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Borderlands Co-operative Ltd.

2 Minona Street, Hawthorn

P.O. Box 3079, Auburn 3123

Victoria AUSTRALIA

Ph 9819 3239 and 9819 3439

Events

Only one this time around:

Thursday 21st December:

AGM starting at 5:00 p.m.

from 6:00 p.m. morphing into

Borderlands’ 20th

birthday celebration

We’ll provide some basic drinks and hope that you’ll bring some

plates to share…

(and look at p. 4 for our programs for

next year!)

Dear members, shareholders and friends of the Borderlands Cooperative…

This newsletter is your special invitation to come and help up celebrate the 20th anniversary of Borderlands… There will be more bits of information, news, story and reminiscing in the further pages of this newsletter as well as in the Anniversary booklet which is being composed by Olga Bursian… We are also continuing the long calico band we had construct-ed at our 10th anniversary in 2007… one 1m

2 square dedicat-

ed to the major events and activities for every year of our exist-ence… those who were there at our tenth anniversary will re-member how the ten metres were strung along the hall, deco-rated and beautified by many of us… we have kept it—a bit dusty but safe—and are now in the process of adding years 11 to 20… It is also a time to remember those friends who have left us and who still leave empty spots in those places where they used to sit, converse with us, do and say the things for which we loved them and which will make sure that we will never forget them… Andrew Oliver, one of our first students on placement; Philippa Sujanc and her solidarity work with Salva-dorians; Janet Villiers and her many causes; Wendy Weeks and Cate Kyne, strong feminists and community activists; Ken Fer-nandes, fighter against evictions, holding so many of us in his loving embrace; Frank Fisher, ecological and disability thinker and activist; Ben and Jean Leeman, Ben always present for New Community, Borderlands and OASES, Jean always availa-ble and involved with Abuse Specific Help (ASH). And of course, there’s all the still living… many have left us af-ter many years working on projects, being involved in events, supporting us in so many diverse ways… and it’s quite impossi-ble to even try and offer a list of those who have been so in-volved! Given Borderlands’ ‘funding model’ preferring to re-main independent of the usual granting programs, suffice it to say that we would not have been able to reach 20 years if their work on projects and programs would not have been offered, mostly well beyond the call of duty… We also would have to include the thousands of voluntary and students’ ‘apprentice’ hours which have gone into anything we do and maintain, beginning with the library (thanks Martha!!!!) and through just keeping the place open and ‘peopled’… We are hoping that a new generation—whether those referred to as gen-x or millennials—will join pre– and post baby-boomers to maintain and sustain the legacy of Borderlands and its many associated organisations as well as support the necessary contemporary efforts to keep it—and ‘us’ - going…. And to all, happy 2017 endings and 2018 beginnings—we can all do with a bit of cheer

Jacques Boulet for the Borderlands Board

Newsletter Deadlines

This newsletter is to inform you of all

the Borderlands happenings.

We need your input!

Please send articles or details of your latest

events etc. (preferably in electronic format) to

the Editor at:

[email protected]

Deadline for the next issue :

15th of February 2018

2

Borderlands Newsletter

Volume 20 Issue 4— December, 2017

Published by Borderlands Cooperative

PO Box 3079, Auburn, 3123

Phone (03) 9819 3239 Fax (03) 9819 3429

[email protected]

www.borderlands.org.au

Editor: Jacques Boulet and Claire Sidlow

Admin. and other support:

Martha Hills & Lesley Shuttleworth

Please send artwork, articles, letters, poetry,

creative writing, for inclusion in the newsletter.

New Community 2017

It would be lovely if our readers would spread the

news about this journal and help us increase the

number of subscribers… And please get writing! We need your contribu-

tions for this journal to be a true Community

journal.

Article guidelines or requesting a

subscription can be obtained by

contacting us by:

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: New Community or call

Borderlands: (03) 9819 3239

Borderlands Cooperative December, 2017 Borderlands Cooperative December, 2017

IN THIS ISSUE…

P. 1 Editorial

P. 2 News from the New Community

P. 3 Borderlands’ 20th: looking back

P. 4 Programs

P. 5 Rabbi Lerner on Trump’s latest knee-

jerk, moving the USA embassy to Jeruzalem

P. 6—7 Borderlands: a brief looking-back

P. 8—11The Wandjinist Religion by Jim

Poulter

P. 12 ‘Return to Majaddin’ by Robert Hoskin

Community Development Workshop

18th and 19th of February 2018

P. 13 Borderlands friends and partners

P. 16-17 Membership forms

P. 18 Borderlands Consulting

New Community

CALL FOR ARTICLES

Volume 15, #3 Issue 59 New Community Journal

This issue is now about to go to the printer’s and it includes several real-

ly important contributions dealing with the ‘new’ politics which seems to

govern our democracies, be they on a global, a national, regional or local

level. Economic Rationalism has meanwhile penetrated decision-making

on all of these levels whilst at the same time being roundly criticised by

commentators and its demise equally being predicted by even conserva-

tive commentators. The issue especially focuses on municipal politics and

makes a strong argument for a ‘new’ politics and economics of the com-

mons. Worth reading and—of course—trying out in your backyard(s)!

Volume 15, #4, Issue 60 (December 2017)

Refugees and Asylum Seekers: the contribution of communi-ties to direct support and to affect political pressure The last issue of 2017 will most likely appear early next 2018; we have

received several really good articles from activists who have been stead-

fastly involved in fighting the Australian government’s (and opposition’s!)

shameful and shameless policies and politics related to immigration…

whilst the issue is never far away from public commentary , we try and

bring it in direct connection with CD and activism.

Volume 16, #1, Issue 61 (February 2018)

Community Development and Health: reconnecting the dots

With this issue, we’re hoping to make a call to contributors who have

been working in the ‘Community Development in Health’ arena in the past

and the present and see whether some of the extraordinary experiences

in health promotion and sickness prevention which were operating a few

decades ago could offer inspiration for renewed efforts in the health

area…

http://www.newcq.org/index.html

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Some of our readers have expressed confusion about the small note

in the September newsletter that ‘we were looking for possible

partners to re-start another version of our attempts at

‘alternative education’…’ and that ‘...that we haven’t given

up on our attempting to offer—at least – some alternative

to the rather sorry state Tertiary Education and Communi-

ty-based learning is in…’ We do apologise if that sounded as if

we were preparing for OASES Mark 2… Actually we’re not… we

were thinking about the workshops which we plan to offer coming

year and which are advertised in this issue of our Newsletter.

We have held several interesting conversations somehow continuing

a tradition which was both part of Borderlands as well as OASES A

series of ‘evenings ‘Listening to Indigenous Voices’ has taken place, the

next being with Indigenous Elder Janet Turpie-Johnstone on

the Tuesday the 12th of December at Borderlands Library

6:00—8:00 p.m.

Call us for more information!

We intend to continue with our

Community Lunches and

Conversations in 2018—our

21st year

As per usual in the Borderlands

library

Next year’s times will be an-nounced in the first Newsletter of

2018 (February)

For catering purpose please R.S.V.P.

[email protected] or call us on 9819 3239 and please bring some-

thing to share or assist with a gold coin

After the lunch, our monthly Board

Meeting will take place.

News from the Borderlands & Social

Developers’ Network partnership

Borderlands is now managing the community grants

program for NED Inc. which is closely allied with the

Social Developers Network (SDN) with which we

have had a long association (see p .

NED Inc. supports individuals and small organisations

by funding projects which align with its broad goals of

building a life-enhancing, inclusive ethos; improving

linkages, mutual acceptance and co-operation; max-

imising our human potential; steering ourselves effec-

tively and collectively towards a future for our planet,

and promoting and supporting Restorative Practice.

NED Inc. favours programs or projects that: “fall be-

tween the cracks” of other funding sources; are not

associated with well-established organisations with

significant reserves and /or who are capable of raising

their own funds; and are not eligible for funding from

government or other sources.

For more information contact Lesley at Borderlands on

(03) 9819 3439 Mobile 0428 488 215 or e-mail

[email protected]

We’re celebrating our 20th anniversary…

It has been quite a wild ride… starting with

not much in terms of resources, reserves—

apart from used furniture, several thousands

of books, a stolen laptop—but with lots of

possible and impossible ideas and dense con-

nections with the activist, social work, com-

munity development, ecological and interna-

tional solidarity networks, we launched Bor-

derlands on the 21st of December 1997…

and we do want to meet and think about all

of that… Do come on Thursday the 21st of

December from 6:00 and celebrate with us!!!!

And bring a plate to share!

mailto:[email protected]

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JOIN ONE OF OUR WORKSHOPS, WALKS OR

CONVERSATIONS IN 2018

All of our activities are focussed on restoring our capabilities for re-

lating, re-connecting us with our place in the natural world and with

one another and our-selves.

WORKSHOPS

Workshops run from 9.30am—5pm.

Fees include lunch

Ecologically Sustainable Community Development

19 & 20 February

Community Development – Advanced 11 & 12 April

Social Research, Evaluation and Monitoring 15 & 16

March

Storytelling in Community 7 & 8 March

Leading in Community 25 & 26 May

Woven Threads – the dilemma presented by our

clothing 15 & 16 May

WALKS

These intentional walks are designed to bring us

back into the realisation that we are part of the

natural world and to open a conversation.

Yarra River Walk 21 April

Dromana Walk to be confirmed

Dunkeld Walk - to be confirmed

Plenty Gorge Walk—to be confirmed

ESSENTIAL CONVERSATIONS

Come along to our monthly conversations and ex-

plore some of the issues. Please bring supper to

share. Your donations would be welcome.

Last Monday of each month 7—8.30pm.

February—The Crisis in Our Institutions

March—Relating: for example Gender and sex

April—Loneliness

May—Matters of Life and Death

June—(In)equality

July—Eldership and Ancestors

August—A Culture of Shame

September—Our place in wilderness

October—Homelessness

November—Human rights

MORE DETAILS ON OUR

WEBSITE IN JANUARY 2018


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT LESLEY

ON (03) 9819 3239 MOBILE 0428 488 215

E-MAIL: [email protected]

Phone: (03) 9819 3239

E-mail: [email protected]


2 Minona Street, Hawthorn 3122

P.O.Box 3079, Auburn 3123

5


HOMAN ACCOUNTING

SERVICES

Reza Homan Accountant, MBA

Mobile: 0410 587 134

Our beloved accountant here at Borderlands would be happy to accept additional work.

He is available, trustworthy and has a vast array of expertise working with NGOs,

community and environment groups.

He’s a MYOB accounting expert.

Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine, the

issued the following statement, December 6, 2017:

Of course Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel.

But it is also the capital of the State of Palestine, current-

ly occupied by the Israeli army and unable to exercise its

sovereignty in the Arab parts of Jerusalem that will some

day be an integral part of the Palestinian state. To ignore

this fact, and instead play to the most reactionary element

of the Israeli people and of the Jewish people around the

world is to not only be ignorant and arrogant, but also

terribly destructive to the possibility of the U.S. playing a

constructive role in bringing an end of the Israeli/

Palestinian struggle.

Those of us American Jews who seek an end to that

struggle recognize that a lasting peace with justice for

both sides can only be achieved through a new spirit of

generosity and repentance from both sides. Instead, by

clumsily and stupidly wading in to this struggle and en-

dorsing Israel's side on one of the central issues of the

struggle, namely the future status of Jerusalem, Trump

weakens the hand of those in the Palestinian world who

want to achieve reconciliation with Israel and strengthens

the hands of the Palestinians who have given up on

achieving peace through negotiations. Trump has there-

fore given a gift to Hamas just as he has given a gift to

the Israeli settlers and extremists whose goal is to

achieve ethnic cleansing by making life intolerable for

Palestinians both within Israel's pre 1967 boundaries and

inside the West Bank, while simultaneously weakening

the Israeli peace camp To those of us who seek peace,

there is no question that the Old City of Jerusalem does

not "belong" to any one religion or people--it is a holy

site for Jews, Muslims and Christians, and should even-

tually become an international city that is open to all.

West Jerusalem is already appropriately the location of

the Knesset and major parts of the government of Israel.

East Jerusalem, long the spiritual centre of the Palestini-

an state, must become its official capital as soon as Israel

is willing to let that happen or as soon as the international

community can use whatever means are at its disposal to

make that happen. In the meantime, Trump has pushed

that date further into the future, thereby putting Israel and

Palestine both into danger of renewed violence and fur-

ther entrenching hatreds that must be healed. Shame on

Trump and shame of those who support this arrogant and

destructive act. As Jews approach the celebration of Chanukah, our own

national liberation struggle against the occupation of Ju-

dea by an oppressive imperial power that culminated in

165 BCE with the purification and rededication of the

ancient Temple in Jerusalem, many of us in Israel and the

U.S. will rededicate ourselves to seeking for the Palestin-

ian people the same rights and dignity of national self-

determination that we rightly fought for in creating the

State of Israel in 1948.

Many of us recognize, however, that in the coming dec-

ades we must also seek to overcome the poison of all

forms of nationalism, and develop instead a commitment

to the well-being of all people on this planet and a priori-

ty attention to saving our planet from the environmental

destruction that Trump's policies are advancing but

which ultimately are rooted in the ethos of the global

competitive market system with its imperative of unlim-

ited growth and its promotion of selfishness, "me-first-

ism" that is at the core of every nationalist venture, mate-

rialism, and hence a rebellion against the core values of

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (and many forms of sec-

ular humanism as well as strands in every religion). As

the Torah makes clear, from the standpoint of the Jewish

god YHVH, no-one has a RiGHT to any part of the earth

--so it hears God as saying kee kol ha'aretz ("the whole

earth belongs to ME") as YHVH's response to those

who refuse to share it and redistribute its produce every

seven years in the Sabbatical year and every 50 years in a

fundamental redistribution of all wealth in the Jubi-

lee (Yovel).

Woe to all of us on this planet until we take this

teaching seriously--and let the lights of peace and

freedom overshadow the acts of hatred, selfishness

and me-firstism that are polluting our planet and

the ethical foundations of a sane society.

Blessings to all as the holiday season for many re-

ligions approaches.

Rabbi Michael Lerner Editor, Tikkun Maga-

zine www.tikkun.org 510 644 1200 email: Rab-

[email protected]

http://www.tikkun.org



6


21st December 1997—21st of December 2018

20 years it has been—a bit of an immodest look back…

Yep… this was the ‘scene’ at the first residence of the Borderlands Cooperative, upstairs in the old classrooms of

Camberwell Girls Grammar with the great city-views… we had ‘launched’ the adventure downstairs in the old St

Mark’s church with 110 people in attendance, with speeches and music (a band and a choir) and then went up-

stairs to ‘occupy’ our rooms and celebrated with nibbles, drinks, conversations and reconnecting for many after

several years of ‘not having seen you-s…!’ Apart from lots of greying hair and tentative waist bulges, there was a

great ‘vibe’ (we’d just seen The Castle and its vibe—1997!) and we immediately made plans to start the process

to create a cooperative, our preferred business ‘model’… The five main areas we intended to get involved in

were:

1. The need for a profound re-development of our local communities. In many ways, processes of globalisation

and (increasing) individualism have eroded whatever was left of our local communities

2. The need for more ecologically sustainable local (suburban) living. It seems clear that the pressures on our

environment - our ecological footprint - will continue to increase exponentially (and add to the already existing

deterioration).

3. The need for international and inter-cultural learning, exchange and awareness. As the world has be-

come "smaller", the distance between people seems to become ever greater and the inequalities and injustices

in the areas of development and cross-cultural relationship have - if anything - worsened.

4. The need for critical (self-)reflection and for active and participatory research. The worlds of science,

research and academia have grown more and more remote from every-day awareness and consciousness of

"normal" people.

5. … think and work towards the development of a (re)new(ed) spirituality. If spirit is that which stitches the

parts into the whole; if spirit is that which connects; we have to acknowledge the ravages undue divisions of

labour and "expert" specialism have done and are doing to us and to the world.

We became a cooperative in August 2018 after an involved discussion process in which over 50 people took part

and already by that stage several groups and initiatives had approached us to join us on the premises and help car-

ry the costs of the rent, phone, and other ‘things’ we needed… much of the furniture had been donated, our first

computer was an aging Toshiba laptop (which someone had forgotten to leave at their previous employment…),

the library started with about 8,000 academic books ‘re-socialised’ from a private collection and soon some of

our early supporters—together with our first social work students on placement— prepared a submission for the

Kennett government’s SkillsNet program… and lo and behold, we made our first $10,000 allowing us to buy a

‘real’ computer with all the necessary software, a printer and some $$$ left to run a program teaching people

without internet or computer access the necessary skills to use these rapidly developing technologies…

A picture of us receiving the cheque from David Davis, liberal minister in the Kennett government tells the sto-

ry...

7


(l. to r. Andrew Oliver, Supriya Pattanayak, David Davis, David Zyngier, Jacques Boulet and Ross Ives)

Ten years on, the following appeared in the Borderlands Newsletter in March 2007: ‘...on Friday 21st of Decem-

ber, exactly 10 years to the day since our launch in St. Mark’s Camberwell, on a rather hot and windy Sunday afternoon,

the last shopping day before Christmas… and many of you who were there and who are still connected with us will remem-

ber the more than 100 people in attendance and the palpable sense of defiance and hope and expectation to re-capture

some of the ground we had lost to the privatisers, the neo-cons., the economic rationalists… And we just started ‘doing’

things… and others came and joined us… and we’re still there…!

We had, by that stage, worked on at least 50 projects—our main income source—across so many areas: mental

health, problem gambling and the encroaching ‘pokies’ on our neigbourhoods and communities, international and

community development, community arts, volunteering, ecology and sustainability, domestic violence and violence

against women and we had just started—together with the Augustine Centre—our independent and accredited

post-graduate OASES program, the first eight ‘participants’ enrolling in 2006… And many other organisations and

initiatives had joined us, had started in our premises, had entered partnerships with us… Know the Odds, Perma-

culture Melbourne, Students Partnerships Worldwide (SPW, later Relentless Development), Men Against Sexual

Assault (MASA), East Timor Women Australia (ETWA), Polyglot, the New Community Quarterly, ANTaR Bo-

roondara, the Borderlands LETS, Action Research Issues, Community Newsletter of Victoria… several of those

remain connected whilst others ‘moved on’ or closed because of the disappearance of funding or run out of sus-

tained voluntary energy or succumbed to the broader changes in the social action landscape, including the deepen-

ing effects of economic (ir)rationalism and neo-liberalism, the impact of technology, social media and anything to

do with our growing capacities to ’stay in touch’ without even leaving our favourite chair… A growing sense of

despair may also have had to do with this as those who declare themselves to be our leaders can’t seem to agree

and make the decisive steps needed to halt the destruction of our home, our planet and who also do not seem to

be prepared to transition our societies towards more equality, social and ecological justice …

We should also mention that Borderlands has started to bring out books which we believe are essential to keep

the development of communities and their capability to transform our cities, neighbourhoods and organisations

and institutions into regenerative entities and thus repair the willful damage we keep inflicting on our beautiful

home, the earth…

More detailed news about our second decade will be assembled in a special booklet which will be available on the

night of the 21st and we certainly hope that many of you will be able to join us, to reminisce and reconnect and

together rekindle hope for a better 2018 and beyond...

8


Dedicated to the memory of Uncle Reg Blow (1939-2012)

and the many hours of discussion we had on this topic

Understanding the Dreaming

The basic tenets of Wandjinist Religion

Dr Jim Poulter is a historian who is very involved in the Reconciliation movement and has written a lot on First

Nations culture. His book “The Dust of the Mindye” about the small pox epidemics in the 1800s is highly recom-

mend. You can only buy it from Jim as it is self-published, if you Google him you will find it.

Putting aside primitive assumptions

All Australians are familiar with the words ‘The Dreaming’ or ‘The Dreamtime’ but very few have any real idea of

what this means as a systematic set of religious ideas. A lot is known about the basic tenets of the other world

religions, but very little is understood about Australian Aboriginal religion. In fact I looked up the Oxford Diction-

ary of World Religions a few years ago and every conceivable religion in the world was explained, except Australi-

an Aboriginal religion. The words ‘Dreaming’ or ‘Dreamtime’ were not even mentioned in the subject index. This

lack of appreciation of the central themes of Aboriginal religion continues to prevail into the present day for two

main reasons. First, there were strict levels of secrecy within indigenous society and many of the deeper religious

concepts were only shared with those people initiated into the highest levels of the society. However despite this

secrecy, many higher level religious concepts are embedded within the many Dreamtime stories that have sur-

vived. The trick is in decoding these deeper concepts, but this is reliant on a respectful understanding of Aboriginal

culture and mindset.

I say respectful advisedly, because the second reason was that when colonisation began in 1788, Aboriginal society

was regarded as ‘the most primitive on Earth’. It was looked at as if it were a curiosity in a specimen jar. Think for

a moment of all the pejorative terms you have heard to describe Aboriginal people. They were seen as simple,

primitive, pagan, nomadic, stone-age, hunter-gatherers who occupied the lowest rungs of humanity, or even below

it. Similarly, all accounts of Aboriginal religion that I have seen effectively dismiss it as a vague low-level system of

animal spirit worship and ancestor worship. It is commonly classed as ‘Animism’ and therefore assigned to the

lowest rung in the hierarchy of religious thought systems.

In colonial Australia Aboriginal people were not allowed to give evidence in court, even in their own defence.

They were considered to not believe in God so therefore could not swear an oath on the Bible. This presumption

was however simply not true. Aboriginal people did indeed believe in a Supreme Being, but would not readily dis-

cuss the deeper levels of their religion unless you showed the capacity to understand. In Aboriginal society,

knowledge is rewarded with more knowledge and ignorance is responded to with silence, not argument.

This point was amply illustrated when two Adelaide Missionaries in 1838 spoke with a tribal person about his be-

liefs. They immediately rejected his explanation, saying that only Jehovah was the true God. The tribal man an-

swered: ‘Then I am a liar and you speak truth. I shall not speak another word. You may now speak.’ In other words, he

said that the Missionaries were disrespectful to his beliefs and he would not waste any further words with them.

Such disrespect of Aboriginal culture was commonplace in colonial Australia and was born out of the cultural ar-

rogance of the British. The reality is that Aboriginal religion, which I choose to call ‘Wandjinism’, has many paral-

lels with other world religions.

The concept of the Dreaming

The first thing to understand is that ‘The Dreaming’ very neatly encapsulates the idea that the creation of the

world and all life was originally internal to God. Our world is therefore a figment of a divine imagination. However

over the last few centuries our thinking has become dominated by objectivist science. It encourages us to look at

the world as an external reality and therefore able to be empirically weighed and measured. Despite this, we

nonetheless still know that human perception also determines our reality. To the question ‘If a tree falls in the for-

est and

9


no-one is there, does it make a sound?’ The Aboriginal answer would be ‘No, not unless you imagine it would’. Contrary

to this constructivist view of reality, the Bible story of Creation also tends to imply an objectivist stance when God

said ‘Let there be light’. But who was God talking to? The Aboriginal concept of the Dreaming therefore clearly

posits that the universe was created by God in an act of imagination.

More than thirty years ago when I looked at all the Dreamtime Creation Stories I could find from across Australia,

I was struck by the many similar themes. The first similarity was that the stories all started out in darkness. In the

empty darkness the Spirit of All Life began to Dream and that first Dreaming was of Fire. The similarity both to the

biblical story of creation and the Big Bang Theory was a revelation to me. These creation stories then all common-

ly described how the Dreaming continued. There was a Dreaming of wind and rain, earth and sky, land and sea and

so forth. It gave the indelible impression of an understanding of the stages involved in the geological formation of

the Earth, but as a product of a divine imagination.

God then began to grow tired from the long Dreaming, but wanted the dream to continue and be real and self sus-

taining. So God broke the Dream up into millions of pieces and sent life into the Dream, in the form of Creator

Spirits, to make it real. Each of these Creator Spirits carried their own piece of the original creation jigsaw with

them and continued their creation work, forming the landscape with their bodies in accordance with their Dream-

ing. We are all very familiar with these many stories of the work of Creator Spirits, but the stories also show how

objective reality became fashioned in accordance with their piece of the dreaming puzzle. When these Creator

Spirits finished their work they surrendered their Dreaming and became a landmark or animal we see today. Finally

only one Creator Spirit was left and that was Mankind. Man walked across the land recognizing the creation work

that had preceded, and knew that it was his duty to protect the whole fabric of the Dreaming. When God saw that

Man finally understood his responsibilities to the Earth, two more things were done to make the Earth self sustain-

ing.

First, God created the spirits of all children ever to be born and seeded them into the Dreaming. This was so that

each child born would have consciousness and free will, would know their responsibility to the Dreaming, and

would receive the wisdom of their parents and family in caring for the Dreaming. Aboriginal people therefore be-

lieve in pre-life rather than after-life and before a child can be born, a father must dream the finding of the child’s

spirit. The father then directs the child’s spirit to the body of their mother, who makes their flesh. When the child

is born into the real world, their skin is the package that keeps spirit and flesh together in the real world and is

therefore the symbol of family and marital relationship. Spirit, Flesh and Skin are therefore the trio of concepts that

determined social organisation in Aboriginal Clans across Australia. Spirit denotes the father-child relationship,

Flesh denotes the mother-child relationship and Skin denotes the husband-wife relationship. However when Abo-

riginal people tried to explain this pre-existence of the child’s spirit and the concepts of Spirit, Flesh and Skin to

Europeans, they were again often confronted with cultural arrogance. I have even seen the ludicrous conclusion

drawn in anthropological texts that ‘Aboriginal people do not understand sex’.

The second thing that God did before permanently retiring from any intervention in the real world was to seed all

knowledge into the Dreaming. The answer to every question that could ever be asked therefore resides in the

Dreaming and we have access to it through our own Personal Dreaming. This means that we do not have to pray

to God for guidance in our everyday affairs, we only have to look into ourselves and find the answers in the

Dreaming. In reality this is no different to personal prayer.

Wandjina as a non-interventionist god

Following the gift of human consciousness and human recognition of our responsibility to be Caretakers of the

Earth and the Dreaming, the creation Dreaming was finally complete. God therefore sought rest in the land and

takes no further part in the affairs of the world, but continues to watch and listen. This is why all drawings of God,

also known as Wandjina, are shown with eyes but no mouth. God sees everything, but says nothing. Aboriginal

people therefore see everything that happens as a product of human agency, whether witting or unwitting. Things

can happen for good or evil, but this is nothing to do with any conscious will of a Supreme Being. It is simply the

unfolding of human affairs into which Wandjina will not intervene. As a religion Wandjinism is therefore clearly in

the category of Deism rather than Theism, because it subscribes to a belief in a non-interventionist God. Because

of this belief in human responsibility Wandjinism should therefore be regarded as a humanist religion. Whilst some

might argue that ‘humanist religion’ is a self-contradictory term, to me it makes sense. Time is not taken up in idle

worship and abstract piety, as there is the business of the real world to be taken care of. Spirituality must there-

fore instead be reflected in our daily responsibility to the care of each other and the environment.

10


Compared to most other world religions it seems that Wandjinism was able to achieve a much stronger emphasis

on free will and human responsibility in its theology. It did not believe in predestination, with events unfolded ac-

cording to some unfathomable divine master plan. Wandjinism instead emphasised the power of individual Dream-

ing in bringing personal options and choices into being. On one level Wandjinism conveys an idea of divine deter-

minism in that all options or eventualities that will ever confront human beings were anticipated in the original

Dreaming. The seeds of all ideas, options and choices therefore already exist in the Dreaming. However it is by our

own connection to the Dreaming that we are able to find these choices and options, and enact them into reality. In

this sense then, Wandjinism articulates an ‘optional determinism’. Simply put, God provides the choices and we

make them. However the pattern of the choices made is not part of a grand divine plan and Wandjina is simply an

interested spectator to the unfolding of human Dreaming.

Whether human actions achieve good or evil is therefore not part of some greater divine plan. It is entirely a mat-

ter of human choice and human consideration and simply part of the fabric of life. In Wandjinist religion good and

evil are therefore not seen as having their inspiration in opposing divine sources such as God and Satan, good and

evil are human conditions. This therefore is the foundation for the Aboriginal belief in human sorcery. It is not to

be dismissed as ‘primitive superstition’ as has so often occurred in the past. It is a natural extension of the founda-

tion concept of a non-interventionist God, and the belief that human beings are responsible for all that happens,

whether for good or evil.

The environment as a living entity

The idea of God resting in the land and leaving everything in human hands, very strongly conveys the idea of the

sacredness of the land and human responsibility for its care. To reinforce the notion of the sacredness of the envi-

ronment, Aboriginal people have a belief in a complex spirit world that surrounds us. Anything with a form or

shape, even inert objects, is regarded as having an essential being and Dreaming of its own that must be respected

by human beings. Although the idea may seem simple, it has complex ramifications. A tree has a spirit, the copse

that the tree belongs in has a spirit and the forest to which the copse belongs also has its own spirit. A rock has a

spirit, a rocky outcrop has a spirit and the whole hill has a spirit. A river has a spirit, each area of the river and each

creek leading to the river all have their own ‘Tikilara’ or ‘Spirit of Place’. Anything created also gains a spirit. If a

bird makes a nest, the nest gains a spirit. If a person makes a digging stick, a spear or a shield, these objects all gain

their own spirit. When it is all boiled down though, the belief in a complex multi-layered, overlapping spirit world is

simply a device by which respect for the environment is guaranteed.

As an illustration of this I was many years ago walking in Framlingham Forest with the iconic Elder Banjo Clarke and

his young grandson, who was carrying a stick. The grandson dragged his stick along the ground and was softly ad-

monished by Banjo to never make a mark on the ground unless it was for a reason. The disappointing part is that

the Aboriginal belief in a pervasive surrounding spirit world has often been dismissed as just ‘Animism’. This is a

category reserved for the supposedly fallacious pagan belief that inanimate objects can and do have a soul. Such dis-

missive views clearly convey an ingrained unwillingness to understand how a belief in a complex spirit world is actu-

ally a part of a coherent broader belief system. In reality, such beliefs are not so far from our mainstream life expe-

riences. If we build a house does it not gain a spirit and become a home? As individuals, we each demonstrably have

our own spirit, but when we band together with others for a mutual purpose, do we not then gain a team spirit and

a common identity? Do we not sit in quiet parks and feel the spirit of the place?

‘Sorry Time’ as lifting the Earthly burden of the dead

The Aboriginal belief in a complex spirit world therefore included a belief in human ghosts and bad spirits, but this

also has to be seen within a broader context. Belief in a non-interventionist God of necessity means that there is no

judgment after death on how you have lived your life. It is only a question of whether your spirit is at peace and

ready to be reabsorbed back into the Dreaming and once again become part of the cyclical fabric of life. Ghosts are

only the spirits of the dead that have not achieved peace after death. Re-absorption back into the Dreaming can

therefore only occur when we are alleviated of our accumulated earthly sorrows through appropriate human ritual.

That is, rather like Jewish people Aboriginal people believe that during the course of our lives we accumulate many

sorrows. Before an individual is able to achieve peace and oblivion after death, this burden of life’s sorrows must be

taken from them and shared by the living. If this is not done through proper ritual grieving then the dead are in dan-

ger of becoming tormented ghosts forever.

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In Wandjinist religion it is entirely of no consequence how many good deeds an individual may do in the course of

their life. This will in no way provide any guarantee of peace after death or a heavenly afterlife. On the other hand

every wrong that is done to you and every sorrow you experience in your lifetime will accumulate and affect your

ability to find peace after death.

Death in traditional Aboriginal society is therefore marked by ‘Sorry Time’ where grieving and ritual will help ab-

sorb the sorrows of the dead and share it amongst the living. It is a tradition still alive today and of course shares a

commonality with all human cultures. The traditional Aboriginal practice of the living no longer mentioning the

name of the dead is therefore an extension of this belief of life’s accumulated sorrows. Mentioning their name only

provides a pull back to the sorrows of the real world and a disturbance to their peace after death. In conclusion,

you would have noticed that this narrative was dedicated to the memory of Uncle Reg Blow. Reg and I knew each

other for more than thirty years and spent many hours together discussing traditional Aboriginal thought systems

and drawing parallels with other world religions. Reg rang me in late 2012 to tell me he was ‘on the way out’ so we

met several times to put the finishing touches to our ideas. In the week before his death on 12th December 2012,

he tapped the final copy and said ‘That’s it’. The following is our final summary of the basic tenets of Wandjinist

religion, the world’s oldest faith.

The Basic Tenets of Wandjinist Religion—the World’s Oldest Faith

Uncle Reg Blow (1939-2012) defined the tenets of this ancient religion as follows:

1. In the beginning the world and the universe was created in the imagination of the Spirit of All Life and the laws of nature were also created in this Dreaming, so that the world was complete in itself. The rising and setting of the sun, the tides, rains and all natural events thus occur in accordance with these laws of nature.

2. Then the Great Spirit sent life into the Dream to make it real, and the Secret of Dreaming was given to mankind so that the Dream would be sustained. Consciousness and free will were therefore given to mankind so that we would have responsibility for the Earth and all that happened, whether for good or evil.

3. And so that mankind would have the knowledge to guide the decisions that need to be made in the course of following these responsi-bilities, all knowledge and truth was seeded into the Dreaming, where we have access to it through our own personal Dreaming. Whether we use it for good or evil is our own unfettered choice.

4. The Dreaming therefore surrounds us and is past, present and future all rolled in to one.

5. Therefore although always watching and listening, the Spirit of All Life will never intervene in our lives. This is why the Great Spirit, also known as Baiamee or Wandjina, must always be represented with eyes but no mouth. God hears and sees everything, but says noth-ing.

6. So when we pray it cannot be for the guidance or intervention of the Supreme Being. Our prayers can only be for the inner strength to recognise and accept our responsibilities and find the truth through our own Dreaming. Mankind is therefore left solely responsible for the land and each other.

7. There is no reward for accepting these responsibilities, other than the gift of life itself. There is also no consciousness or individuality after death, only oblivion and reabsorption of our life force into the Dreaming.

8. Neither is there any judgment after death, only how we are remembered by the living.

9. Life is therefore a once only experience that must be lived affirmatively. It is only by accepting our responsibilities to the Earth and each other that we affirm life and find meaning in our existence.

10. Because human consciousness is a direct gift from God the only true connection with God is through our own personal Dreaming to the knowledge that has been seeded into the Dreaming.

11. In creating the world God did not intend that mankind should spend time in pious worship, but should care for the real world and find meaning to our lives in our relationships with others. This then, is God’s only will and the meaning of life.

God’s only will is for us to care for the land and each other

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Readers, members and friends of Borderlands who liked Jim Coulter’s and Reg Blow’s explanations about

Wandjinism in the previous pages will certainly also appreciate Eddie Bear and Robert Hoskin’s book which we

helped publish and which is available from us for $ 30.00; to purchase a copy: [email protected]

call 03 9819 3239 or visit us at 2 Minona Street Hawthorn… It’s a really good read which introduces the

reader to a story which is still too often ignored or forgotten in this country!

ECOLOGICALLY RESPONSIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

19 & 20 February 2018 9.30am—5pm

In the context of the many ecological dilemmas besetting the earth, the explosive and seemingly uncontrollable growth of mega-cities must be one of the largest and most multi-dimensional. Against this background,

community development - or the development of community—needs to run apace and alongside our attempts at developing our relationship with and understanding of nature and our broader ecology if we want to sustain our-

selves and, in the process, save our earth. This workshop is facilitated by Jacques Boulet and will develop partici-pants’ capabilities to work with their (local) community and ecology in a regenerative way…

BOOKINGS VIA EVENTBRITE

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/ecologicially-responsive-communitydevelopment-

intro-tickets-25217697813

Fee $345.94 Borderlands Member $311.45

Concession $288.46 Borderlands Member Conc. $259.73

G.S.T. booking fees and lunch included.

Phone: (03) 9819 3239

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.borderlands.org.au

Street: 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn 3124 or post: P.O. Box 3079 Auburn 3123

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The Earthworker Cooperative is strongly

progressing in their mission to establish

renewable energy manufacturing through

community-owned cooperatives

The project is a powerful, positive and unifying

endeavour to:

revitalise & empower local economies

address climate change

support local manufacturing jobs

assist a 'just transition' from fossil fuel to

clean renewable energy while producing

high-quality sustainable products.

ETWA is a small, Australian not-for-profit with a big heart for rural women in

Timor-Leste.

From supporting development projects, training and product develop-ment in Timor-Leste to fundraising campaigns, events and community stalls in Australia, our commit-ted volunteers work to implement innovative projects to make practical, positive change in women’s

lives in Timor-Leste.

To learn more or to get involved, visit www.etwa.org.au for more information

Trauma-informed specialised counselling for victims-survivors of sexual exploitation. We partner with local grassroots organisa-tions to provide holistic community development programs in

education, health, psychosocial support, and human rights awareness.

To learn more or to get involved, visit www.herspace.org.au

The HerSpace office is at Borderlands… do get in touch!

The Australian Living Peace Museum (ALPM)

ALPM is an online museum presenting Australian narratives of peace-making, non-violent social change and alter-

native forms of resistance to war and violence. The ALPM is committed to sound scholarship, a participatory

framework and community-oriented perspectives. The Museum aims to foster a culture of peace reflecting the

multidisciplinary nature of peace efforts made personally by individuals and by organisations past and present. It

does so in accord with a range of local, national and international contexts relating to disarmament, human rights,

ecology, reconciliation (including Indigenous responses to colonisation), education and the growth of international

humanitarian law. The Australian Living Peace Museum is a volunteer-led, community based organisation. The Mu-

seum is a registered cooperative which meets on a monthly basis. Membership of the cooperative is open to indi-

viduals and organisations that agree with its aims. The rules of the cooperative including the aims and to make an

application for membership can be found on http://livingpeacemuseum.org.au/ALPM/index.php

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Being a member of Borderlands is great.

Not only do you get to support one of the most down-to-earth, ecologically healthy, sustainably conscious, social theory drenched, community focused, participatory / democratically in-tune and generally wonderful place, you also get membership

goodies.

Membership goodies include:

Reduced subscription rates to New Community Quarterly (the only Community Development Journal in Australia)

Variable discounts on lectures and workshops

Use of Borderlands Spaces for your events, meetings, chats*

Broadened borrowing opportunities at the 14,000 volumes (and counting) Borderlands Library.

Now is the time to renew your membership – or become a brand-shiny-new member (or shareholder) of this wonderful independent network for holistic community activism, sustainability and action

research.

We’d particularly love your membership if you have been receiving newsletters and

correspondence from Borderlands for a while and haven’t yet renewed your membership.

Please help keep Borderlands vibrant and active! Membership is easy; just fill out the

‘Membership, Shareholders and Subscribers Form’ at the back of this newsletter and send / email it to us!

Borderlands Cooperative:

Independent network for holistic

community activism, sustainability

and action research

Be a part of a sustainable future!

By making a gift in your will to Borderlands Cooperative you are sustaining your values and ideals into the future.

Planned financial amounts can be donated for charitable purpos-es tax-free. And you do not need a great deal of wealth to make a difference. Every dollar helps to keep this non-profit organiza-tion alive and vibrant.

Your will is a very important document – it may be difficult to think of preparing it now – however, it protects your family and your assets for the future. A will gives you the opportunity to decide where your assets and possessions will go and how they are to be used. Preparing a legal will can potentially remove un-necessary stress, expense, and legal problems in future times.

However, we believe your will can do even more – it can also be your legacy, passing on not only physical assets, but also your values and ideals. A bequest is as simple as it is powerful; with a few words in your will, you can continue to be an advocate for community activism, healthy ecologically, sustainability and par-ticipatory democracy.

A bequest is a gift nominated in your will to one or more non-profit organizations. Your bequest can take any (or a combina-tion) of the following forms:

Cash

A percentage of the overall value of your estate

Retirement plan or life insurance beneficiary designation

Securities

Personal property (artwork, jewellery, etc.)

Due to the complexity of planned giving, we strongly suggest that you contact your tax advisor and/or legal advisor to begin the process. We encourage you to provide us with a copy of the rele-vant pages of your will, trust, or beneficiary designation form. All information will be kept in our secure files.

For membership, donations or any other purpose, please contact us:

Borderlands Cooperative

PO Box 3079

Auburn 3123

Tel: 03 9819 3239

or: 03 9819 3439

[email protected]

15

Please return your completed form to Borderlands Cooperative, PO Box 3079, AUBURN 3123

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All members of the Cooperative are required to be active members. Active membership requires:

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PO BOX 3079 Auburn VIC 3123

Ph: 03-9819 3239 fax: 03-9819 3439

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