Religion in Aboriginal Australia: An Anthology edited by Max Charlesworth [et al]

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Pages and inside covers are sunned.

The essays and articles in this collection represent observations on Aboriginal religion by some of the world's most eminent anthropologists.

The first part of this book deals with the doctrinal foundations of Aboriginal religious life. The second section is concerned with ritual and ceremonial aspects of Aboriginal life. Part three focuses on Aboriginal women's religious experiences. (back cover)

Table of Contents:

Part One: The foundations of Aboriginal religious life

1. Swallowing and regurgitation in Australian myth and rite by L. R. Hiatt

2. The transformation of subjects into objects in Walbiri and Pitjantjatjara myth by Nancy D. Munn

3. The world-creative powers by Kenneth Maddock

4. Semen versus spirit-child in a Western desert culture by Robert Tonkinson

5. Spirit conception in Murngin thought by Lloyd Warner

6. Religion, totemism and symbolism by W. E. H. Stanner

7. Traditional morality as expressed through the medium of an Australian Aboriginal religion by Ronald M. Berndt

Part Two: Forms of religious experience

8. Burial practices of the native tribes of South-east Australia by A. W. Howitt

9. Initiation among the Walbiri by M. J. Meggitt

10. The Nathagura or Fire ceremony of the Warramunga tribe by Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen

11. Mystic experience: essential qualification for men of high degree by A. P. Elkin

Part Three: Women and Aboriginal religion

12. Aboriginal women: sacred and profane by Phyllis Kaberry

13. Women and the "Secret life" by Catherine H. Berndt

14. Women and their life in Central Australia by Geza Roheim

15. Central Australian Aboriginal women's love rituals by Diane Bell

16. Tiwi world views and values by Jane C. Goodale

Part Four: Change in Aboriginal religion

17. The mobility of Aboriginal religion by Erich Kolig

18. A revival of the law: the probable spread of initiation circumcision by Dennis Gray

19. Yolngu ceremonies and bark painting by Howard Morphy