BeliefsAccording to Aboriginal belief, all life as it is today - Human, Animal, Bird and Fish is part of one vast unchanging network of relationships which can be traced to the great spirit ancestors of the Dreamtime.
Aboriginal spirituality lies in the belief in a cultural landscape. Everything on the vast desert landscape has meaning and purpose. Life is a web of inter relationships where man and nature are partners and where the past is always connected to the present. The Dreaming is a term used by Aborigines to describe the relations and balance between the spiritual, natural and moral elements of the world.The Dreaming system of beliefs and philosophy has different names depending on the language of the speaker. The Pitjantjatjara and related desert peoples call it Tjukurrpa, the Kimberley peoples call it Ngarrankrni and the Anmatyerre and related peoples call it the Altyerre. Aboriginals believe that all the living things from the Dreaming are spiritual beings of one kind or another. The Great Earth Mother is known as the source of fertility and life. It is believed that she emerged from the sea and gives birth to the first people's of the territory, and this is known as the Dreaming stories. |
DreamtimeThe Dreamtime continues as the "Dreaming" in the spiritual lives of aboriginal people today.
" OUR LAND OUR LIFE " "We don't own the land, the land owns us". "The Land is my mother, my mother is the land". "Land is the starting point to where it all began. It is like picking up a piece of dirt and saying this is where I started and this is where I will go". "The land is our food, our culture, our spirit and identity". "We don't have boundaries like fences, as farmers do. We have spiritual connections". |
Sacred StoriesTo Aboriginals all stories are sacred. The Dreamtime stories announce the origins of this world we live today.
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Sacred TextsAboriginals have no sacred texts like Qur'an or the Bible, even finding Aboriginal Texts that are not sacred was extremely difficult. There is instead songs that are transmitted orally from one generation to the next.
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Rituals
Rituals are often complicated which take many days. These involve preparation of the dancing ground, ritual objects and the participants. In many rituals there is also a practical, immediate aspect, the love-magic rites of the women, having the immediate aim of attracting a sweetheart or keeping a husband interested.The types of rituals that Aboriginals have are :
RITES OF PASSAGE
Aboriginal rites of passage are ceremonies that inform the individual and society of the new status amongst the group. These rites include the initiations of the tribes men and funerals of the elders.
RITUALS OF RECONCILIATION
This ritual is to reduce inter-group and intra-group conflicts and tensions around them.
INCREASE RITUALS
Increase rituals are mucho more common than the other ones, they are connected with the aforementioned cult totems. They are performed to maintain or renew the numbers of a particular species .
CULTIC RITUALS
This ritual celebrates the actions of the creator spirits of a group of spirits who are object of a specific culture.
MAGICO-RELIGIOUS RITUALS
The four steps of this ritual is:
- Healing rituals, such as those employed by native doctors
- Harming rituals or sorcery
- Love-magic rituals
- Rain-making rituals
RITES OF PASSAGE
Aboriginal rites of passage are ceremonies that inform the individual and society of the new status amongst the group. These rites include the initiations of the tribes men and funerals of the elders.
RITUALS OF RECONCILIATION
This ritual is to reduce inter-group and intra-group conflicts and tensions around them.
INCREASE RITUALS
Increase rituals are mucho more common than the other ones, they are connected with the aforementioned cult totems. They are performed to maintain or renew the numbers of a particular species .
CULTIC RITUALS
This ritual celebrates the actions of the creator spirits of a group of spirits who are object of a specific culture.
MAGICO-RELIGIOUS RITUALS
The four steps of this ritual is:
- Healing rituals, such as those employed by native doctors
- Harming rituals or sorcery
- Love-magic rituals
- Rain-making rituals
SymbolsAboriginal Symbols are an important part of a long artistic tradition in Australian Aboriginal. Aboriginal people used symbols to indicate a sacred site.
Generally the symbols used by Aboriginal Australian are a variation of lines, circles or dots. They have multiple meanings and elaborate combination of these can tell a lot about Aboriginal Dreamtime meaning behind the symbols. |
Social StructuresPeople lived day to day in family groups. Members of different tribes met together at the largest ceremonies and gatherings, when there might be over 1,000 people at one gathering.
Aborigines have a complex social and marriage laws, based on the grouping of people within their society. They also have a complex kinship system where everyone is related to everyone else. The social structures of Aboriginals are divided in three main aspects: -First, the physical structuring of society -Second, the religious structuring based on beliefs and customs, totems, and marriage laws, and these beliefs divide people into moieties. -Third, there is also a kinship system that gives a social structuring. The social structuring and kinship system can become very complex and difficult to understand for non-Aboriginal people, but is a natural part of life for Aborigines, and its details vary from tribe to tribe. |
EthicsAboriginal society had a strict legal system that was recorded orally in the Dreaming. The Dreaming established social, moral and religious values which were taught daily through the use of music, song, dance, storytelling and daily interactions with each other. As children grew older they went through various initiation stages where they were taught more about the laws.
The law was the most important aspect of Aboriginal society as it dictated rules about food, marriage, family responsibilities, initiation and keeping the peace. The fully initiated older men and women held the greatest authority, as they knew the laws very well. It was the responsibility of the moiety to make sure that people belonging to their group did not commit an offence. If that did happen, then it was their job to carry out a punishment. As well as encouraging social expressions such as songs, dance, art, storytelling and artefact making, the Dreaming also taught customs such as the role of men and women in society, and sacred and public activities. The role of men and women often depended on their initiation stage, their amount of knowledge or the amount of experience they had. Women had authority and influence in decision making, however, men had over riding power. |
Religious ExperienceThere are two religious experiences:
IMMEDIATE EXPERIENCE Aboriginals do not expect Ancestor Beings or any other spirituals beings to reveal themselves to individuals in a direct or immediate way. MEDIATE EXPERIENCE The Ancestor Beings is usually experience indirectly their presence is experience through the medium of sacred places. |