Carlos Castaneda (anglicized from Castañeda; 25 December 1925 – 27 April 1998) was a Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

vian-born American anthropologist

Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...

 and author.

Starting with The Teachings of Don Juan in 1968, Castaneda wrote a series of books that describe his training in shamanism. The books, narrated in the first person

First-person narrative

First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...

, relate his experiences under the tutelage of a Yaqui "Man of Knowledge" named don

Don (honorific)

Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...

 Juan Matus

Don Juan Matus

Don Juan Matus is a major figure in the series of books on Nagual 'Sorcery' by Carlos Castaneda.Matus is described as a Yaqui Indian to whom Castaneda was first introduced at a bus depot in Yuma, Arizona in the early 1960s. He turns out to be a 'Man of Knowledge' who imparts much of his wisdom and...

. His 12 books have sold more than 8 million copies in 17 languages.