With "Journey to Ixtlan" the unique recording of the author's initiation into the mysteries of magic (with the aim of becoming a "man of knowledge") under the guidance of Don Juan, the Indian Yaqui, in northwestern Mexico, is completed.

Don Juan's deep knowledge of the nature of things made the works "The Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" immediately classic. These two books mainly referred to the use of hallucinogenic plants related to Don Juan's magic and described Castaneda's experiences, sometimes hot and terrifying, during his long and rough apprenticeship. This third book goes beyond these experiences and shows the reader the means by which the "man of knowledge" becomes capable of seeing instead of just looking, as well as the way in which this new vision enables him to "stop the world". Here, in the high mountains and deserts, Castaneda seeks power through a series of amazing "encounters" with the unknown and is taught the wisdom of the hunter, the man who "has no stereotypical habits, who is free, fluid, unpredictable" in his actions.

"Journey to Ixtlan" confronts us with a provocatively new way of looking at ourselves and the world.