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Aboriginal Australia Totemic Dreamtime
Corroborees Ceremonies
Dreamtime songs are a series of short verses that describe happenings or locations associated with ancestors. Ceremonial songs include portrayal of pertinent occurrences with dance movements. The songlines of the Dreaming Tracks have one characteristic melodic form throughout, even songs depicting the travells of an ancestor across thousands of miles.
The Songlines or Dreaming Tracks distinguish all features of the land created by their Spirit Ancestors as they travelled across it, These songlines are the footprints of their Spirit Ancestors as they sang Beingness into the landscape, setting the law. Today the journeys of the Spirit Ancestors are brought to life through these songlines.
By performing the appropriate ceremonies and singing certain songs at precise points along the Dreaming Track, the Aboriginals gain direct access to the Dreaming. Many groups travell along Dreaming Tracks with their children, educating them by telling them stories of the Dreamtime. Through the verses of these songs, Aboriginal Australians know every part of the landscape and where to find sources of water and food. They also use the songlines when they move about within the territory of the tribe or when visiting other tribes.
The story of the Aboriginals is
in the land; the law is imprinted upon their sacred spaces. All Aboriginal
tribes tell stories about the Rainbow Serpent. Although some elements of
the Rainbow Serpent Story are known only to initiated members of the tribe, the
illustration of the Rainbow Serpent has become public knowledge.
MacDonald Creek Landscape
Rainbow Serpent Stories are Creation Stories so each of them is descriptive of the creation of the landscape where the storyteller lives. Rainbow Serpent artists often add clan symbols to the body of the Rainbow Serpent, symbolic of the connection between the clan and the land.
The Rainbow Serpent is
linked with fertility, abundant plants and animals, protection, regenerating
rains, watercourses, and peace. A female Rainbow Serpent, as the original mother
creator, and, a male Rainbow Serpent, as the transformer of the land, are
the two Rainbow Serpents most commonly depicted in Aboriginal ceremonies, art,
and oral traditions. When the Rainbow Serpent is not respected or laws are
transgressed, the Rainbow Serpent can act as a destructive force, bringing
floods and storms... Go Back
Read Aboriginal Australia Articles
Animal Totems Shamanism,
Belonging Place Taking Care,
Corroborees Ceremonies,
Cultural Heritage,
Dreaming Tracks Songlines,
Glossary Terminology,
Kinship Elders,
Musical Song Dances,
Rainbow Snake Sacred Symbols,
Spiritual Beliefs,
Storytelling Custodianship
Visit other Beliefs Faiths Religions Traditions
Aboriginal Dreamtime,
Alchemy Alchemist,
Cosmos Astronomy,
Buddhism Buddhist,
Christianity Biblical,
Daoist Confucian,
Druidry Treelore,
Heathenry Ásatrú,
Hinduism Vedas,
Islam Sunnah,
Judaism Talmud,
Native American,
Paganism Wiccan,
Shamanism Shaman,
Shintoism Kami
Aboriginal Australia Totemic Dreamtime Copyright © 2002-2008 Maureen Grace Burns, Blessings Cornucopia. All Rights Reserved.
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