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  Religion as a worldview 

Supernatural Dimension: The belief that a divine being or power is greater than humankind and the natural world.

Worldview: How an individual sees the world around them, their beliefs that allow them to sense their experiences.

- Transcendent worldview: Belief that divine being is beyond the human

- Immanent worldview: Belief that divine being dwells within the human spirit or natural world

• Characteristics of religion

The combination of the four characteristics of religion create a dynamic, living religion.

1. Beliefs and believers: Adherents that follow a particular religion, necessary for all religions 

2. Sacred texts and writings:

3. Ethics: The religious reflection of moral beliefs, it clarifies what is right and wrong

4. Rituals and ceremonies: Systems of beliefs/actions linked to superhuman forces, they are personal reminders of faith for adherents

• The contribution of religion 

Contribution to individuals:

• Answers to life's profound questions

• Identity as a believer within a tradition 

• A system of ethics to guide behaviour 

• Ways to celebrate significant life events

• Role Models (ways of perfection)

Contribution to society:

• Maintain order and wellbeing 

• Basis of ethical systems eg. laws

• Through the arts (eg. as patrons)

• Importance of education 

• Roles and positions of people in society

Australian aboriginal beliefs and spiritualities - The dreaming 

• The nature of the dreaming 

The Dreaming: The worldwide view of Aboriginal people which are a class of events when ancestral beings inhabited land and formed the world as we know it today.

• Diversity of the dreaming: There is a recognition of the variation of knowledge, values and beliefs within each ‘country’

Origins of the universe: There is no set origin of the universe, there are a diverse range of stories passed down by ancestors through oral tradition.

Sacred sites: A place of spiritual significance and a resting place of ancestral beings

Stories of the dreaming: Orally passed down stories that express creations, customs and reasons for being (eg. The rainbow serpent is an immortal being that shaped the land and gave it water, life and death)

Symbolism and art: Art assists with the oral heritage and constians knowledge and teaching. It can often depict ancestral beings, sacred sites and stories of the dreaming,

• The inextricable connection of the dreaming, the land and identity 

There is an inextricable link (can't separate) between land, dreaming and identity as it dictates their way of laws, life beliefs and values.

The Dreaming: Ancestors dwell within land through sacred sites.

The land: Provides resources of survival, totems connect land by giving them an animal/plants to care for 

Identity: Responsibility to care and love the land, They don't own the land, they only belong as the land is family

• Ancestral beings: Natural symbols from the land that connects individuals to ancestral beings

• Kinship: The organisation of family groups connected to specific areas of land

• Importance of birthplace: They identify themselves as part of the land where they were born