Magical Passes (20 page)

tensed to the maximum; the head is tilted slightly backward (fig. 290). Practicing this breath creates the sensation that air is being expelled through the elbows.

The Fourth Group :

The Predilection of the Left Body and the Right Body

This group is composed of five magical passes for the left body executed in a sequence, and three magical passes for the right body. According to don Juan Matus, the predilection of the left body is silence, while the predilection of the right body is chatter, noise, sequential order. He said that it is the right body which forces us to march, because it likes parades, and it's most delighted with choreography, sequences, and arrangements that entail classification by size.

Don Juan recommended that the performance of each movement of the magical passes for the right be repeated many times, as the practitioners count, and that it is very important to set up beforehand the number of times in which any given movement is going to be repeated, because prediction is the forte of the right body. If the practitioners set up any number beforehand and fulfill it, the pleasure of the right body is indescribable.

In the practice of Tensegrity, however, both the magical passes for the left body and the magical passes for the right body are performed in complete silence. If the silence of the left body can be made to overlap onto the right body, the act of saturation can become a direct way to enter what don Juan called the most coveted state that the shamans of every generation sought: inner silence.

THE FIVE MAGICAL PASSES FOR THE LEFT BODY

The magical passes for the left body have no individual names. Don Juan said that the shamans of ancient Mexico called them just magical passes for the left body.

The first magical pass consists of fifteen carefully executed brief movements. Since the magical passes for the left body are done in a sequence, they are going to be numbered sequentially.

1. The left arm moves laterally about a foot away from its natural position by the thigh (fig. 291).

2. The palm is turned sharply to face the front as the elbow is slightly bent (fig. 292).

3. The hand is raised to the level of the navel and cuts across to the right (fig. 293).

4. The hand is turned sharply until the palm faces down (fig. 294).

5. The hand cuts across from right to left with the palm of the hand facing down (fig. 295).

6. The wrist turns sharply to the right; the hand is cupped, as if to scoop something, and the movement of the wrist makes it move upward with a jolt (fig. 296).

7. The arm is raised in an arc in front of the line dividing the two bodies to the level of the eyes, a foot away from it, with the palm of the hand facing left (fig. 297).

8. The wrist turns, making the hand face forward (fig. 298).

9. The arm goes out over the head, draws a lateral circle, and returns to the same position in front of the eyes with the palm of the hand facing left (fig. 299).

10. The wrist moves again to make the palm of the hand face forward (fig. 300).

11. The hand moves down toward the left, in a slight curve to the level of the shoulders, with the palm facing the ground (fig. 301).

12. The wrist is turned so the palm faces up (fig. 302).

13. The hand cuts to the right, to a point in front of the right shoulder (fig. 303).

14- The wrist moves again, turning the palm down (fig. 304).

15. The hand sweeps down to a position about a foot in front of the left hip (fig. 305).

The second magical pass is composed of nine movements.

16. The hand is retrieved and touches the crest of the hip (fig. 306).

17. The elbow moves out laterally, and the wrist, by a sharp downward movement, turns the palm to face the left. The palm of the hand is cupped, the fingers slightly spread (fig. 307).

18. The arm makes a full circle, going over the head from front to back. The hand returns to the crest of the hip with the palm facing up (fig. 308).

19. The elbow moves out laterally again, and another quick movement of the wrist turns the palm to face the left again (fig. 309).

20. The hand moves to the side to make a circle as if scooping something. At the end of the movement, the hand returns to a position at the crest of the hip with the palm facing up (fig. 310).

21. The bent elbow moves sharply to the left at the same time that a quick turn of the wrist turns the hand back; the fingers, slightly curved, point to the back; the palm is hollowed and faces up (fig. 311).

22. Then the elbow is fully extended to the back while the palm of the cupped hand still faces up (fig. 312).

23. While the arm is still fully extended, the wrist turns over slowly, making a full rotation, until the palm faces up again (fig. 313).

24- This movement resembles pulling the arm out of a sleeve. Leading with the elbow, the arm draws a circle from back to front, and the movement ends with the palm of the hand up, at the level of the edge of the rib cage, and the bent elbow touching the edge of the ribs (fig. 314).

The third magical pass is made up of twelve movements.

25. The hand moves in an arc to the right with the palm facing up, as if cutting something with the tips of the fingers, stopping a foot past the right edge of the rib cage (fig. 315).

26. The palm of the hand is turned to face the ground (fig. 316).

27. The arm moves in an arc to the left and then all the way to the back (fig. 317).

28. The palm of the hand is hollow, the arm is fully extended, and the turn of the wrist makes the hand into a scoop (fig. 318).

29. The hand moves above the head, following a diagonal course from the back to the front that ends above the right shoulder at the level of the head (fig. 319).

30. The hand is straightened out and the wrist is contracted to place it in a ninety-degree angle with the forearm. The hand descends this way from above the head to the right of the waist (fig. 320).

31. The palm is turned briskly downward (fig. 321).

32. The arm swings in a half-circle all the way to the left and to the back (fig. 322).

33. The palm turns up (fig. 323).

34. The arm swings to the front, to the same position on the right, a foot away from the rib cage (fig. 324).

35. The hand is turned so the palm faces the ground again (fig. 325).

36. The arm swings to the left and returns to the same point behind the back on the left side (fig. 326).

The fourth magical pass consists of fifteen movements.

37. The arm swings in a big circle to the front, above the head, and to the back, and ends at a point about a foot away from the left thigh (fig. 327).

38. The head is turned to the left. The elbow is bent sharply and the forearm is raised to the level of the eyes, with the palm of the hand facing outward, as if shielding the eyes from light glare. The body stoops forward (fig. 328).

39. The head and trunk rotate slowly all the way to the right, as if to look in the distance with a shield over the eyes (fig. 329).

40. The head and trunk rotate again to the left (fig. 330).

41. The palm of the hand is quickly turned to face up as the head and trunk move to look straight forward (fig. 331).

42. Then the hand cuts a line in front of the body from left to right (% 332).

43. The palm is turned to face down (fig. 333).

44. The arm sweeps to the left (fig. 334).

45. The wrist is turned again in order to have the palm facing up (fig. 335).

46. The arm cuts another arc in front of the body to the right (fig. 336).

47. The position of the hand is changed again; the palm faces down (fig. 337).

48. The arm sweeps again to the left (fig. 338).

49. The palm is turned to face upward (fig. 339).

50. The arm makes a line across the front of the body to the right (fig. HO).

51. The palm is turned to face down (fig. 341).

The fifth magical pass is made up of twenty-five movements.

52. The hand draws a large circle in front of the body, with the palm of the hand facing forward as the circle is drawn. The movement ends at a point in front of the right shoulder; the palm is facing up (fig. 342).

53. The elbow turns up as the wrist and hand turn to face down. The palm of the hand is slightly hollowed (fig. 343).

54- The hand draws an oval-shaped line from right to left as if scooping a chunk of matter. When it comes to the position where it started, the palm is facing up (fig. 344).

55. The hand drops to the level of the groin, fingers pointing to the ground (fig. H5).

56. The palm of the hand is turned to face the body (fig. 346).

57. Then it moves, following the contour of the body, fingers pointing toward the ground, to a place four or five inches away from the left thigh (fig. 347).

58. A quick turn of the wrist makes the palm face the thigh (fig. 348).

59. The head turns to the left as the hand is raised, as if rubbing the fingers along a straight surface, to the level of the eyes (fig. 349).

60. From there, it descends at an angle to a point slightly to the left side of the groin. The head follows the movement of the hand (fig. ISO).

61. The hand is raised again to tin- level of the eyes at an angle. It

reaches a point exactly on the division line of the left and right bodies, right in front of the eyes, a foot and a half away from them (fig. 351).

62. The hand descends again at an angle, to a point in front and slightly to the right of the groin (fig. 352).

63. The hand is raised again, drawing another slanted line, to a point in front of the eyes in line with the shoulders; the head follows the movement to the right (fig. 353),

64. The hand descends in a straight line to a point a foot away from the right thigh (fig. 354).

In the seven preceding movements, three peaks have been drawn, the

first one on the left, the second one on the very center dividing line, and the third to the right.

65. The hand changes position so the palm faces left (fig. 355).

66. The hand is raised to draw a curved line that fits exactly in between the right and center peaks drawn before (fig. 356).

67. There the palm of the hand is made to face the right (fig. 357).

68. The hand descends to the level of the groin and stops at the dividing line between the left and the right bodies (fig. 358).

69. The palm changes directions there again and faces left (fig. 359).

70. The hand is raised to a point between the middle peak and the left peak at the level of the eyes (fig. 360).

71. The palm is turned to face right (fig. 361).

72. The hand descends all the way down to the point in front of the thigh where it began (fig. 362).

The peaks drawn in the eight movements of this second phase are slightly round, as opposed to the very angular peaks drawn before.

73. The hand is turned once more to have the palm face forward (fig. 363).

74. The arm moves over the head as if to pour on the right face and body an invisible substance (fig. 364).

75. The hand is dropped down (fig. 365). Making a half-circle, the elbow rotates to the back (fig. 366).

76. As if it were a knife going into its sheath, the hand slides over the center of vitality around the pancreas and the spleen (fig. 367).

THE THREE MAGICAL PASSES FOR THE RIGHT BODY

The first magical pass for the right body consists of five movements.

1. The right hand, at a ninety-degree angle to the forearm and with the palm facing front, makes a complete circle from left to right, to the level of the right ear, and comes to rest at the same position that it started, about a foot in front of the waist (fig. 368).

2. From there, the arm moves in a sharp arc at the level of the chest by acutely bending the elbow. The palm faces the ground; the fingers are held together and straight with the thumb locked. The index finger and thumb nearly touch the chest (fig. 369).

3. The forearm moves briskly away from the chest so that the elbow is bent at a forty-five-degree angle (fig. 370).

4. The hand rotates on the wrist; the fingers point to the ground for an instant and then flip up above the head, as if the hand were a knife (fig-371).

5. The hand descends. Using its outer edge as if it were a cutting tool, it cuts to the level of the navel.

The second magical pass for the right body consists of the following twelve movements.

6. From the side of the waist, the hand shoots out to a point in front of the body. At the arm's maximum extension, the fingers separate (figs. 373,374).

7. The arm is retrieved to the level of the waist. The elbow protrudes back, sharply bent (fig. 375).

8. The hand is turned so that the palm faces up (fig. 376).

9. The arm is extended forward with the palm open and facing up (fig. 377).

10. With the palm still facing up, the arm returns again to the level of the waist (fig. 378).

11. The palm is turned to face downward (fig. 379).

12. The arm makes a full side circle, going to the back, above the head, and to the front, and ends in front of the navel by slamming the palm down as if it were hitting something solid (fig. 380).

13. The palm is turned toward the body, in a movement that resembles the action of gathering something on the right body (fig. 381).

14. The arm is raised above the head as if the hand were a knife that is being wielded (fig. 382).

15. It makes a diagonal cut to the midpoint in front of the body, a foot and a half away from it. The palm is facing left (fig. 383).

16. The hand, with the palm straight, is raised to the level of the face, in a straight line (fig. 384).

17. It makes a diagonal cut with the palm slightly slanted downward to a point in front of the edge of the right body, a foot and a half away from it (fig. 385).

The third magical pass for the right body is made up of twelve movements.

18. The right arm, with the elbow sharply bent toward the right and the hand held with the palm toward the body, moves in an arc from the right side to a point in front of the solar plexus (fig. 386).

19. Pivoting on the elbow, the forearm makes a quarter of a circle downward, turning the palm to face the right side (fig. 387).