Part 1: Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

At 7:00 PM, Friday, Aug. 4, 1961, Castaneda arrives at Matus' Arizona home and joins six Indians sitting silently on the porch, before piling into a pick-up truck for a drive to the dingy, dirty house of a friend, John. Castaneda must receive his first seven mescalitos from someone other than Matus. For if "he" does not find Castaneda "agreeable," their friendship would be lost. A fearful Castaneda chews dry buttons and his mouth goes numb. Matus tells him to rinse with tequila, but not swallow, and to eat the dried fruit and meat that is passed around. By the sixth cycle, Castaneda hears the Indians speaking Italian, wants to throw up, and is unbearably thirsty. He enjoys sweeping the ground with vision narrowed to a pinpoint, when a black dog approaches. As it drinks, it grows transparent. Castaneda convulses and feels...