Mutant Message from Down Under

By Marlo Morgan

Coming-of-age at 38

Can you have a coming-of-age moment at age 38? I did when I first read this book. The mystical ethereal experience of taking a four-month-long Outback walkabout alongside the author struck me with so much hope. In my re-reading of the book, the same powerful wellspring of inspiration rose up again. Part of it is funny—I could see myself as the silly executive woman that doesn’t quite do all the homework and shows up for what she thinks is an awards luncheon, only to find herself in the middle of an indigenous group. Part of it is adventurous—why not take a walkabout across the desert with a group of people you don’t know but somehow inherently trust?

Part of it sparks a faith-in-humanity feeling—that here is a tribe so close to the land that they live in the present, have their needs met, and experience Spirit in daily life. When the book first came out in 1996, it whipsawed across the globe, powered into popularity thanks to the New Age movement. Today the furor may have settled down, but I see new parallels to its message that we must step up to be more thoughtful caretakers of our planet.