Wise Women of the Dreamtime: Aboriginal Tales of the Ancestral Powers

Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International. Near Fine. 1993. 1st Edition Thus; First Printing. Paperback. WARMLY INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE EDITOR, JOHANNA LAMBERT. First Edition Thus [1993], First Printing indicated by a complete numerical sequence. Fine in Wraps: flawless. The binding remains square and secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the panels. Free of creases to the backstrip. Free of any creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of any underlining, hi-lighting or marginalia or marks in the text. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome, nearly-new copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing no discernible imperfections. Bright and clean. Corners sharp. Very close to "As New". NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. (9 x 6 x 0.5 inches). Edited with a Commentary by Johanna Lambert. Language: English. Weight: 8.5 ounces. Trade Paperback. Catherine Eliza Somerville Stow (1856 – 1940) , who wrote as K. Langloh Parker, was a South Australian born writer who lived in northern New South Wales in the late nineteenth century. She is best known for recording the stories of the Ualarai around her. Her testimony is one of the best accounts of the beliefs and stories of an Aboriginal people in north-west New South Wales at that time. Saved from drowning by Aboriginal friends when she was just a child, Parker subsequently gained unique access to Aboriginal women and to stories that had previously eluded anthropologists. Extending deep into the caverns of humanity's oldest memories, beyond 60,000 years of history and into the Dreamtime, this collection of Australian Aboriginal myths has been passed down through the generations by tribal storytellers. In the stories, women tell of their own initiations and ceremonies, the origins and destiny of humanity, and the behavioral codes for society. Included are stories of child-rearing practices, young love in adversity, the dangers of invoking the spiritual powers, the importance of social sharing, the role of women in male conflicts, the dark feminine, and the transformational power of language. The authenticity of these stories has been retained. Each story is followed by Johanna Lambert's commentary. Lambert draws parallels between concepts in these stories, and myths of other cultures. She also explains the contextual beliefs of Aboriginal people respectfully. ; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; xvi, 143 pages; Signed by Editor .