Aboriginal Men of High Degree: Initiation and Sorcery in the World's Oldest Tradition (Paperback)

by A. P. Elkin (Author) "Everywhere in Aboriginal Australia the young male, on approaching or reaching puberty, leaves behind him the interests of childhood..." (more)
Key Phrases: eternal dreamtime, other medicine men, two medicine men, Native Tribes, South Australia, Western Australia (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
One of Australia's most eminent anthropologists details the secret and sacred practices of Australian Aboriginal shamans, documenting a rapidly vanishing indigenous culture.

From the Back Cover

ANTHROPOLOGY / RELIGION

The first book to reveal the secret and sacred practices of Aboriginal shamans, Aboriginal Men of High Degree presents an extraordinary series of rites by which the young Aboriginal male begins the degrees of shamanic initiation--each marked by its own portion of esoteric knowledge. One of Australia's most eminent anthropologists, A. P. Elkin focuses on karadji, or men of high degree, who possess magical powers and who serve as channels between the Dreamtime beings and their own communities. As psychologists and psychic experts, the karadji are essential to the groups' social chesion. They are believed to cure and kill mysteriously, make rain, anticipate future events, and appear and disappear at will. Not content to explain away these phenomenon, Elkin boldly suggests that we enter into the karadji worldview and try to understand this remarkable culture on its own terms.

Former head of the anthropology department at the University of Sydney, A. P. ELKIN (1891-1979) authored eight books and numerous articles in Australia, the United States, France, and England, including The Australian Aborigines.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Inner Traditions (November 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892814217
• ISBN-13: 978-0892814213
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #409,575 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book on a historical subject, December 15, 2002

By	Lawrence Lockyear JP (Gooseberry Hill, WA Australia) - See all my reviews

I deal in Australian artifacts and associated material, as well as studying the culture and beliefs of Aboriginal Society within Australia. Living in Australia I can verify a lot of facts this book contains, fisrt hand. It is well written, concise and accurate from cover to cover. It is a good starting point for anyone interested in the world's oldest tribal customs. A lot of the facts are based on the dreaming of the aboriginals and oral history. When read one must remember that some 'facts' are beliefs of the peoples, such as being able to fly, restoring limbs to bodies etc. If you have a basic knowledge of Aboriginal 'knowledge' this is one of the best books on the subject. It deasl mainly with beliefs and customs, not glossy coffee table book items. Well worth the money!!

36 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Awful. Badly written, boring, April 10, 1999

By A Customer

This subject is fascinating. It is amazing that such a load of drivel could be written about it. The author is clearly an observer who has not been invited to participate in the knowledge of the subject by it's practitioners. Elkin's style is to list a bunch of claims over and over with no flow or emotion - If you are thinking about buying this book then please try to get a copy from the library first and sample it before wasting hard earned money. I totally recommend a book called Chamalu though - one of the best books I have ever read!

5.0 out of 5 stars To appreciate this book you need time to understand it, November 19, 2008

By	googarman "googarman" (Australia) - See all my reviews

The first time I read this book I was sleeping in my swag at Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia's red center, with only that book as my entertainment in the afternoons. I must admit that I probably would not have finished the book if it weren't for the lack of afternoon entertainment and the subsequent empathy I had for Aboriginal people while staying at such a culturally significant site.

The contents of the book were a little extreme for me to read at first and I couldn't comprehend how the indigenous people I know could have had members within their clan who were so super-human prior to colonisation of Australia. It took me a year to come to understand what I had read and only after this time did I come to appreciate how significant the information was that I had retrieved from the book. It will take you a while but you will soon come to realize that the information contained therein is mostly anecdotal and was real to the indigenous people themselves. In addition, a great deal of the feats mentioned in the book were the result of lucid dreams (from a strictly scientific view point) or they were real if you choose to believe that. Lucid dreams are a widely known phenomena experienced by people of all cultures. If you are interested Dr Stephen Laberge did his PhD dissertation on it. You can find his book on amazon (Lucid Dreaming or something like that).

Additional feats in the book are the result of multiple other scientifically explainable phenomena of a similar genera (such as the Kundalini awakening which is now a scientifically validated psychological experience that creates amazing hallucinations and so forth). Or you can choose also to believe all you have written, which I think is perfectly acceptable. You may choose to believe half and concede the rest to be exaggeration or cultural symbolism not completed interpreted by today's literal focus.

Writing style is fine. Rather factual and non-emotive. It is slightly exhausting because it continues at full intensity without a break. IT is very list-type in nature and may overwhelm you with relentless facts at stages. But the content of the book will make it worth it if you are knowledgable enough to appreciate what is written. Might I also point out that this is one of only very few books that contain this information and it is unlikely that you will encounter anything like this book. So even if you purchase it for the novelty of having a book that is within a novel and scarcely repeated focus area, it will still be worth it.