In Carlos Castaneda’s popular book of the 60s, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, Don Juan gives his apprentice Carlos, a UCLA anthropology graduate student, an initial “assignment” one evening to probe Carlos’ seriousness and resolve to learn the Yaqui way.
Carlos’ task is to find his sitio – a spot on the porch of Don Juan’s house in the Mexican desert where Carlos feels “naturally happy and strong,” the one place on the floor that is unique, where Carlos can be at his very best.
With determination and puzzlement, Carlos sets to work. After many frustrating hours of methodically trying out and rolling over every inch of that 12’ x 8’ space – and even attempting to “see” any differences in color emanating from its surface – Carlos falls asleep in exhaustion. When the shaman discovers him in a certain spot the next morning and awakens him, Don Juan, laughing, informs Carlos that he has passed the first test: he has found his sitio. What Don Juan is teaching is awareness of place. Quite obviously Carlos is a novice.
Whether or not Castaneda’s books meet anthropology’s “detached observer” standards or are read solely for delightful entertainment, Carlos’ Don Juan character makes an important observation about one’s sitio: accessing it regularly restores energy and sanity.
Some of us naturally seek out our favorite spot when we gravitate to a certain place in our home that makes us feel comfortable and at ease. We’re familiar with and use expressions like:
That’s Grandpa’s chair!
or
If you can’t find Mom, she’s probably in the garden.
Don Juan extends this concept to a regional sitio as well, when he tells Carlos:
Many places in the world would be comparable.
Indeed, in Sacred Earth: Places of Peace and Power, photographer Martin Gray masterfully captures nearly 1000 images in 80 countries that represent what Don Juan speaks about: places of renewal. These include Assisi, Angkor Wat, the Great Sphinx, the mysterious giant stone sculpture of Aramu Muru, the Nabataean temple of Al-Deir, and the White Sand Dunes of New Mexico.
Closer to home, most of us know of places in our own communities that have a special power and charm at a particular season or time of day. When we are able, we go there – often amid personal chaos and confusion – to return to a state of well-being. These places may be secretly cherished or even locations we fall in love with instantly. As Ansel Adams observes:
Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.
