Reality is a Dream
In the animist framework of Australian
Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral
Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.
"Dreaming" is also often used to refer to
an individual's or group's set of beliefs or spirituality. For
instance, an indigenous Australian might say that he or she has Kangaroo
Dreaming, or Shark Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination
of Dreamings pertinent to their "country". Many Indigenous Australians
also refer to the Creation time as "The Dreaming". The Dreamtime laid
down the patterns of life for the Aboriginal people.
Dreaming stories vary throughout
Australia, with variations on the same theme. For example, the story of
how the birds got their colors is different in New South Wales and in
Western Australia. Stories cover many themes and topics, as there are
stories about creation of sacred places, land, people, animals and
plants, law and custom. It is a complex network of knowledge, faith, and
practices that derive from stories of creation. It pervades and informs
all spiritual and physical aspects of an indigenous Australian's life.
They believe that every person
essentially exists eternally in the Dreaming. This eternal part existed
before the life of the individual begins, and continues to exist when
the life of the individual ends. Both before and after life, it is
believed that this spirit-child exists in the Dreaming and is only
initiated into life by being born through a mother. The spirit of the
child is culturally understood to enter the developing fetus during the
fifth month of pregnancy.
When the mother felt the child move in
the womb for the first time, it was thought that this was the work of
the spirit of the land in which the mother then stood. Upon birth, the
child is considered to be a special custodian of that part of his
country and is taught the stories and song lines of that place. As Wolf
(1994: p. 14) states: "A black 'fella' may regard his totem or the place
from which his spirit came as his Dreaming. He may also regard tribal
law as his Dreaming."
It was believed that, before humans,
animals, and plants came into being, their 'souls' existed; they knew
they would become physical, but not when. And when that time came, all
but one of the 'souls' became plants or animals, with the last one
becoming human and acting as a custodian or guardian to the natural
world around them.
Traditional Australian indigenous peoples
embrace all phenomena and life as part of a vast and complex
system-reticulum of relationships which can be traced directly back to
the ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings of The Dreaming. This structure of
relations, including food taboos, had the result of maintaining the
biological diversity of the indigenous environment. It may have helped
prevent overhunting of particular species.
The Dreaming establishes the structures
of society, rules for social behavior, and the ceremonies performed to
ensure continuity of life and land. The Dreaming governs the laws of
community, cultural lore and how people are required to behave in their
communities. The condition that is The Dreaming is met when people live
according to law, and live the lore: perpetuating initiations and
Dreaming transmissions or lineages, singing the songs, dancing the
dances, telling the stories, painting the songlines and Dreamings.
The Creation was believed to be the work
of culture heroes who travelled across a formless land, creating sacred
sites and significant places of interest in their travels. In this way
songlines were established, some of which could travel right across
Australia, through as many as six to ten different language groupings.
The songs and dances of a particular songline were kept alive and
frequently performed at large gatherings, organised in good seasons.
In the Aboriginal world view, every event
leaves a record in the land. Everything in the natural world is a
result of the actions of the archetypal beings, whose actions created
the world. Whilst Europeans consider these cultural ancestors to be
mythical, many Aboriginal people believe in their literal existence. The
meaning and significance of particular places and creatures is wedded
to their origin in the Dreaming, and certain places have a particular
potency, which the Aborigines call its dreaming.
In this dreaming resides the sacredness
of the earth. For example, in Perth, the Noongar believe that the
Darling Scarp is said to represent the body of a Wagyl - a serpent being
that meandered over the land creating rivers, waterways and lakes. It
is taught that the Wagyl created the Swan River. In another example, the
Gagudju people of Arnhemland, for which Kakadu National Park is named,
believe that the sandstone escarpment that dominates the park's
landscape was created in the Dreamtime when Ginga (the crocodile-man)
was badly burned during a ceremony and jumped into the water to save
himself. He turned to stone and became the escarpment. The common theme
in these examples and similar ones is that topographical features are
either the physical embodiments of creator beings or are the results of
their activity.
In one version (there are many Aboriginal
cultures), Altjira was the god of the Dreamtime; he created the Earth
and then retired as the Dreamtime vanished. Alternative names for
Altjira in other Australian languages include Alchera (Arrernte),
Alcheringa, Mura-mura (Dieri), and Tjukurpa (Pitjantjatjara).
The dreaming and travelling trails of the
Spirit Beings are the songlines (or "Yiri" in the Warlpiri language).
The signs of the Spirit Beings may be of spiritual essence, physical
remains such as petrosomatoglyphs of body impressions or footprints,
amongst natural and elemental simulacrae. To cite an example, people
from a remote outstation called Yarralin, which is part of the Victoria
River region, venerate the spirit Walujapi as the Dreaming Spirit of the
black-headed python. Walujapi carved a snakelike track along a
cliff-face and left an impression of her buttocks when she sat
establishing camp. Both these dreaming signs are still discernible. In
the Wangga genre, the songs and dances express themes related to death
and regeneration. They are performed publicly with the singer composing
from their daily lives or while Dreaming of a nyuidj (dead spirit).
Many non-native writers and artists have been inspired by Dreamtime concepts for film literature and other media projects.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten