Waramingo's Boys and Other Stories

Book excerpt: A BOLD WALKABOUT ACROSS THE LAND OF VISION, IMAGINATION, AND REALITY "The stories in this book are a combination of my imagination, vision, and experiences and contacts," writes storyteller Judith A. Lewis about this compelling collection of 65 stories about the Australian Outback, the Pacific, India, and traveling. "They came to me in vivid detail and I felt compelled to share these insights into a richer way of looking at our relationship to the Earth." Her theme is the journey, across landscapes, through cultures, or into the vivid realms of visionary experience. Lewis writes evocatively about traveling, in spirit and body, across Aboriginal and cultural terrains, from meeting kangaroo spirits to long-lost fathers. But she writes with equal insight and warmth about the enigmas of the heart, its secrets, joys, aspirations, and epiphanies. A twelve-year-old girl survives an illness by communing with the waratah in bloom. A traveler in Bombay is arrested by beauty amidst the frenetic urban haze. Two twins separated in early childhood journey towards each other. A homeless man constantly walks the highways to bury his past. An Aboriginal medicine man named Waramingo meets the Dreamtime ancestors. "A lot of the visionary stories pertain to the land and its secrets and those who visit it from afar," Lewis says. "I believe that the Earth is alive and awaiting our recognition as are the other dimensions that we all could inhabit. I hope my stories help you remember what you already know, that there is no separation, that everything, from stones to stars, is part of us on this lovely planet."