"All I was capable of seeing was the dog becoming iridescent; an
intense light radiated from his body. I saw again the water flowing
through him, kindling him like a bonfire. I got to the water, sank my
face in the pan, and drank with him. My hands were in front of me on
the ground and, as I drank, I saw the fluid running through my veins
setting up hues of red and yellow and green. I drank more and more. I
drank until I was all afire; I was all aglow. I drank until the fluid
went out of my body through each pore, and projected out like fibers of
silk, and I too acquired a long, lustrous, iridescent mane. I looked at
the dog and his mane was like mine. A supreme happiness filled my
whole body, and we ran together toward a sort of yellow warmth that came
from some indefinite place. And there we played. We played and
wrestled until I knew his wishes and he knew mine. We took turns
manipulating each other in the fashion of a puppet show. I could make
him move his legs by twisting my toes, and every time he nodded his head
I felt an irresistible impulse to jump. But his most impish act was to
make me scratch my head with my foot while I sat; he did it by flapping
his ears from side to side. This action was to me utterly, unbearable
[sic] funny. Such a touch of grace and irony; such mastery, I thought.
The euphoria that possessed me was indescribable. I laughed until it
was almost impossible to breathe."
From The Teaching of Don Juan, A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda.
