article

1

The Dreaming of Aboriginal Australia

The Dreaming Quintych (watercolor study), Mark W. McGinnis 1992

A major consideration for anyone studying The Dreaming religion of the Australian Aborigines must be the

diversity of these native people. It is estimated that upon European settlement some two centuries ago there

were approximately 500 distinct Aboriginal peoples and at least 200 Aboriginal languages. While there were

many similarities in beliefs, rites, and stories, there were also significant differences. It is certainly not possible

to speak of one Aboriginal religion as there were many (Charlesworth et. al. 7). But in spite of the differences,

at the core of all of the variations was The Dreaming and the totemic structure it spawned.

Another factor is the age of these beliefs, conservatively estimated at 40,000 years. In fact, some people believe

the religion to be as much as 80,000 years old. In studying Aboriginal beliefs, rituals, and designs for living, we

may be gaining insight into the deepest collective memory human beings have maintained (Lawlor 9). This is

not to say that Aboriginal culture and religion have not changed in 40,000 years. They have undoubtedly gone

through countless modifications over the millennia, but this is a faith with stringent adherence to the rituals and

beliefs of The Dreaming.

2

Another important factor to consider is that until 10,000 years ago all human beings lived as hunter and

gatherers, a lifeway that is the still the basis of a few contemporary Australian Aborigines (Lawlor 8). That

10,000-year interval is a brief period of time compared to the 1,000,000 years human beings, probably quite

contentedly, were born, lived, worshipped, and died in the economic structure of hunting and gathering.

Because Australian Aborigines maintained this hunting and gathering economy they have often been

categorized as “primitive,” “elementary,” or “backward,” and, in the 18th and 19th centuries, “savages.” By

20 th

-century standards the Aboriginal culture is materially poor. But this perceived material poverty is balanced

by a tremendous spiritual richness that permeates every aspect of their lives.

This richness of religious life is derived from what we call The Dreaming, which refers not to a dream in the

Western way of thinking, but to an ongoing period of time in which the Aborigines’ Ancestral Beings shaped

the world – a process that continues today through the Aborigines’ lives and rituals. The Creative Ancestors

came to earth and traveled the surface as the Aborigines do today. They gathered, hunted, made camp, fought,

loved, and, in doing so, shaped the land into the topography of today. They “dreamed” into existence all the

animals and plants; they made the heavenly bodies, the human, tribes, and clans. The Ancestors were

metamorphic beings who changed from humans, to animal, to plant, to land form. When the Creative Ancestors

grew tired from their great efforts, they withdrew into the earth, the sky, and the creatures of the earth, where

they remain and reverberate with the life force that they created. The following story, as told by Pitjantjarjara-

Yangkuntjatjara of central Australia, is about Lunkana or “Sleepy Lizard Man,” and is but one of the many

creation stories:

During Creation times, an unmarried sleepy lizard man called Lunkana lived by himself at Ayers Rock. Despite

Aboriginal law about sharing food, he was so mean that he kept all the meat he caught for himself. When he

caught emus, he would bring them secretly back to his camp and eat after dark. His cooking place became a

small rock-hole. After a while the carpet snake people became angry at such meanness and decided to kill

Lunkana. While he was asleep in his wet-weather shelter of boughs, the Kuniya men set fire to it and the lizard

man died in agony. The windbreak where he slept was turned into a cave, the smoke is now a large area of

lichen, and the dead body of Lunkana is a low boulder at the base of the Rock. The low rock is the place for

sleepy lizards and is full of Kurunba, or the essence of life of the lizards (Isaacs 42).

While the Creative Ancestors have now retired, their creation continues to live and evolve through their stories,

ceremonies, rituals, symbols, and designs that have been carefully maintained for tens of thousands of years

(Lawlor 14- 18). The journeys of the Creative Ancestors are called Dreaming tracks, or songlines, which

crisscross the Australian landscape. Every group of Aborigines “owns” a segment of a songline, and it is their

responsibility to maintain it with an elaborate series of rites and ceremonies to be performed at sites along the

songline. The travels of the bands are a cyclic journey recreating the Ancestors’ activities and ceremonies, in

order to ensure the continuation of all that the Ancestors made (Lawlor 48). At the ritual sites, lengthy cycles of

songs and ceremonies are performed where the Ancestors have left the essence of fertility; this guarantees the

flourishing of the plants and animals created. Songs, mime, and dances, sometimes lasting for weeks, reenact

the actions of the Ancestors. Without these ceremonies the cycle of life could be broken and the cosmos

endangered. A group’s claim to an area of songlines is drawn from the original dreaming and is not a physical

owning of the land but rather, a spiritual stewardship to maintain purity (Isaacs 87, 99). The concept of owning

land as a material possession is foreign to the Aborigines. There are no words meaning “possession” in

Aboriginal languages (Lawlor 237).

There is a pantheon of Ancestral Beings, with names varying greatly from one Aboriginal group to another, but

there are three that have some degree of universality throughout the continent: the All-Mother, the All-Father,

and the Rainbow Serpent. The All-Mother or Great Earth Mother, the symbol of fertility and creator of life, is

particularly dominant in northern Australia. The All-Father is given credit for shaping much of the landscape in

southeastern Australia and for instituting many of the cultural aspects of life. He is still called upon to return to

3

earth during male initiation rites (Isaacs 51, 58). The Rainbow Serpent is a more complex being, with a wide

range of meanings and functions for various groups around the country. The serpent is seen as male by some

and female by others; sometimes as benevolent, sometimes as wrathful; sometimes as creative, sometimes

destructive. In many regions, the Rainbow Serpent is responsible for creation ceremonies during The

Dreaming, and is believed to live in deep waterholes throughout Australia. Some groups perform ceremonies of

the serpent, with complex rituals and ground sculpture, which last up to fifty days. Another aspect of the

Rainbow Serpent is the snake’s characteristic of bestowing power, magic, and new songs to men of high

reputation. Through various rituals the Serpent takes the worthy both under the water and into the heavens on

the rainbow to initiate him to a higher understanding and more profound powers (Buchler and Maddock 59).

The connection of Aborigines to the Creative Ancestors and to one another is complexly and completely formed

by a system of totemism. The Creative Ancestors deposited the life force for each aspect of the cosmos, and

each person is given a personal affiliation with a part of that creation, a “totem.” The individual’s totem may be

a specific animal or plant or force of nature. A few totems among existing thousands are the dingo; honey ant;

carpet snake; witchetty grub; bush banana; thunderstorm; emu; water; and kangaroo. People are linked to their

totems because they themselves are also a part of that same creative force the totems embody. This produces a

direct connection of humanity to nature and the gods; they are thus not separate components but part of a single

unit. Men and women usually have more than one totem, as they are also given totems relating to their families.

Some groups also have sex totems* and place-of-conception totems (Lawlor 283). The multiple totems create

tremendously complex linkages with groups of people of the same totem, adding to an already expansive family

kinship group. The totemic systems weave the individual into unity with many groups of people, with nature,

and with the Creative Ancestors.

The Dreaming created the land, the people, the animals, the plants, and the heavens, and it also created the Law.

The Law demands a respectful, sensitive adherence to the way of life as shown through the songs and stories of

The Dreaming. The stories of The Dreaming show the good and the bad, the violent and the peaceful, as well as

the moral and the immoral. Life is created in its totality (Berndt 15). The rituals and ceremonies established in

the songs of The Dreaming form the roles people are to play in the earthly design of The Dreaming. The

Creative Ancestors clearly laid down laws governing the roles of men and women, marriage, children, hunting,

gathering, and food distribution (Isaac 157). As neither time nor history, as we think of them, exist to the

Aborigines, The Dreaming and its Law do not represent historical events, but a contemporary ever-present force

forming social organization and behavior (Cowan 26).

Men in the society are seen as the primary guardians of The Dreaming rituals for their group. They have

responsibility for continuing the sustaining ceremonies, locating the ritual sites, and determining the travel

patterns. Some of the most complex rituals are male initiation ceremonies. Boys grow up in the women’s camp

and enjoy nearly total freedom until they are of age, when they are seized and undergo a series of rituals,

sometimes called “the Walkabout,” which include a journey, return to the homeland, circumcision, a simulated

near-death experience, a seclusion, a second homecoming, and a betrothal, even though actual marriage may be

as many as fifteen years away (Lawlor 184-194). A segment of the initiation ritual from North Arnhem Land is

described as follows:

…this ceremony makes use of ground painting in which the first Creative Ancestor is represented by a large

circle of concentric red and white rings…The red rings are formed and hardened by earth mixed with blood

that has been ritually extracted from the veins of initiated men. The white rings are also blood and earth, but

thousands of white bird feathers have been applied to the surface…

The circle is painted on the earth in a remote sacred place known only to initiated men, at the spot where the

Ancestor is said to have emerged from the earth in the Dreamtime. The Aborigines describe the events thus:

4

“Though asleep, the ancestor was thinking. His desires flashed through his mind, causing animals to emerge

from his navel and armpits.”

The ceremony proceeds with three initiated men taking their place in the center of a circle of young initiated

men. The young men lie on the ground, pressing their ears and chests against the earth. The tribal elder in the

center holds a large, heavy wooden pole that is also encircled from top to bottom with red and white colored

rings. It has a crown of white feathers on top. The elder sits cross-legged with the pole in front of him; he

raises and lowers it so that it pounds the earth. The pole is called Numbakul, which means “Eternal Naming.”

The alternating red and white colors of the pole, as well as the alternating, thumping sound, represents the

principle of duality that manifests itself in all things, most transparently in the sexes.

The first line sung to the silent initiates is “May Numbakul reach to the stomach of the sky.” This is sung as a

mantra, alternating with “The earth is the stomach of the sky.” As the sun sets, the chanting stops. Assisted by

the two men flanking him, the tribal shaman raises and lowers the pole, thumping the earth through the night.

The silent group of young initiates lies utterly still and naked, absorbing and dissolving into the vibratory

dream of the Creative Ancestor pulsating from the earth. As dawn approaches, the initiated men, seated quietly

in the surrounding bush, begin to chant as if their songs arose from the heart-like beat of the pole thumping the

earth. The songs tell of the mysteries of the emergence of life and substance from the vibratory pre-formed

realm of the Ancestors (Lawlor 107-8).

Aspects of Aboriginal rituals, such as bloodletting, circumcision, sub-incision (the splitting of the head of the

penis, done in a ritual later in a man’s life), and scarification can be difficult for a Western mind to understand.

From an outsider’s perspective, understanding requires the individual to move beyond the act of the blood

sacrifice to what is being symbolized: the union of the individual to the group and to the spiritual (Charlesworth

et. al. 151-2). Through ritual, The Dreaming is reenacted in all its forms: the dark and the light, as well as the

cruel and the beautiful. Ceremony and ritual create the depth and intensity of the people’s unity with the

Dreaming (Lawlor 74). The initiation of males is not simply a ceremony; it is the ritual killing of the child,

recreating him as a man. He is given a new outlook on life, new responsibilities, and a new identity (Berndt 4).

In the complex ceremonies and rituals, art plays an integral role. Sand drawings and paintings; body painting;

painted, carved sacred boards and stones; earth sculptures; and painting on bark and rocks are all forms that are

used, usually in conjunction with each other, to create the connection with Creative Ancestors. More than that,

most of the designs are thought to have been originally produced by the Creative Ancestors themselves. Many

of the ancient rock paintings and carvings are believed to be original creations of the Ancestors; thus, they are

carefully maintained and renewed (Isaacs 241).

An Aborigine supposedly once said, “Women are born from nature, men are made by culture” (Lawlor 181).

Certainly, women are included in the cycles of The Dreaming. They naturally sacrifice their blood for fertility

and the perpetuation of the group. Men, on the other hand, need to be shaped into harmony with The Dreaming,

as shown in the initiation rites previously described. Women’s apparent subservient role in Aboriginal society

has been widely discussed and commonly exaggerated. Women’s importance to the economics of the group

cannot be exaggerated, as it is women who provide up to eighty percent of the food, through gathering and

hunting small game (Lawlor 201). Additionally, women have a direct relationship with their totemic ancestors

and have their own ceremonial grounds where men are not allowed. At the core of all women’s ceremonies is

emotional management. Their ritual and magic is aimed at nurturing emotions, people, and the country itself.

Women see themselves as the caretakers of social harmony (Charlesworth et. al. 215).

Because of the attitude Aborigines have toward children and conception, women do not see their primary

function in life as childbearing. Pregnancy is not perceived to be solely a result of sexual intercourse, but

instead is the result of a spirit child entering the man to be transferred to the woman. These spirit children are

5

the life force of a Creative Ancestor, which has been deposited in the landscape and finds its way into

women. Because of this, children are not thought of as the property of anyone. They are united to and are part

of the Creative Ancestors. Children are brought up not only by their mothers and fathers, but also by their

extended family (Lawlor 162-3). The kind of upbringing the children receive in a traditional setting is

described by Daisy Utemara from the Kimberely region:

Now, the child had his lessons every day. Early in the morning and in the evening his grandmother and his

mother warmed their hands and touched his forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, hands, and right down to his feet…

When they touched the forehead, that meant to give; and the nose, not to go around another person’s fire; eyes,

not to see evil things and not to love up with any strangers; mouth, not to use bad language; hands, not to steal

what doesn’t belong to you; and the feet, not to trespass on other people’s land. Now, the father told the child

about wunun, which meant the sharing with other people. The father and mother and grandmother told about

sharing everything — the last thing you have you must give (Isaacs 176).

Children grow up in nearly complete independence and indulgence. They learn by participating in nearly all

aspects of community, kinship, environment, stories, and rituals. This integrates them into the society and

prepares them to take their places (Lawlor 165-8).

Leadership in the community falls to those in closest association with The Dreaming, the elders. Leadership in

ritual is designated by descent and kin-positioning, but authority is ultimately maintained only by elders’ ability

and genuine association with The Dreaming (Berndt 6). Egalitarianism among tribal members is highly valued,

and even when leadership is needed, authority is carefully handled to minimize any perceived ego-centered

behavior. When respected elders speak as leaders, they constantly make reference to The Dreaming to reinforce

their position. They often sit facing the other direction from the group and give repeated assurances that they

are “only telling a story” (Lawlor 249). There are “men of high degree” and “wise women” in groups who have

reached extraordinary spiritual power and psychic skill, but even these people are not revered more than others

who have developed advanced skills in hunting, dancing, or boomerang making (Lawlor 360).

Death to the Aborigines is considered the last of their life-changing rituals. As in male initiation, death is

actually a rebirth, this time into the realm of the dead. At death, the spirit of the individual splits into three

components: the totemic soul, the ancestral soul, and the ego soul. The totemic soul is reunited with the force

of the totemic ancestor from which it came. The ancestral soul is reunited with its ancestors in the land of the

dead which is located in the heavens and stars. The third part, the ego soul, is also referred to as the Trickster

and can be the most difficult part of the soul to deal with. This soul is bound to the locality of the person, and

also to his or her earthly pleasures, and might not want to leave. It can become “stuck” in this world and cause

problems for the living. Special ritual assistance is needed to assure its departure. The Aborigine’s concept of

the afterlife in the land of the dead is basically a reflection of what life is on earth. This is an agreeable vision

for people who are satisfied with their lives (Lawlor 344, 350).

The ancient religious traditions of the Aboriginal Australians have led to some dramatically different ways of

perceiving life and reality. Through lives structured around the songlines of The Dreaming, they measure their

lives according to space rather than time. They gauge their understanding of reality and The Dreaming, not

according to “when,” such as “before” or “after,” but rather “where.” Space and place became the defining

factors of life rather than time. For instance, the defining factor of a birth is not when the birth took place but

where the birth took place. Time, for the traditional Aborigines, is a factor that is absorbed by the physical

place and the cycles of life that take place there. The Dreaming knows no time; it is eternal and the Aborigines’

existence is a part of that eternal existence (Lawlor 238-41).

Another striking aspect of Aboriginal culture is the way people experience reality as expressed through their

language. Aboriginal dialects have such an abundance of detailed, descriptive names that the language is

6

impossible for Westerners to master. A particular type of tree can have hundreds of different names, describing

the subtle qualities of that tree; each individual tree may also have a variety of names. Animals, plants, and all

variety of natural phenomena are named with tremendous perceptive skills. But they have no words for “tree,”

“plant,” or “animal.” They have no words for abstract generalizations that are not grounded in perceptual

reality (Lawlor 267). While there is no such thing as a “tree,” there is an “oak tree in spring foliage with a dead

limb on the south side growing on the east side of (a certain) hill,” and the Aboriginal dialect may have a name

that means exactly that. The Aboriginal mind thinks in the precise world of reality and in its mirror image, The

Dreaming.

The heart of the Aboriginal religion is life. Every religious facet focuses on life and living in harmony with

humanity, nature, and The Dreaming — as all three are conceived as one. The Dreaming creates a total way of

life; from the Aborigines’ first breath at birth to their last breath at death, the Dreaming shapes, forms, patterns,

and designs their lives into a meaningful composition, not made of time, but of space:

“The whole religious corpus vibrate[s] with an expressed aspiration for life, abundant life… Aboriginal

religion [is] probably one of the least material-minded, and most life-minded of any

of which we have knowledge”(Berndt 4).

*Each sex can have an emblem, such as a bird or animal, which usually signifies solidarity of that sex as distinct from the oth er. Injuring or killing

the sex totem animal is like challenging or attacking that sex associated with it. An example was observed among the Kurnai of Gippsland: Among

these people the emblems of the sexes are 2 different birds, one for each sex, who regard them as elder brother for men and elder sister for women.

In this society marriages take place by elopement, and the girls can refuse a suitor. Conflict among the male-female totems helps overcome shyness

of young people of marriageable age. Older women can kill a male totem and display it in the camp. This enrages the men and fighting takes place

between young men and women. Later a young man can meet a young girl and call her by the female totem name, asking what that creature eats.

Her reply can be something like, “she eats kangaroo” or “she eats possum.” This is a formal offer and acceptance of marriage, and the young couple elope. This system is usually associated with the southeastern part of Australia, within matrilineal moieties and matrilineal social totemic clans.

SOURCES CITED

Berndt, Ronald M., Australian Aboriginal Religion, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974.

Buchler, Ira R., and Kenneth Maddock eds., The Rainbow Serpent, The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1978.

Charlesworth, Max, Howard Morphy, Dianne Bell, and Kenneth Maddock, eds. Religion in Aboriginal

Australia: An Anthology, St. Lucia: University of Queensland, 1986.

Cowan, James G., The Aborigine Tradition, Rockport, MA: Element, 1992.

Lawlor, Robert, Voices of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime, Rochester, Vermont: Inner

Traditions, 1991.

Isaacs, Jennifer, Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Australian History, Sydney: Lansdowne Press, 1980.