Karadji

Karadji is a term used by Australian Aborigines to refer to their Shaman practitoners.

Syncretic Terms

Mystic > Arendiwane, Karadji, Shaman, Shamanic Principle, Wise One

Connection Therapist > Arendiwane, Karadji, Shaman, Wise One

Notes

Karadji, a.k.a. clever men, a.k.a. "Man of High Degree."

Karadji use trance (i.e. receptivity to the point of Connection to do their work, access psychic realms, heal, remote view, etc.)

Karadji use Miwi (a.k.a. Force and will) to achieve results, for example, bone pointing, Thought Transference, murder by thought transference, Clairvoyance, mind reading, etc..

Cowan notes similarities between the Karadji and the culture that surrounds them and the Taoist Hsien.

James Cowan recounts how the "Church missionary system and the corrupting influence of his own society" undermined respect and eroded the position in the eyes of the Aborigines themselves, to the point that they were seen as nothing more than swindlers and charlatans. As the author points out, this was part of a policy of "cultural genocide that has in consequence al but wiped out traditional Aboriginal life in Australia." (p.2)

"Circumstantial and oral testimony suggest that the would-be karadji, underwent a complex form of initiation that involved both ritual “death” at the hands of karadji or Oruncha (Spirits), accompanied by prolonged bouts of meditation in the wilderness."

"...emphasis should be placed on the fact that a medicine man's life is one of self-discipline, preceded by training, of social responsibility, and of contact with powerful forces or spiritual beings....His is a profession for which he has been duly prepared and trained."

Footnotes

References