In 1960 Carlos Castaneda first met don Juan, a Yaqui Indian feared and shunned by the ordinary folk of the American Southwest because of his unnatural powers. During the next five years don Juan's arcane knowledge led Castaneda into a world of beauty and terror, ruled by concepts far beyond those of Western civilization.

Using psychedelic drugs - peyote, jimson weed and a mushroom called 'humito' - Castaneda lived through encounters with disembodied spirits, shamans in the form of huge wolves, and death in the shape of silver crows. Finally, after a night of utter terror in which he knew that his life was threatened by forces which he still cannot fully explain, he gave up his struggle to become a Man of Knowledge.

The teachings of don Juan is the story of Carlos Castaneda's extraordinary experiences.