SSB372 : Australian Spirituality Eliza beth Shep pa r d

Book review: David Tacey, Re-Enchantment : The New Australian Spirituality I

David Tacey poses the colonial Australian spiritual problem of disconnectedness from land and
proposes "re-enchantment" as a reconciliator y solution. Acce pting the Aboriginal elder Davi d
Mowaljarlai 's invitation to share the spirit of Australia. he asserts that a spiritual interconnectedness can
be quickly established which can compensate for colonial disconnectedness from the land. But Tacey is
mistaken in assuming that the colonial counterpart of Australian Aboriginal land-conn ectednes s, or its
original Aboriginal spirituality, arises directly and "quite spontaneously from ... lived experience of the
earth. " I Living in harmony with the Australian lands and their indigenous peoples cannot be achieved
easily, since these lands and their peoples have been abused since 1788, and are still being ab used.
Indulgence in a fantasy of harmony in our present circumstances is romantically fallacious. Australia
can shape immigrant people who live in spiritual and physical harmony with the land, its indig enous
people and its ecosystems over generations. But to claim that urbanized colon izers can instantaneously
appropriate Australian Aboriginal spirituality by an act of intellectual will or inquisitive enthu siasm, is
incorrect.
However, ce rtain preliminary attitudinal steps toward s harmon y can be taken. These steps
require a respectful recognition of the full humanity , variety and richness of Austr alian Aboriginal
conjoined spiritual and physical life in the land. Australian Aboriginal people are still being jailed,
living in conditions of poverty, and dying of neglect and disease, in much greater numbe rs than other
Australians, but their culture s have not been destroyed and they are reconnecting to the land. Tacey's
discussion is disconnected from the land, becau se he is not fully aware of what is happening to its
indigenou s people, and so he exemplifies the problem he raises. Many Aboriginal s have shown a
generous spirit of forgi veness, but this alone cannot complete the reconciliation and spiritual renewal
process if offences against Australian Aboriginal spiritual and material life are increasingly sanctio ned
(or ignored). A wider public understandin g of the dignity of Australian Aboriginal spirituality and
culture, an acknowledgement of past and current suffering, a reversal of racist attitudes, an amendment
of discriminatory policies, and healing and recon ciliation must still be seriously undertaken and
accompli shed. The reconciliation process is still impeded by those who inappropriately "manage" and
profit from Australian Aboriginal culture, by undignified feudin g between privileged and impoverished
Aboriginal groups, by substa ndard educ ation, housing and health sys tems, and by a grow ing
geographical apartheid between Australian Aboriginals and colonizing Australians.
David Tacey shows an admirable awareness that the Australian land and all that is native to it
must be the context and living medium of reconciliati on. However, the land can only become the
spiritual and material context for both Aboriginal and immigrant cultures under particular conditions.

I David Tacey. Re-Enchantment .- the New Australian Spirituality. Sydney: IlarpcrColJins Publishers . 2000 , 9-+
SSB372 : Australian Spirituality Elizabeth Sheppard
Book review: David Tacey, Re-Enchantment : The New Australian Spirituality 2

The names of Aboriginal individuals and groups are enmeshed in the terminology of country. so that
nothing exists for them when separated from it. Hunting and gathering rights, and the obligations of
ecological care and renewal, are welded together. These structures of Aboriginal land ownership are
significant for white-Aborigi nal relations because they give us a dialectical method for approaching
(rather than bulldozing) Aboriginal spirituality. Even after the disruption of culture cau sed by
colonization. these dialectical structure s have survived. By speaking our local relationship to the
Australian land and its people in the context of land, by under standing together in the spirit of the land,
rather than in denial of each others' cultures, the land can become our common language, a frontie r of
cultural exchange, our shared Word of God, ou r spirit word, for our time. Under standing involves
suspending our usual intellectual assertion of the "superior" values of ou r own culture, in order to make
space for the inarticulate, felt common ground of human experience.
Austra lian Aboriginal relig ion has in the past been describ ed incorrectly as "primitive",
immoral, spontaneous, unskilled, and lacking depih" . However, scholarly research and analysi s of
Aboriginal music, languages, archaeology and anthropology has ranked Australian Aboriginal
spiritualities amon g the most integrated and compl ex ecological spiritual systerns-'. Whether non-
Aboriginal or even part-Aboriginal people can experience connectedness to the land in the same way as
a fullblood Australian Aboriginal is denied by many fullblood Aborigi nal Australians. David Tacey
attempts to moderate this point of view by describing how some white Australians have experienced the
spirit of the Australian land. The radical inclusivity that he claims is extended by David Mowaljarlai to
white people is most unusual. The Australian Aboriginal peoples are the original guardians, inheritors
and occ upiers of this land. Mowaljarlai's words should be taken merely as an initial invitation to
interact with the Australian landscape and the spiritual force s it embodie s at the first (infantile) level of
Aboriginal spirituality (awakening awareness):', This is all that unenculturated white colonial people are

2Thcrc are many exa mples of these incorrect and igno rant descriptions in Australian oolonialliterature. Some o f the most
telling are in the misguided writin gs of A.G.l\"c\"iIle, the Western Australian Chief Protector of Aborigi nes . who was
largely respo nsible. in accordance with the gov ernment poli cies of his day , for removing Aboriginal children from their
families during his tenure. William Dampier's description of the Aborigines he found when he landed on the w estern
Australian coast , as "the most miserable people in the world" , found its way into European and Austr alian co lonial
schoolboo ks via the Dublin printeries, The lack of a settled agricultural system is still oft en cited as proof of the retarded
stage of development of Australian Aborigines. Historical evidenc e of contact with the Macassan s shows that Aboriginal
tri bes deliberately chose a rotated ecological agr icult ural system which involved regular burning off , seeding, a'lI
harvesting of limited amounts of animals and plants, in preference to an intensive one, because they regarded themselves as
custodians and not exploit ers of the land. Later evidence shows that Abori ginal s regarded white settlers as unh ygienic
when they rema ined in one place and polluted it instead of rotating their settlemen ts.
3The work of Alice Moy le, Catherine Ellis, Stephe n Wild, and Allan Marrett . in researc hing Australia n Aboriginal music
is particularly noteworthy. David Yallop's compi lation of Australian Aboriginal languages, and the contributory work of
innumerable field linguists, dearly demonstrat es the variety , complexity and richness of Australia n Aboriginal cultures.
4Boori (Monty) Pryor. in Maybe Tomorrow. Penguin: Ringwood , Victoria , 1998 , p. 19, puts it well when he says "As a
chi ld I always knew where I belonged . You grow into an awareness of being Aboriginal, yo u grow into knowing: abo ut
your culture from being around your mum and dad and your aunties and uncles."
SSB372 : Australian Spirituality Elizabeth Sheppard
Book review: David Tacey, Re-Enchantment The New A ustralian Spirituality 3

realistically capable of. Even this step should not be undertaken without fino grounding in one's own
culture of origin, and a willi ngness to interact sociall y with Aboriginal peop le on more than an
occasional basis. The attitudes and actions of all Aboriginal people (not just elders) who communicate
with colonials attempting this difficult task, is also crucial to its success.
Tacey's discu ssion of the work of Jo hn Shaw Neilson, Judith Wright, A. D. Hope , Les
Murray, Michael Lennig, Peter Conrad, Matthew Fox and others>, unfortunately demo nstrates how
patronizin g some Euro-Australian approaches to the Australian land and its Aboriginal peoples have
been . These write rs attempt to artic ulate the "mystery " of the land in Western language, without
acknowledging or sufficiently quoting the Aboriginal people who truly understand it6 , or the army of
compassionate colo nial resea rchers who have worked with and served Aboriginal informants since
1788 to preserve their languages and cultures". These writings show a well meant but an almost
entirely misconstrued response to the Aboriginal elders' urgings to engage with and learn from the land.
Tacey correct ly discern s that in accepti ng an Australian Aboriginal "welcome to country", colonials
should never assume instant expertise, but must defer to the guidance of Aboriginal elders, in order to
learn a little about the Australian Aboriginal spiritualities, lang uages and cultures. Seeki ng such
guidance implies respect. This should lead us to question the validity of describing an Aborigin al
spiritual experience superficial ly, in analogous Western terms , rather than learni ng the Aboriginal
language needed to understand it fully, For instance , it is impossible to describe in English what an
Aborigi nal Pitjantjatjara person means by "hearing", because there are many words in Pitjantjatjara
signifying different kinds of hearing. This complex spirituality is not henoetically sealed off from non-
Aboriginals by Aboriginals (as Tacey accuses the political left of claimingj''. But it can only become
available to the colonizers of Australia when they stop exploiting and degrading the land and its people,
and start attentively listening and learning from it.
As Tacey points out, colonial Australian descendants (many of whom are fourth or fifth
generation Australia ns) also bring to their dialogue with Australian Aboriginal spirituality, a unique
mixture of ancestral European spirituality and a genuinely Emu-Australian experience of the land. Their
experience of growing up spiritually as alien settlers in different regions of Australia was not that of
tourists collecting souvenirs of Australian Aboriginal culture. Like Australian Aboriginals, their

5raccy (2000).I 07 -122.

6~ fan)' Austral ian Aboriginals (such as Marcia La ngton, Pat O'Shanc. Loritja Behrendts, Boori (Monty) Pryor, Sally
Morga n, Oodjeroo Noo nuccal, Lowitj a O'Don og hue, Pat and Mick Dodson, and Burnum Bumum) have publi shed
autobiographies, biographi es of relatives , fiction , political and socia l commentaries, academic research, music a nd poetry .
Aboriginal Studie s is now a recognized disci pline in Australian Universities, and local Community Colleges, Land
Councils and Local Governme nts arc cooperat ing with the recently established Local Reconciliation Group s to provide
opportunities for non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal people to engage in dialogue.
" Such as Catherine and Ronald Berndt, Stephen Wild, Catherine Ellis, Dr Strehlow, Alice Moyle and Allan Starrett .
8-raccy (2000) . 106 .
SSB372 : Australian Spirituality Elizabeth Sheppard
Book review : David Tacey. Be-Enchantment : The New Australian Spirituality 4

survival depended wholly on their knowledge of country , in which they were born, lived, died and
were buried. For generations Euro-Australian s and Asian Australians have lived with Aboriginals on
bush stations. on mission lands, and in urban settings. They often destroyed Australian Aboriginal
culture and spirituality, but it should never be assumed that they were in all places always destructive of
Aboriginals, or that Aboriginal attitudes and actions were never destructive of the lives of migrant
peoples. Each of these particular shared Austro-Aboriginal cultures is still known by the name of its
particular location. Tacey discusses Australian spirituality very broadly, as if it were a single
phenomenon. which it can never be if it is to remain true to its origins in the land.
Tacey describes the task of the Australian artist (poet, writer) as that of reminding people that
they have spiritual lives". This is minimalist. The task of the Euro-Australian artist is much more - it is
to clearly delineate an integrated spirituality for the settled human population of each shared
geographical I spiritual I ecological Australian context. A nebulous instinct, an intuitive empathy , or
even an enlightened pre-conscious recognition that God is present in the Australian landscape, is not a
complete spirituality which enables an integrated human life to be lived in consonance with God. It
quickly degenerates into an inquisitive, voyeuristic tourist trip which exclaims "how wonderful!",
returns to the city, and relegates Austtalian spirituality to the bush where it belongs. Tacey describes a
gentle but uninvolved and tentative spirituality of appreciation, an attention to detail, a stirring of
awareness, a "spirituality of immanence, a 'creation spirituality"!", But a fully operant Australian
spirituality for today must note how hostile cosmopolitan urban Australian lifestyle s are towards the
Australian ecological landscape, as well as describing the land's positive, elemental, romantic and
alluring features. A truly religious life is not a hidden life, or a life out of touch with lived reality. It is,
as David Mowaljarlai describes it, "ongoing divine Creation" or "everything standing up alive , brand
new. "II Keeping the land "alive, brand new" is not accomplished solely by childlike, vulnerable,
passive receptiveness, but also by developing the spiritual maturity to take our part energetically in
God's activity in the land, by engaging with the negative and positive forces which shape its people.
Tacey calls the Australian Aboriginal spiritual awareness, the "art of reaching beyond the
external appearances of things to connect with the animating spirit within the world," an "act of
attunement", and compares it to the receptive consciousness experienced in North American
shamanism 12. Thi s is a transcendent view which constructs as "beyond" that which is not experienced
as "beyond" by Aboriginal people. Sacred music has the fundamental role of actualizing Australian

"Tacey (2000), 113.

l~acey (20(J() , 122.
IITacey (2000), Il.J.
12Tacey (2000), II.J.
SSB372 : Australian Sp irit ualit y Elizabeth Sheppard
Book review : David Tacey, He-Enchantment : The New A ustralian Spirituality 5

Aboriginal spiritual experiencel", as Tacey notes. Mowaljarlai's desc ription of waking to awa reness of
light. colour, warmth, seeing, recognizing, understanding and "talking" to nature, and receiving
wisdom, is likened to a communion which unifies the subjective and objective of living land and human
existence. Answering the call to "cross-cultural exchange and interfaith dialogue"!" between Australian
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples , as Pope John Paul II discerned, has the potential to form a new
Australian spirituality for the twenty-first century, and for all Australian s, means answering the call of
our living land in Mowaljarlai's spirit of awakening awareness. To enable this response, a strong
infrastructure which fosters a greater awareness of the value of Australian Aboriginal ecological,
spiritual and consensual political systems is needed. This has been partly esta blished by the Aboriginal
peoples. OUf goal is to conserve, communicate and restore the authentical ly Australian spiritualities and
ecologies which still face a substantial threat of extinction, and make living in Australia a reality.

13Taccy (2000), %. Australian Aboriginal music is an area which many commentators habitually avoid because of the
secret ! sacred aspects of Aboriginal music . However there is much public Aboriginal music (e.g. the oyster-gathering
songs of the Mornington island women) which can legitimately be used to illustrate the actuali zing power of music in
Aboriginal spiritual life . Songs connected with a particular area arc often sung for the specific purpose of renewing the
environment, and ensuring a constant supply of food. These songs arc a kind of actualized hope , which operates by
teach ing people what has to be done, where. when. how, and at what time, to ensure the food supply remains available .
l+racey (2000). 105.