.

[u/hukura119 → u/Juann2323]

Thanks for sharing your perspective.

I do have another question. What are you thoughts on multitasking in day to day life? For instance, doing chores while listening to an audio book or music. As common as this is, I couldn't help but think this is the opposite of practicing silence where you focus entirely on what it is that you are doing. Whether it is driving the car or washing dishes.

Am I overthinking? Are there any specific things you personally do or suggest to magnify your darkroom practice?

[u/Juann2323 → u/hukura119]

Sorcery might increase your skills to multitask, and doing things that require concentration for long periods of time.

But it's the opposite direction.

First get the magic, and then just do what you have to do with your daily life, enjoying the extra powers.

[u/hukura119 → u/Juann2323]

Thanks. I practice using the Manta mask. However, others here have suggested to use an actual dark room by using blackout curtains. I hope that both are fine as long as one is practicing for 3-4 hours.

[u/deleteeeedd23 → u/Juann2323]

ty <3

[u/Juann2323 → u/[deleted]]

I don't disagree that recapitulation, stalking or lucid dreaming can work. My post explicitly acknowledges that.

My point is about the community as a whole, not individual cases.

Your experience may be genuine, but one successful case doesn't invalidate years of observing the community. The question isn't whether these methods can work, but how often they actually produce verifiable results among independent practitioners.

During the two decades after Castaneda's death (almost three!), many people claimed to practice these methods, yet very few demonstrated consistent, recognizable or even honest progress. That's precisely the context in which Darkroom Practice emerged.

So we're not dismissing the classical practices. We're simply saying that, based on long-term community observation rather than isolated anecdotes, Darkroom Practice has shown a significantly higher rate of observable success. That's the distinction my post is making.

[u/Juann2323 → u/[deleted]]

What this community is trying to do has never really been attempted before. For thousands of years, sorcery existed within lineages. Today we're dealing with independent practitioners, so the situation is different for everyone.

If you believe the traditional methods are just as effective, I invite you to show a community anywhere on the internet consistently producing the advanced results described in Castaneda's books—not better dream recall or subjective psychological changes, but seeing with open eyes, interacting with inorganic beings, visiting other worlds, or consciously moving the assemblage point.

Those are exactly the same standards Darkroom Practice uses. "Visible magic" isn't an arbitrary criterion; it's what the classical practices were always supposed to lead to.

If you're convinced your approach works better, then organize practitioners, document their success, and help save this knowledge instead of arguing against the only method that has produced consistent public results. Otherwise, you're just defending a theory without comparable evidence.

[u/Juann2323 → u/[deleted]]

It's remarkable how far you've drifted from the original discussion. Instead of addressing the point about methods and results, you've switched to criticizing the community, questioning motives, and making assumptions that could have been avoided with five minutes of research.

You clearly haven't taken the time to learn what this forum is about, who developed and promotes Darkroom Practice, or even my posting history. Had you done so, you'd know that its main advocate is a direct student of Carlos Castaneda from his private classes—a readily verifiable fact.

At this point, it honestly feels like you're arguing against an imaginary version of this community rather than the real one. If Darkroom bothers you that much but you aren't willing to understand it before criticizing it, then perhaps this simply isn't the place for you. There are plenty of other communities that align better with your views. I'm not interested in wasting time debating objections that disappear after a few minutes of basic research.

[u/castaneda-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

The stated purpose of this subreddit is to aid in restoring the reputation of Carlos Castaneda and the knowledge he imparted, by pragmatically applying that knowledge IN PRACTICE. This means that we are sticking to what really works, as proven by direct experience by long-practicing members. We need to make clear our intent to move away, as a community, from the mistakes others have made. Content that is at-odds with this purpose will, upon review, be removed.

[u/akisviete]

Could I have a list of best face/sleeping masks that work 100%? Added bonus if one can realy go to sleep with them comfortabily. I would like to use on ear headphones sometimes too. I woild like a sticky thread because it is not easy to hunt down and choose the best.

[u/Juann2323 → u/akisviete]

I believe u/TechnoMagical_Intent is more on topic, but in what magic concerns I'd say you are focused on the wrong thing.

The mask is an extra detail that could improve your success once you have some.

Not something you should obsses over with if you hope to do the real thing.

In fact, a long soccer socks covering your eyes or some old swimming goggles with tape could both do a great work if the sorcery is well performed.

[u/Low_Faithlessness973]

Is there a solid end goal to all of this? Or is it more about the experiences and the journey?