Australian Aboriginal Beliefs and Spiritualities – The Dreaming

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What is the dreaming

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Dreaming as the basis of all aspects of life in traditional Aboriginal society (A WORLDVIEW)

·      METATEMPORAL Concept- Dreaming links past, present and future

o   Central and deepest reality

o   Beginning of creation

o   Where spirit beings interacted with aboriginal peoples

o   Gives meaning

o   Existed from the beginning and is still there

·      Establishes the rules that link the relationship between Aboriginal people and the land

·      Spiritual connection to the land is different due to sites and animals in the land - totem

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What is the dreaming

Dreaming as the basis of all aspects of life in traditional Aboriginal society (A WORLDVIEW)

·      METATEMPORAL Concept- Dreaming links past, present and future

o   Central and deepest reality

o   Beginning of creation

o   Where spirit beings interacted with aboriginal peoples

o   Gives meaning

o   Existed from the beginning and is still there

·      Establishes the rules that link the relationship between Aboriginal people and the land

·      Spiritual connection to the land is different due to sites and animals in the land - totem

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origins of the universe in the dreaming

The foundation of Aboriginal religion.

When first, spirit beings shaped nature and created life.

·      Every land feature/SACRED SITE has an origin story

·      Each spirit has descendants, comprising a natural species, and its corresponding human group, linked by a totem.

·      Dreaming tracks

o   Trails of lives left by ancestral spirits

o   Marked in monuments of geography and tribal land

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sacred sites + the dreaming

Places within the landscape that have a special meaning or significance under Aboriginal tradition.

·      May be land, rock formations, and parts of rivers or seas.

·      Little knowledge of the sites as not shared with wider community.

Example: Kata Tjuta (rock formation)

·      Anangu people in Northern Territory

·      A series of 36 boulders

Has various creation stories, including one Dreaming legend of a snake king named Wanambi.

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stories of the dreaming

NOT A MYTH but an accurate, valid oral history for Aboriginal people.

Beliefs are passed onto young people through stories and ceremony.

·      Dreaming stories link Aboriginals to the Australian environment.

·      Provide meaning + encompass all aspects of life

o   Discusses how to live + aboriginal law

o   Explain the creation of the land, the animals and the people

·      Lean about the natural world through stories

o   Characteristics of flora and fauna

o   Knowledge of country

Example: The rainbow serpent

A serpent shaped Earth's features and replenished waterholes, explaining perennial water sources and the origin of rainbows.

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symbolism and art in relation to the dreaming

An essential part of Aboriginal life.

·      Stories can be a part of body painting, sand drawings, etc…

 

Through art, artist communicates knowledge of the Dreaming.

·      All elements of the Dreaming are incorporated Aboriginal Art

o   Law, values, customs, ceremonies, and obligations of Aboriginal people.

·      Art can be used for rituals or to identify the ownership of Dreaming and to strengthen kinship ties.

·      In ritual ceremonies, sacred designs are reproduced in art alongside song and dance. Humans become temporarily filled with the creative power of the Dreaming.

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Discuss the diversity of the Dreaming for Aboriginal peoples

Aboriginal peoples are comprised of many different language and/or tribal groups.

·      Different areas of Australia have different flora, fauna and geography

o   Different totems associated with a spirit being

o   Providing a relationship with the land of that region.

·      Ceremonies and rituals keep the Dreaming present.

·      Gives sense of identity

Example: Yugambeh

One of the totems for this region in South East Queensland is the Wajin (platypus).

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why is the dreaming important to aboriginals

The Dreaming impacts all aspects of life for Aboriginals and is a worldview

·      Provides ethics, informs art and lifestyle

·      Through practice, Aboriginal spirituality affirms the highest reality of the Dreaming, and maintains daily human life in alignment with that reality.

·      Totems allow for purpose, and a reminder of the harmony of the universe.

When the relationship with the land is broken, the spirituality can be lost.

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Investigate the inextricable connection of the Dreaming, the land and identity

Inextricable = Impossible to disentangle or separate

The Dreaming is the eternal link between Ancestral Spirits and Aboriginal people

·      Land sustains life and is central to Dreaming

o   Dreaming links a person to the land and with objects within the land

o   Give people rights and responsibilities with respect to the land.

Land and Dreaming are interdependent because people share the same spiritual essence as the land. Without the land, Dreaming would merely be stories that carry the hopes and values of a people