Knowing that I was a Carlos Castaneda fan, my friend Tiffany Markman took great care to paint this enchanting piece for my 60th birthday. She beautifully incorporated the colour scheme from “Journey to Ixtlan” and “Tales of Power”. I can imagine don Juan Matus (the Yaqui sorcerer and Castaneda’s spiritual teacher) looking into infinity, or as he would put it, “The Active Side Of Infinity.”

And, of course, Castaneda used the crow to serve as a reminder of the impermanence of life and the constant presence of death. The crow is seen as a guide, urging individuals to live fully and embrace the uncertainty of existence.

ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ 7 ᴄᴀꜱᴛᴀɴᴇᴅᴀ Qᴜᴏᴛᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ɪ ɴᴀᴠɪɢᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴇxɪꜱᴛᴇɴᴄᴇ (and, the world of that I work in).

1. Never take a path that has no heart in it. You can’t lose if your heart is in your work, but you can’t win if your heart is not in it.”

2. “If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t. One makes for a joyful journey…”

3. “The trick is in what one emphasises. We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.” [3]

4. “The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.”

5. “A warrior lives by acting, not by thinking about acting.”

6. “Think about it: what weakens us is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of our fellow men. Our self-importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone.”

7. “The average man is hooked to his fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to infinity.”