Don Juan Matus

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Don Juan Matus is a major character in the series of books by Carlos Castaneda ("Don" is a common, polite, term of deference in Spanish).

In Castaneda's books, Don Juan Matus was a Yaqui Indian whom he met during anthropological field work around the U.S.-Mexico border. On subsequent visits, Don Juan revealed himself to Castaneda as being a sort of medicine man who had inherited (through a lineage of teachers) an ancient Central American practice for refining one's awareness of the universe.

Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau – associates of Castaneda – also wrote about the same Don Juan Matus, although he went by different pseudonyms in their books such as Mariano Aureliano. In all of these books, Don Juan Matus was a nagual who was leader of a group of practitioners of tradition of perceptual enhancement.

The actual existence of Don Juan is a matter of some dispute between Castaneda's supporters and critics. If Don Juan were a real person, his real name was apparently changed to maintain his anonymity.