November 7, 2004
It has recently come to my attention that there may be a fair amount of confusion as to the nature of the sorcerer's double, and yet it seems reasonable that anybody who is serious about this path needs to know as much as humanly possible about the double. What is it? What can it do? What can it not do? How does it manifest? And so on...
Over the course of the past few years, there were occasions when forum members at The Shaman's Rattle and/or The Sorcerer's World would report having encountered Orlando (my double) in dreaming, or through gnosis, or as a general "presence" who might appear in their lives from time to time. To me, this seems entirely reasonable, but recently I was asked the question: "If Orlando is your double, how is it that he can appear in other people's dreaming?"
When I talk about the double, I am not really talking about a metaphor for the higher self (though that is often the words used for convenience), nor is the double limited to being an "energy body" alone. The double is the self in eternity - non-local, a ubiquitous singularity (now there's a quantum paradox), with the knowledge and power of the universe at his/her fingertips. The double is not just a concept. It is a very real thing. I can visit you in your home, for example, and the double can visit you in dreaming, as an ally. When I say I have met my double in the flesh, I mean this quite literally. First attention. Stone cold sober. The fact of the matter is that Orlando chose to manifest in that form for reasons which have only become clear to me in hindsight. Bottom line - I was stubbornly rooted in the real world, and only such a blatant display of the nagual could ever have gotten my attention.
No matter. For those who have read the Castaneda books, we are all familiar with the stories of don Genaro and his mischievous double. Over the years, a lot of Castaneda scholars have attempted to say Carlos was merely speaking in metaphor - "he met Genaro's spirit", or some such deflecting mumbo jumbo. No - he met Genaro's double - a being who essentially turned Carlos's world on its ear and shook him out of his stupor, perhaps even moreso than don Juan. At that level, Genaro's double had become an ally to Carlos.
What a lot of people fail to realize (or are afraid to confront) is that Carlos was speaking the absolute truth for most if not all of what he wrote. The double is not a metaphor. It is real. And because it is real, it can not only do anything you or I would do - it is essentially without limitations on the energetic plane - it can also worldwalk into dreaming, gnosis, meditation, or even appear in the flesh if given sufficient agenda by its mortal human source (the mortal self).
So when some of you tell me you have encountered Orlando in your dreaming, this comes as no surprise to me. Orlando is a very real being who essentially does what he must in order to facilitate my evolution and (consequently) his own. I have given him the agenda: "Teach me what I need to know. Make me Whole." I have put no limitations on him, nor would any other reasonable warrior/sorcerer, for to limit the double is to limit the self.
But I digress. Point is - while I would always advocate that each individual put their energy into the creation and eventual integration of their own double, it is entirely possible for Orlando or Genaro or Juan or Julian to act as an ally to anyone they may choose to engage. At this level, also, the double is very real - and though Orlando might be "my" double, I cannot say that I own him. Instead, I am him, and he is me - but until that final conjoining beyond the reach of the eagle, I am not always aware of his doings anymore than Genaro was aware of the doings of his own double.
So, to answer the question - can Orlando (or any other sufficiently-developed double) enter someone else's dreams - the answer is definitely, "Yes, of course." The thing is, however - at that level, someone else's double can only be an ally to another warrior, and should not be mistaken for your own double - something else that has happened on occasion.
Ultimately, the warrior's task is to dream their own double into being, through the force of unconditional love, and be prepared for that crossroad moment spoken of by don Juan when you become aware that it is the double who is dreaming you. To those who already "grok" this, no further explanation is necessary. To those who have not yet experienced it, no further explanation is possible.
I just wanted to start this discussion with the clarification that the double is far more than a metaphor, every bit as real as you and I. The warrior's goal is to dream her own double, of course, for that is the beginning of becoming a wo/man of Knowledge. Sometimes along the way, you may be fortunate enough to encounter an ally. That ally MAY be someone else's double... or not.
The mysterious stranger who snatches you out of the path of an oncoming bus may well be yourSelf - double, ally, guardian.
