All this talk of fate destiny and timelessness etc reminds me of the Australian
Aboriginal concept of the dreamtime.
The term Dreamtime was first used in 1896 by Spencer and Gillen as a rough
translation of the Aranda term "alcheringa". Aborigines later adopted
"Dreamtime" as their own word. Other tribes use words such as bugari,
djugurba, tjukurpa, wongar and ungud. The Dreamtime is at least three things in
one :
1. A sacred heroic time long ago when spirit beings set the sun, moon and stars
in their courses, and created the earth, material life and spiritual life. The
spirits also created laws (rituals) to provide meaning and to perpetuate this
way of life.
2. The storage of spirit power into plants, animals and sacred sites, for
example, a rocky outcrop or waterhole. It provides a meaning for, and a way of
life both to individuals and society.
3. The term "The Dreaming" refers to an Aboriginal's awareness and knowledge of
the Dreamtime. The term "dream" is a metaphor suggesting that awareness is
enhanced by dreamy, quiet, vague, visionary, fantasy or trance states. The land
and ritual serve as reminders; monuments and churches are not needed. It is the
timelessness of the soul, much as is experienced in a constellation.
Tribes can be distinguished by their Dreamings. Aboriginals believe there is
a "oneness of person, body, spirit, ghost, shadow, name, spirit site and totem"
. The Dreamtime is not an historic event. It corresponds to the whole of
reality . It has a beginning, but is eternal the Aborigines have no word for
abstract "time". The Dreaming is a "vertical line in which the past underlies
and is within the present" . The Dreamtime is a "unity of waking-life and
dream-life" . For example, to conceive, a man first finds a child in his
"dreams", and directs it to his wife. An artist produces a new song by dream
contact with a spirit.
hasta la vista
Chris Walsh
Melbourne, Australia
My Website: www.cwalsh.com.au
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