Dreamtime: Concerning the Boundary Between Wilderness and Civilization

by Hans Peter Duerr, Felicitas Goodman (Translator)

Examines and compares myths and folk tales about witches, werewolves, death, altered states, and flying, and describes the relationships between myths and cultural order

Genres: Anthropology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Spirituality, Psychology, Occult

478 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a batshit insane look at the lost interface between reality and nature and a sly stab at a world (ours), that is more interested in having than being.
I come to Duerr as a self-styled afficionado in witchcraft as an actual historical concept, whether it be as inconclusive world-view (pre-Christian ideals) or actual practice (shamanic holdover). It's hard to know which side to come down on and my perception goes back and forth between both poles depending on how much I've drank that week.
Duerr goes balls-to-the-wall and makes frank and often unabashedly tangential connections between things as disparate as lycanthropy and vagina grottoes. Or maybe they aren't disparate. That's what he seems to argue, but instead of making any but the most tentative conclusions, he throws all this shit in your lap and lets you decide. He makes much of "psychedelia", too, which made his arguments somewhat controversial at the time, but weaves into them all sorts of fascinating pre-Christian fertility beliefs and nature practice. By the end of it, you'll be fetching for your belladonna and orgiastic how-to. Just great stuff, crazily detailed scholarship and a completely lack of respect for the staid polemics of academia.

[George Ilsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text itself is 133 pages. Then 240 pages of notes, then another 90 pages for the bibliography and index.

I claim to only have read the first 133 pages, and to have dipped into the rabbit hole notes as whimsy and happenstance commands.

"Thinking about thinking" is like scratching an itch: the more you scratch, the more it itches. "The dream place is a little like that ... the dream place is everywhere and nowhere, just like the dreamtime is always and never. The more a person looks for it, the farther away it gets."

Fairytales, origin stories, traditional wisdom, half-remembered dreams, half-forgotten knowledge —the boundary between wilderness and civilization is always with us but never within our grasp. The boundary wraps around us, protects us, traps us, shelters us, imprisons us. All these enigmas, filtered through a German professor of cultural history, and then translated into English.

Plus werewolves. And fertility cults. Enjoy.

[Gabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book filled with incredible stories about, as the title states, the boundary between wilderness and civilization. Duerr collects anthropological and historical accounts of the many ways in which humans have dealt with and reintegrated wild nature into self and society. Caves, mountains, witches, werewolves and masked runners are all included. There is even an image of a weregoat. Primitives take note, you will not be disappointed.

[Ard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the subject but hated this book. For the biggest part it seemed the author didn't seem to know what he was trying to say. He obviously read and thought a lot about what's been crammed on the 130-ish pages that this book basically counts. The remaining 300 or so pages are mainly footnotes, which makes me think that an editor has had a lot of work to streamline the main argument in the hope people will actually get his point. In my case it was lost on me. For me, the best part about this book was what Paul Devereux wrote about it in his own book "The long trip", which I enjoyed a whole lot more.

[Aidan Rynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is fascinating as a collection of accounts of witchcraft, rituals and paganism. The second half is more theoretical, tying in the madness of the first half to express something quite magnificent.

The boundary between civilisation and the wilderness has become increasingly hard to cross. It is only through total immersion into the wilderness that we are able to understand what it is to be civilised.

It is only once we are blind that we can understand what it is to see.

[xDEAD ENDx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended for the dissolution of "human" boundaries and an orgiastic embrace of the wild. Can be found on libgen.

[Trunatrschild · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, very heavy read if you read the footnotes. An ethnological perspective on everything from witchcraft to shamanism and insanity and those that cross the boundaries between.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

just started this book. The notations & bibliography are actually longer than the author's writing itself. So far I cansee this is one book I'll be reading with two bookmarks.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! It was my guide to the edge until I realized that indigenous cultures don't make this distinction.

[Joke]

spannend

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most interesting books nobody's ever heard of.