The Daughters of Dreamtime

She lived in their midst, delved into their fascinating spiritual rituals and daily routines.

Female shamans are revered and feared as the ultimate authority before the gods. Their ceremonies invoke the mystical union of man and nature. The ethnologist Verena von Funcke visited Aboriginal women in the »red heart« of Australia and was allowed to participate in the secret rituals of the daughters of dreamtime. She was initiated as an »owl«, a mediator between the worlds, an honour only accorded to a handful of white people. With great force and depth she describes their intense spirituality, humorously recounting her own experiences and taking a political stand as regards the Aborigines’ current situation.

Verena von Funcke, born in Munich in 1969, studied ethnology, English and Teaching German as a Foreign Language. Her M.A. thesis focused on Aboriginal women, which led her to carry out field-research in the north of Australia. She lived in Melbourne and Perth and travelled extensively throughout Australia. Her contact with the Aborigines started with her work for the United Nation’s Centre for Human Rights in Geneva. She works as a freelance journalist.