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Read the introduction and answer some questions about it. Then read about the figures of Australian aboriginal mythology and do activity (1) and activity (2), in which you compare the information about them. Finally, do some writing yourself, see texts written by other users, and, if you wish, go to an external site to listen to some Dreamtime stories.
The Dreamtime is the central, unifying theme in Australian Aboriginal mythology. The Dreamtime, also called the Dreaming, consists of four aspects: The beginning of all things; the life and influence of the ancestors; the way of life and death; and sources of power in life. Dreamtime consists of all four of these aspects at the same time because it is a condition beyond time and space where all things exist at once.
Aboriginal people call Dreamtime the all-at-once time because they experience it as the past, present, and future co-existing. The condition that is Dreamtime is met when the tribal members live according to tribal rules and traditions and are initiated through rituals and the hearing of tribal myths.
They believe that each and every person has a part to them that exists eternally. 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 timeless place known as dreamtime and is only initiated into life by being born through a mother.
Thought to be the oldest continuously maintained cultural history on Earth (50,000 years or more), the Dreamtime explains the origins and culture of the land and of its people. It presents in a number of inter-related narratives (or myths) explaining Aboriginal Australian origins and culture, it thus has a complex relationship to the prehistory of Australia.
Most Aboriginal people believe that all life as we know it today (human, animal, or plant) is part of a vast and complex single network of relationships which can be traced directly back to the great spirit ancestors of the Dreamtime.
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 metaphysical beings whose actions created the world. The meaning and significance of particular places and creatures is wedded to their origin in the Dreamtime, and certain places have a particular potency, which the Aborigines call its dreaming. In this dreaming lies 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 snakelike being that meandered over the land creating rivers, waterways and lakes. It is taught that the Wagyl created the Swan River.
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Anjea is a fertility goddess or spirit. People's souls reside within her in between their incarnations. She picks them up at their resting places in the sand, which are marked with twigs. The twigs are arranged in the ground so as to form a circle, and they are tied together at their tops, so that the resulting structure resembles a cone. The spirits are taken away for several years, but Anjea eventually creates new children from mud, and places them in the wombs of future mothers.
The Bagadhimbiri are two brothers and creator gods. They arose from the ground as dingos and made water-holes, sex organs (from a mushroom and another fungus) for the androgynous first people, and invented circumcision. Taking human form, the Bagadjimbiri began an argument with Ngariman, a cat-person. Ngariman was annoyed by the Bagadjimbiri's laughter. He killed the brothers underground, but was drowned by Dilga, their mother, who flooded the underground murder-spot with her milk, which also revived her sons. The Bagadjimbiri eventually turned into snakes and went to live in the sky as clouds.
Bahloo is moon man. He keeps three deadly snakes as pets. One aboriginal legend tells of how Yhi, the sun, courted Bahloo, but he refused her advances. The myth says that this is why the sun chased the moon across the sky. Yhi threatened the spirits who held up the sky that if they let him escape down to earth, she would plunge the world into darkness.
Kondole was a mean and rude man. One night, the performers during a ceremony needed someone to keep a fire going; Kondole was the only one with fire, and he hid in the bush. The men argued with him, and one got frustrated and threw a spear into Kondole's skull. All the men then turned into animals, including kangaroos, possums, fish and birds. Kondole became a whale and the hole in his head from the spear became his blowhole.
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Mangar-kunjer-kunja is a lizard god who created humans. He found the first beings, Rella manerinja, on one side of a hill; they were fused together and he separated them with a knife and cut holes for their mouths, ears, and noses, then gave them the knife, spear, shield, fire and boomerang, and lastly gave them a system of marriage.
Mimis are fairy-like beings of Arnhem Land. They are described as having extremely thin and elongated bodies, so thin as to be in danger of breaking in case of a high wind. To avoid this, they usually spend most of their time living in rock crevices. They are said to have taught the Aborigines of Australia how to hunt and prepare kangaroo meat.
Minawara and Multultu were the ancestors of the Nambutji. They were kangaroo-men, and came from a pile of debris carried away by the Great Flood. They made a hole to sleep in, but were scolded by a rat man who told them to sit in the trees' shade. They did so and then continued their trip and began wearing feathers; their lungs and mucus were thrown away and turned into rocks.
The Nargun is a large female creature that lives in a cave behind a waterfall in the Mitchell River. Stories were told around campfires about how the Nargun would abduct children who wandered off on their own. It was said the Nargun could not be harmed with boomerangs or spears. These stories served the dual purpose of a cautionary tale to keep children close to the campsite, and stayed away from the sacred cave. The Den of Nargun was considered a special place for women of the Gunai tribe, and in reality it may have simply been used for women's initiation and learning ceremonies rather than the lair of any predator.
Ngariman is a cat-man who killed the Bagadjimbiri, two dingo gods and sons of Dilga, an earth goddess. In revenge, she drowned Ngariman with her milk by flooding the underground cavern where he killed her sons.
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Pundjel is a creator god who invented most of the skills used by Australian Aborigines, including religious rites. He was very much involved in the initiation of boys into manhood.
The Wati-kutjara are the lizard men (totem: iguana) who originally came from a mountain in the Dream time (they later taught shamans how to use and communicate with the Dream time). They created sacred talismans (called tjurunga) and gave them to the people. They also created trees and plants, and rivers, mountains, valleys and other geographic features. They castrated the man in the moon by throwing a magical boomerang, Kidili, because he tried to rape the first woman, who then turned into the Pleiades.He then died of his wounds in a waterhole. They are known to the tribes of central-western Australia in the Great Western Desert.
The Wawalag were a pair of sisters who were daughters of Djanggawul. They lived in a whirlpool and were eaten by Yurlungur, who was later forced to regurgitate them. Their rebirth is used as a symbol in boy-to-man ceremonies.
The Wondjina (or wandjina) were cloud and rain spirits who, during the Dream time, painted their images (as humans but without mouths) on cave walls. Their ghosts still exist in small ponds. Walaganda, one of the Wondjina, became the Milky Way. Paintings of this style that represent the mythological beings involved in the creation of the world are called "Wondjina style".
Wuriupranili is a solar goddess who carries a torch that is the sun. At the ocean to the West, she douses the torch in water and uses the glowing embers to find her way beneath the Earth back to the East again. The colours of dawn and dusk come from the ochre body paints she wears.
Yurlungur is a copper snake who was awakened from a deep sleep by the odor of a woman's menstrual blood. The woman and her sisters, the Wawalag, were eaten by Yurlungur, who was told at a later snake meeting to regurgitate the women. In Australian Aborigine ceremonies, the vomiting symbolizes boys entering manhood.
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Do you know about the mythology of where you come from? Tell us about it.
Russian mythology and tales
Although the Orthodox Church in Russia is 1000 years old, heathen traditions are still alive and strong. They are enweaved into rituals and stories; they are often mentioned in proverbs and idioms. Every child knows about Baba-Yagah and Ded Moroz. The best Russian writers and poets use mythological stories, from Pushkin to Pasternak. It doesn't matter, it is difficult to remember the names of gods and spirits. We throw up a pinch of salt or spit over our shoulder or knock on the table. Why? Because old stories are alive nowadays.
The head of the Slavic gods was Perun. He was the god of thunder like Jupiter. His weapon consisted of bolts of lightning. Dajdbog was the god of fertility and sunlight and Svarog ruled the trades, especially blacksmithing. Veles was patron of herds and flocks. Maybe only this last one still has his own day. In summer they celebrate Saint Ilia's day at the same time and in the same way as hundreds of years ago they celebrated the days of Veles. At the end of the 10th century Prince Vladimir Red Sun confirmed Christianity when he married Byzantine Anne. He used violence to christen the population of Kiev. All who didn't want to become Christian were drowned. Since that time all these names became a part of history and just words from chronicles.
But the smaller gods stayed alive. The real king of the harsh Russian winter is Ded Moroz (Old Frost Man). When the nights are long and trees are cracking, he builds ice bridges, covers the land with snow and freezes any careless creature who shows its nose. Only the heat of the stove can help people to survive. Now he is not so cruel and has become a rosy-cheeked old man, who brings New Year gifts.
When you lose your way in the forest just put your shirt on back to front. This will disappoint Leshiy, who is the governor of Russian forest. Leshiy likes to play with strangers, leading your "well-known" track directly to the bog. He can hide all mushrooms when you are trying to gather them. But sometimes he can help a child, and be particularly kind and polite. The other kind of devil spirit is Kikimorah. Sometimes they call her Leshiy's wife, but nobody has seen them together. It is doubtful that it's a happy family. Kikimora lives in ponds, whirlpools and fens.
In the middle of the forest in the little house sitting on a hen's leg there lives Baba Yaga. She is a rude witch. She abducts disobedient children, boils them in a huge pot and eats them. She also can turn people into animals, and make magic herbs and poisons. Baba Yaga lives alone with a big black cat and a wise crow. In later stories she helps a knight to find death and thus become Koschey the Immortal. In Russian it is pronounced with long "sch", something like "Koshshchey". His death is in the needle, the needle is in the egg, the egg is in the duck, the duck is in the hare, the hare is in the bear, the bear is in the chest, the chest is on the tree on the seaside on the far-away island Bujan. Not easy to get, is it? Koschey is an invincible devil knight. He is very rich and always abducts the best princesses.
Also we have some Christian myths. You can see Saint George the Victorious on the emblem of Moscow. This hero is known as a dragon killer. Just two hundred years ago peasants believed that Saint Ilia made thunder when he rode his fire wagon through the sky. They asked Ilia to keep their flocks safe and prayed to him for a good harvest. Nowadays people spit over their left shoulder because they believe that devil spirits are sitting on the left. They just translated the pagan myths into Christian language.
I like Russian myths and fairy tales. Sometimes they are frightening, sometimes they are naive. But, as the great Russian writer Pushkin said, "How charming are these tales! Each is like a rune!" And I never forget to wear my shirt back to front when I'm in the magical and mysterious Russian forest.
by Рита Красносельская
To listen to 20 dreamtime stories, and find out lots more about indigenous Australia, go the the Australian Museum's excellent website.
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